In the Magical Menagerie, every animal had a bright color. Blue bunnies bounced. Green foxes tiptoed. Gold ducks went quack, quack, quack.
A little Fairy lived there too. Her name was Kaileiah's Magical Adventures. That was a very big name for a very small fairy. She had soft pink wings, shiny boots, and a tiny star wand.
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures was kind. She was also a little shy. When animals looked at her, she sometimes hid behind her wand.
Her best friend was Flower. Flower was not a plant. Flower was a round, silly bird with petal feathers. She loved to sing, “Tweet-tweet! Nice feet!”
One morning, the Magical Menagerie looked wrong.
The blue bunnies were gray.
The green foxes were gray.
The gold ducks were gray.
Even Flower’s petal feathers were gray.
“Oh, no,” said Flower. “I look like a rainy sock!”
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures looked up. A swirly gray cloud floated over the animal homes.
From the cloud came Sorceress. She wore a purple hat and held a big, crooked spoon.
“I took the colors,” said Sorceress. “I wanted my cloudy soup to look pretty. But now it is too gray. Blech!”
“That was not nice,” said Kaileiah's Magical Adventures in her small voice.
Sorceress blinked. “You are very tiny. What can you do?”
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures felt wobbly. Her wings went flap-flap. She wanted to hide.
Then a gray bunny sniffled. A gray duck said, “Quack?” Flower gave her friend a gentle peck on the hand.
“You can try,” Flower said. “I will try with you. Tweet-tweet! Brave feet!”
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures took a deep breath. In. Out.
“I can try,” she said.
First, she found the blue color. It was hiding inside a sad bubble near the bunny hill. Kaileiah tapped it with her star wand.
“Blue, come through!” she said.
Pop!
Blue sparkles danced over the bunnies. Their ears turned blue again. The bunnies bounced and bounced.
Next, the friends found green color stuck under a sleepy fox’s tail. Flower tickled the tail with one petal feather.
“Hee-choo!” sneezed the fox.
Green sparkles flew out. They swirled around the foxes. Green tails waved all over the Menagerie.
Last was gold. It was inside Sorceress’s cloudy soup pot.
The pot was very high. Kaileiah's Magical Adventures was very small.
Flower spread her petal wings. “Hop on!” she chirped.
Kaileiah climbed onto Flower’s back. Up they flew. Flap-flap. Higher, higher.
Sorceress looked worried. “Careful! My soup is hot!”
Kaileiah did not touch the soup. She waved her wand above the pot.
“Gold, gold, shine so bright. Go to ducks and make them right!”
The spoon went ding!
Golden light whooshed from the pot. It covered every duck. Quack! Their yellow-gold feathers shone like little suns.
The whole Magical Menagerie was bright again.
Sorceress hung her head. “I am sorry. I should have asked for help. I did not need to take anything.”
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures gave a tiny nod. “Next time, you can use rainbow berries for your soup.”
“Rainbow berries?” said Sorceress. “That sounds much tastier than gray.”
Flower giggled. “And less sock-like!”
Sorceress laughed too. She gave Kaileiah's Magical Adventures a small treasure box. Inside were seven star buttons: blue, green, gold, red, pink, purple, and silver.
“One for each brave color you helped,” said Sorceress.
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures smiled. She put the buttons on her tiny boots. Now, when she walked, they went jingle, jingle.
The animals cheered. The bunnies bounced. The foxes danced. The ducks quacked a happy song.
Flower hugged her friend. “You were shy,” she said. “But you were brave too.”
Kaileiah's Magical Adventures looked at her shining boots. “I can be both,” she said.
Then she and Flower flew home beneath a rainbow. Flap-flap. Jingle-jingle. Tweet-tweet!
And the Magical Menagerie glowed all night long.