Once upon a morning in the bright Kingdom of Bellflowers, there lived a small boy named My Big Brother the King. Everyone called him Brother for short. He was not really a king yet, but he wore a paper crown with three shiny blue buttons. He was kind, curious, and very good at noticing when someone needed help.
Brother lived in a tall castle with his little friend, Prince. Prince was a real prince, but he did not like sitting still on a golden chair. He liked puddles, apple pies, and racing down the castle steps two at a time.
One day, Brother opened the window and gasped.
“Oh!” he said.
The Kingdom of Bellflowers had lost its colors.
The red roofs were gray. The yellow ducks were gray. Even the rainbow flag above the castle was gray, gray, gray.
Prince hurried over, wearing one sock and one slipper.
“Perhaps the colors are hiding,” he said.
Just then, the ground went BUMP.
Then it went BUMP-BUMP!
Beyond the castle, on Misty Hill, stood Giant. He was enormous. His boots were as wide as wagons, and his curly beard was full of tiny leaves. Giant was not shouting. He was sniffling.
“Why are you sad?” called Brother.
Giant looked down with watery eyes. “I only wanted to paint a picture of the kingdom. But my giant paintbrush slipped into the Color Spring. Now all the colors have splashed into my cave. I am too big to pick them up gently. When I try, I squash the little color drops.”
Prince put on his other sock. “We can help!” he said.
Brother nodded. “Yes. A king helps his kingdom. Even a king with a paper crown.”
Giant pointed toward a cave behind Misty Hill. “Be careful. The colors are lively. Blue likes to hide. Red likes to zoom. Yellow giggles all the time.”
Brother packed a small bag. Inside he put three empty jam jars, a soft feather, two biscuits, and his best idea-face. Prince brought a silver spoon, because he said it might be useful. Nobody knew why.
At the cave entrance, the two friends heard a tiny voice.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Catch me if you can!”
A blue color drop swirled around their heads like a little cloud.
“That must be Blue,” whispered Prince.
Brother did not chase it. He sat on a smooth stone and took out a biscuit. “Blue,” he said gently, “would you like to rest?”
Blue floated closer. It loved quiet lakes, cool shade, and soft blankets. Brother held out the empty jar, with the feather tucked inside like a tiny bed.
Blue slipped in with a happy plop.
“One color!” cheered Prince.
Farther inside, something raced past them. ZOOM! It was Red, bright and fast, making little sparks of excitement.
“Red will never sit in a jar,” Prince said.
Brother thought hard. Then he tapped the silver spoon against a rock: ting-ting-ting!
“Race you to the lantern!” he called.
Red whizzed after the sound. Brother ran, Prince ran, and Red zipped between them. At the lantern, Brother held up the second jar.
“Finish line!” he cried.
Red darted inside. “I win!” it buzzed.
“You certainly do,” said Brother, closing the lid carefully.
From the deepest part of the cave came a laugh. Hee-hee-hee! Ha-ha-ha!
Yellow was bouncing on a pile of round mushrooms. Every bounce made the mushrooms boing. Prince tried to catch Yellow with his hands, but Yellow tickled his nose.
“Achoo!” Prince sneezed.
Yellow laughed even harder.
Brother smiled. “It wants a funny game.” He put the silver spoon on his nose. It fell. Clink!
Prince put a biscuit on his head. It slid onto his ear.
Yellow laughed so much that it rolled into the third jar all by itself.
“Three colors!” shouted Prince.
But then the cave became very dark. A low rumble rolled through the stones.
“My colors,” whispered Giant from outside. “Are they safe?”
Brother looked at the jars. Blue was resting. Red was buzzing. Yellow was wiggling.
“We found them!” he called.
Giant bent down, but his sad face filled the whole entrance. One giant tear fell. SPLASH! It made a puddle around Brother’s shoes.
“I am glad,” Giant said, “but I am still afraid. What if I spill them again? My hands are too huge.”
Brother looked at Giant’s enormous fingers. Then he looked at Prince’s little silver spoon.
“I have an idea,” he said.
Outside the cave, Brother asked Giant to sit very still. Prince placed the three jars on a flat stone. Brother found three long reeds beside a pond. Giant held the reeds between two gentle fingers. Brother tied the jam jars safely to the ends with grass ribbons.
“It is a giant-sized paintbrush,” said Prince.
Giant blinked. “A paintbrush that holds colors without squishing them!”
Together they walked to the Color Spring. It was a round pool near the castle, waiting quietly beneath a gray sky.
Brother opened Blue first. Blue poured into the spring with a soft glug-glug. The pond became blue as a sleepy afternoon.
Prince opened Red. Red swirled across the roofs, the apples, and the ladybugs. The kingdom looked warm and cheerful again.
Then Brother opened Yellow. Yellow popped into the sun, the ducks, and the buttercups. It laughed all the way.
But the rainbow flag was still gray.
“Oh dear,” said Prince. “We only found three colors.”
Giant lowered his head. “I remember now. The other colors are in my beard.”
Everyone looked closely. There, caught in Giant’s curly beard, were little drops of green, orange, purple, and pink. They had been hiding behind the leaves, fast asleep.
Brother climbed onto Giant’s boot. Prince climbed beside him. Very gently, they used the feather to tickle the colors awake.
Green stretched. Orange yawned. Purple hummed. Pink blew a kiss.
Giant held out his new reed paintbrush. Brother and Prince guided the colors into the Color Spring.
Whoooosh!
A rainbow leaped into the sky. It curled over the Kingdom of Bellflowers like a bright, smiling bridge.
The people came out of their houses. They clapped. The ducks quacked. The bellflowers rang, ding-ding-ding!
The royal baker brought a treasure chest from the castle kitchen. Inside were chocolate coins wrapped in golden paper, rainbow stickers, and two tiny crowns with real sparkling stars.
“One crown for Prince,” said the baker.
“And one for My Big Brother the King,” said everyone.
Brother placed his new crown beside his paper one. He did not throw the paper crown away. It reminded him that a king did not need a huge throne or a loud voice.
A king needed kind eyes, a brave heart, and friends who helped.
Giant received a special gift too: a giant box of paints, with handles as big as tree branches. On the lid, Brother had written, “Paint gently.”
Giant smiled so widely that birds flew out of his beard.
That evening, Giant painted the kingdom again. This time he painted Brother, Prince, and himself beside the Color Spring. Blue rested in the pond. Red raced around the sun. Yellow made the moon wear a silly hat.
Brother laughed. Prince laughed. Even Giant laughed, very carefully.
And from that day on, whenever the Kingdom of Bellflowers needed help, people said, “Ask My Big Brother the King.”
Then Brother would straighten his paper crown, call for Prince, and say, “Let us bring our best idea-face.”