Viviana was a little mermaid. She was brave, but also gentle. She liked quiet songs and shiny things.
Viviana lived near a castle by the sea. The castle had tall towers and a wide moat. The water in the moat was cool and blue.
One morning, Viviana looked at the castle moat and gasped. “Oh no… the colors are gone.” The water looked gray. Even the stones looked dull.
A white swan landed softly on the moat. “Honk,” said Swan.
Viviana waved. “Hello, Swan. I’m Viviana. Are you sad too?”
Swan nodded and tapped the water with its beak. Tap, tap. No sparkle.
Viviana took a deep breath. “We will bring the colors back,” she said.
They swam and paddled along the moat. Under a bridge, Viviana found a small shell door.
Swan pecked it. Knock knock.
The shell door opened. A wizard popped out. He had a pointy hat and a serious face.
“I took the colors,” the Wizard said. “Too bright. Too loud.”
Viviana did not yell. She used a calm voice. “Colors can be soft,” she said. “Not loud. Like a bedtime light.”
The Wizard blinked. “Hmm.”
Viviana tried a small idea. She picked up three pebbles: one red, one blue, one yellow. They were faded, but still there.
“Look,” she said. “Tiny colors.”
Swan fluffed its wings and made a funny pose. “Honk!” It was silly.
Viviana giggled. The Wizard’s mouth made a tiny smile.
Viviana sang a simple song, very slow:
“Red like a rose,
Blue like the sea,
Yellow like sun,
Come back to me.”
Swan helped. It dipped its wing and swished the water: swish, swish.
A small shimmer appeared. Then a bigger shimmer. The gray water turned light blue again.
The Wizard looked surprised. “It… tickles my eyes,” he said.
Viviana nodded. “We can make it gentle,” she said. “Not too bright. Just happy.”
The Wizard took out a little jar. Inside was a swirl of gray. “I kept the colors in here,” he said.
Viviana held the jar carefully. “May we open it together?”
The Wizard hesitated. Swan leaned close and softly touched the Wizard’s sleeve with its beak. Tap. Like a polite hello.
The Wizard sighed. “Together,” he agreed.
Viviana and the Wizard twisted the lid. Pop!
Colors flew out like ribbons. Pink, green, orange, purple. They rushed around the castle towers. They splashed into the moat. They painted the stones. They even made little rainbow dots on Swan’s feathers.
Swan looked at its new rainbow dots and did a proud wiggle. “Honk honk!”
Viviana clapped her hands in the water. “We did it!”
The Wizard cleared his throat. “I thought bright meant noisy,” he said. “But you made it quiet and nice.”
Viviana smiled. “You can visit when you want,” she said. “We can choose soft colors.”
The Wizard nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a treasure: a pearl that glowed like moonlight.
“For you,” he said.
Viviana’s eyes widened. “A glow-pearl!”
Swan honked, as if saying, “Wow!”
Viviana tucked the pearl into a small pouch. The pearl made a gentle light, not too bright.
That night, the castle moat sparkled again. Swan slept on the water. Viviana hummed her slow color song. And the Wizard, from his little shell door, watched the soft colors and finally felt calm.