Speaker 1: That morning, the sky was gray like an iron pot,
and a thin rain tapped on the windows. But inside
the warm Cloud Bakery it was sweetly toasty, and the
air smelled of fresh baked bread. Lily, Ziggy, Sky, and
Dash had their little hands covered in flour up to
their elbows. They were making cookies with Grandma Crumbs, the baker,
with cheeks as red as apples. My cookie looks like
a wobbly star, laughed Dash, lifting up the dough. And
mine looks like a chubby little snail, said Ziggy, hopping about.
Lily was not laughing. She was staring straight at the
shelf in the back of the shop, and her forehead
was all crinkled. Look, she said softly. The everyone turned around.
On the shelf sat a little horse, a spinning top,
and a cloth doll. But they had all turned gray,
gray like ash, without a single drop of color. Then,
right before their eyes, the jam jars lost their red
and their purple. The curtains by the window turned gray.
It was as if someone were blowing out the colors
one by one with an invisible puff. What is happening
to my bakery, cried Grandma Crumbs, bringing her hands to
her cheeks. Sky pressed close to Lily. I'm a little scared,
she whispered. Lily took her hand. I'm here. We won't
let the colors run away. It was right at that
moment that from far away, a happy sound arrived. Chew, chew.
Through the bakery door. Came Toby, the magic train, with
shiny wheels and smoke that smelled of sugar. Hello, children,
what a strange gray day. The colors woke and ran away.
Climb aboard. Now, don't be afraid up on the rooftops
they must have strayed. The four friends climbed aboard without hesitating.
Grandma crumbs waved from the door. Bring my colors back home.
Toby whistled and began to climb and climb, until he
was running over the rooftops of the town like on
invisible rails. And there, on top of a chimney, a
white dove was waiting for them. It was Nina. She
smelled of powdered sugar, and when she saw them, she
made a little tune in her throat. Coo, coo, you
are looking for the colors, aren't you? Chirped Nina, curious,
turning her head every which way. I saw them. They
ran away because they were scared of the gray. They
hid in three places in the town. But you must hurry.
Why must we hurry, asked Lily. Nina lifted her beak
toward the sky, because the snow is coming, and if
the white snow covers the last colors, they will never
come back. Right then, a light snowflake came dancing down,
then another. It was starting to snow. Let's go, said Lily,
and her voice was steady like a rock. Nina flew ahead, curious,
diving between the chimneys. Follow me, follow me. The first
color is over there. She took them over a courtyard
where an old lady had left a basket of red
apples under a little roof. But the apples were far
away at the end of a narrow balcony. Quick, let's
get the red, said Nina, all in a flutter, Hurry, hurry, dash,
leaned out too fast and almost slipped on the snowy roof. Oops,
he cried, waving his arms like a windmill. Stop, said Lily.
If we rush, we all fall. Let's wait. One step
at a time. They took a breath, Then slowly they
held hands and made a chain Siggy, who was light
and quick, stretched out his arm and grabbed an apple.
Inside the apple glowed a little red light, warm, like
a tiny ember. We got it, cheered Sky, But the
snow was falling thicker, and the sky was turning whiter
and whiter. The second one, the second one, cooed Nina,
and she flew away fast. She led them to a
sheltered corner of the town, where in a vase some
yellow mimosa flowers were still holding on, trembling under the
snow flakes. Take them, take them quick, said Nina, flapping
her wings. Sky reached out her hand, but a puff
of wind blew the flowers higher up on to a branch.
I can't reach, said Sky, her eyes shiny with tears.
They are too high up. Dash, who was super fast,
wanted to jump right away. I've got this one. Jump
and wait, said Lily, holding him back by his jacket.
If you jump now, you will slip. Look at the branch.
When the wind stops, it bends down low. Let's wait
for the right moment. They stayed, still, holding their breath,
with snowflakes on their eyelashes. The wind blew, the branch swayed,
then the wind went quiet, and the branch dipped slowly
toward them. In that instant, Dash jumped precise like a spring,
and caught the yellow flowers inside glowed a little golden light,
like a sunbeam in his pocket. Yay, they all shouted together.
Two colors caught, but the third was still missing, and
the snow now covered everything in white. The roof tops
had disappeared. It was cold. The last one is at
the market, said Nina, but her little voice trembled a
blue awning. But I can't see it any more. The
snow has covered it. They reached the market square. Everything
was white, silent, without a single color. They looked and looked,
but there was no trace of blue. Dash sat down
in the snow, discouraged. It's gone. We lost. Let's go home,
Ziggy sighed too. Sky lowered her head. Even Nina stopped cooing,
but not Lily. Lily stayed standing with her fists tight
and her blue eyes searching the white. Wait just a
little longer, she said, But Lily whimpered Dash, you can't
see anything. That's exactly why we wait, she answered. The
snow stops sooner or later. And when it stops, maybe
a little corner will peek out. They stood still, one, two,
three long breaths. The snow slowed down, It slowed some more,
and then all of a sudden it stopped. A shy
sunbeam broke through the clouds, and there in the distance,
under a little pile of snow, a tiny bit of
blue peeked out, just one corner of the awning. There
it is, shouted lily. She ran, swept away the snow
with her hands and pulled out a piece of blue cloth.
Inside glowed a little light, like a piece of the
night sky. Three colors, red, yellow, blue. Safe in their hands.
Quick to the bakery, said Nina, happy and her tune
came back. Coo coo coo. Toby was waiting for them
on the roof, puffing sweet smoke. Everyone climbed on, holding
the three colors like treasures. In a moment, they were
back in front of Grandma Crumbs. You got them, she said,
with laughing eyes. Grandma Crumbs took her big bowl of
magic dough, the one she used used for the most
special treats now. We mix but slowly, one at a time.
They put in the little red light and stirred. They
stirred and stirred. Nothing happened. See it doesn't work, said Dash. Wait,
said Lily, And after a moment, the dough began to
warm up, and on the shelf the gray little horse
took back a little bit of pink on its cheeks.
They put in the yellow light. They stirred calmly. They waited,
and the spinning top shone again with yellow and orange.
They put in the blue light. They stirred. They waited
just a little longer, and there was the cloth doll
lighting back up with blue, with green, with every color.
The jars turned red and purple again. The curtains bloomed
once more, one color at a time, without rushing. The
warm cloud bakery became a warm and fragrant rainbow again.
Outside it was still snowing, soft and white. Inside, everything sparkled.
We did it, said Sky, hugging Lily. Thank you for
not giving up. Colors. Don't come back in a hurry,
said Lily, smiling. They come back if you know how
to wait. Nina did three happy loops above their heads.
Grandma Crumbs baked the cookies, and this time they were
bursting with color. Then came the familiar chew chew. Toby
was ready to take them home. Well done, children, what
a lovely quest. Patience is sweet, and patience is best.
Those who can wait and never shout will watch the
colors come shining out. Now, climb aboard back home, we
ride so slow and gentle. Side by side, the four
friends climbed aboard, waving to Nina and Grandma Crumbs, and
as the little train puffed softly through the snow, they
snuggled close to one another, happy and warm, watching the
town shine once more with a thousand colors.