Speaker 1: It was a summer evening, and the sky was turning
pink and purple like a two flavored ice cream. Ziggy, Lily, Sky,
and Dash were sitting on the grass in the garden,
all busy building little paper boats. Ziggy folded, unfolded, and
folded again a blue sheet of paper, his tongue sticking
out a little from the effort. My little boat is
the fastest in the whole world, said Ziggy, lifting it
up in the air. Mine has a yellow sail, answered Lily,
as stubborn as ever, Sky calm petted a white boat
as if it were a little bird. Dash instead raced
his boat across the grass, going vroom, though boats don't
go vroom. Around them were Ziggy's four cats. Sophia, the
little black cat, rubbed against his legs, purring, Dora the
brave tabby cat, looked up at the sky with wide
open eyes. Poldo, the fat and chunky tabby, slept like
a pillow, and Milo, Poldo's brother, jumped up to catch
the little leaves as they fell. All of a sudden,
from far away came a funny, cheerful sound, chee choo choo.
It was Toby, the Magic train with his sparkling wheels
and smoke that smelled like cotton candy. He stopped right
next to the garden, puffed softly. Then, with his little
musical voice, he said in rhyme, good evening, dear children,
what a magical night. Come hop aboard my train and
hold on tight, where the calm sea sways and the
moon shines clear. A little friend has lost his colors,
Oh dear. The children looked at each other with great
big eyes. A friend who lost his color? What could
that mean? A rare color? Said Sky curious, how can
you lose a color? Colors aren't socks. I don't know,
but I want to find out, answered Lily, already on
her Let's go, let's go, shouted Dash, jumping aboard first,
everyone climbed up, and the four cats jumped on board. Two.
Toby went chew chew, chew, and set off, racing through
the pink clouds, while the sky grew darker and darker,
and the first stars lit up like little lights. When
the train stopped, the children's mouths fell wide open. They
had arrived at the Colored Sails Harbor. Every boat had
a sail of a different color, red, yellow, green, orange, blue.
It looked like a rainbow. Asleep on the water. Above them,
shone a full moon, big and round, lighting up everything
with its silvery glow. The air smelled of salt and sea.
How beautiful, whispered Sky, her heart full of wonder. But
just at that moment they heard a tiny cry coming
from the water. The children came close to the edge
of the dock and looked down, and there among the
calm waves they saw a little fish. But it was
no ordinary fish. It was transparent, transparent as glass. It
had no color at all. Hello, little one, said Sky,
her voice soft. Why are you crying? My name is Brillow,
answered the little fish, sniffling. I used to be the
most colorful fish in the whole sea. I had red, blue, green, gold.
But I lost all my colors, and now I'm transparent.
I don't shine any more, and without shining, I can't
find the way home to Coral Bay. I feel different
from everyone else. The children felt sad. Even Lily, who
was brave, felt a little lump in her throat. Don't worry,
Brillow said Ziggy firmly. We'll help you right Then a
wrinkly little head popped out of the water. It was
an old turtle with a shell full of drawings and
on top a tiny lit seashell lantern. She smelled of
seaweed and honey cookies. Oh hello, hello, hello, said the turtle.
All happy, what lovely company. I am the traveling turtle.
You know, I've sailed all the seas of the world,
from the sea of dolphins to the sea of dancing octopuses.
And once I even met a whale who snored so
loud that um missus turtle Ziggy interrupted gently. Do you
know how we can help brillow? Ah? Right right? Where
was I? Ah? Yes, you see, Brillo's colors will only
come back if he follows the path of stars all
the way home. Stars always show the right way. My
great grandma always said, so. She had a shell as
big as a barrel, and the path of stars, asked Lily, intrigued. Yes,
but there's a problem, sighed the turtle. Brillo, being transparent,
can't see his reflection in the water any more, and
without his reflection, he can't follow the stars. What a mess,
What a mess. The children stood quietly, thinking, how do
you help a little fish follow the stars if he
can't see his own reflection, and then all of a sudden,
a little light lit up in Ziggy's eyes. Aha, he shouted,
clapping his hands. I have an idea. The stars reflect
in the water. Right. If the water stays smooth and still,
like a mirror, then the stars will show reflected on
the water, and Brillow can swim following the little reflection,
did stars one by one all the way home. But
the water always moves, said Dash. Then we have to
stop the wind, answered Ziggy. If we build a wind break,
the water down here will stay smooth as a mirror.
With that, Ziggy got right to work. He climbed up
a boat's mast, nimble as a squirrel, holding one corner
of a big fishing net in his teeth. Milo, he called,
help me. Milo, the jumping cat made a huge leap
and grabbed the other corner of the net, hoisting it
up onto a sail. Poldo, the fat and chunky one
sat down on the edge of the net as a
counterweight so it stayed nice and tight. Dora pulled with
her little teeth brave, and Sophia meowed to cheer every
one on. Slowly, the big net opened between two sails
like a giant curtain. The wind stopped, and the water
below became smooth, smooth as a mirror, look, whispered Sky
in the still water. One by one, the reflected stars appeared.
It looked like a path of little silver lights stretching
across the sea. Brilloh, try to follow the stars, said Ziggy.
The transparent little fish began to swim, touching the first
reflected star with his little nose, and as if by magic,
a little red spot appeared on his fin. He touched
the second star, and there was a blue stripe. He
touched the third, and green appeared with each star. Brillo
got back a little piece of his colors. It's working,
it's working, Dash jumped, happy, clapping his hands. One, two, three, colors,
counted Sky, her eyes shining like the stars in the water.
And the cats watched, enchanted two, their little tails swaying
slowly with joy. But right in the middle of the way,
something happened. A gust of wind, strong and sudden, swept
over the harbor. The net trembled, the water rippled all over,
and the reflected stars broke into a thousand shimmering pieces.
Oh no, cried Brillo, frightened. I can't see the stars
any more. I can't do it. I'll stop here forever.
I'm just too different from every one, and the little
fish started to grow pale again. There was a moment
of silence. The children's hearts pounded, but Ziggy didn't give up. Brillow,
don't give up, he said, in a firm but gentle voice.
We'll help you. You're not alone. Quick, friends, let's put
the wind break back up. All together, they got to work.
Lily held the masted tight with her strong little arms,
Sky stroked Brillow to reassure him, whispering, you're beautiful and
you can do it. Milo jumped up to hoist the
net again. Poldo sat back down as a weight, and
Dora pulled with all her might. The traveling turtle raised
her seashell lantern to make more light, and the wind
slowly calmed down. The net tightened again, and the water
became smooth like a mirror. The reflected stars reappeared brighter
than before. Brillow, his little eyes full of courage, began
to swim again. One star, one color, another star, another color, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, gold,
all the way to the last star, the biggest one.
The one that pointed right to Coral Bay, and when
Brillo touched it, he burst into all his colors at once,
shining like a little swimming rainbow. Far away deep in
the sea, Coral Bay lit up with a thousand lights,
as if to welcome him home. I'm home. I'm shining again,
cried Brillo. Happy. Thank you, my friends. You helped me
with patience without ever giving up. Now I know I
wasn't wrong. I just needed a little help. It's little teary,
but she was smiling. The traveling turtle clapped with her
fins and of course started telling a very long story
about a crab who could dance the waltz. The children
were tired, but happy and so oh chew, chew chew.
Here came Toby the magic train, coming back to get them.
Before leaving, with his little musical voice, he said in rhyme,
what a lovely adventure, What a special night. You helped
a little friend and made everything right with patience and care.
His colors came back for helping with love, keeps us
right on the track. Now all aboard, it's time for
a rest with a star in your heart. Sweet dreams
are the best. The children climbed aboard, waving goodbye to Brillow,
who swam happily in his colorful bay. The train raced
among the stars, gentle and safe, taking them home, while
the full moon watched over them. And that night they
all dreamed of a path of stars on the water,
and a little fish that shone with all the colors
of the world.