The day the rainbow lost its colours
The Day the Rainbow Lost Its Colours
An Aura Explorers Island Adventure
Something was wrong with Rainbow Rapids.
Very wrong.
Ava noticed it first.
She was walking towards Explorer Dock with Max and Elsie when she suddenly stopped in the middle of the path.
Max walked straight into her.
"Ouch! Why did you stop?"
Ava pointed.
"Look."
In the distance, the enormous rainbow that stretched over Rainbow Rapids was completely grey.
Max stared at it.
"Has it always looked like that?"
"No!"
"I don't really pay attention to rainbows."
"How do you not pay attention to a giant rainbow?"
Max shrugged.
Elsie was already running.
"Come on!"
They raced towards Rainbow Rapids.
When they arrived, things were even stranger than they had expected.
The red rocks weren't red.
The yellow flowers weren't yellow.
The bright blue water wasn't blue.
Everything was grey.
Even the colourful little boats were grey.
Max looked down at himself.
"My jumper!"
His bright blue jumper had turned grey too.
Elsie gasped.
"My backpack!"
Grey.
Ava looked at her hands.
Even her purple nail varnish had disappeared.
"This is bad," she said.
"Very bad," Elsie agreed.
Max frowned.
"I quite like grey."
Ava and Elsie stared at him.
"What?"
Suddenly—
POP!
Something dropped out of the rainbow and landed directly on Max's head.
"OW!"
A tiny glass bottle rolled onto the ground.
Inside was one single drop of bright red liquid.
A label was tied around the top.
Ava picked it up and read it aloud.
THE COLOURS HAVE BEEN TAKEN.
FIND SEVEN BEFORE SUNSET,
OR GREY IS HERE TO STAY.
Max looked around.
"Still don't hate the grey."
"MAX!"
"Fine! We'll save the colours."
On the other side of the label was a clue.
RED HIDES WHERE STORIES ARE READ.
"The Story Nook!" said Elsie.
They ran.
When they reached the Story Nook, it was completely grey.
Grey books.
Grey cushions.
Grey walls.
Even the usually bright orange cat sleeping on the windowsill had turned grey.
The cat didn't seem bothered.
They searched everywhere.
Under tables.
Behind books.
Inside cupboards.
Max even checked underneath the cat.
The cat was extremely bothered by that.
"Nothing," said Max.
Elsie pulled a red book from the shelf.
"What about this?"
The book was grey too.
But when she opened it—
WHOOSH!
A burst of red light shot into the air.
A tiny red ball of colour zipped around the room.
"GET IT!"
The three Explorers chased it.
Over the sofa.
Under the table.
Around the cat.
"Sorry!"
Finally, Ava grabbed the glass bottle and held it out.
The red light flew inside.
POP!
The bottle glowed bright red.
"One!" shouted Elsie.
Another clue appeared.
ORANGE WAITS WHERE WISHES FALL.
"The Wishing Well!"
They raced across the island.
At the Wishing Well, they peered over the edge.
Far below, something orange was glowing.
"How are we supposed to get down there?" asked Max.
Ava spotted the bucket.
"We don't."
They lowered the bucket into the well.
Splash.
"Little more."
Max lowered it.
"More."
"How deep IS this well?"
"MORE!"
Suddenly—
WHOOSH!
The bucket flew upwards by itself.
Max fell backwards.
An orange ball of light shot out and zoomed straight into their bottle.
POP!
Two colours.
The next clue appeared.
YELLOW SLEEPS BENEATH THE STARS.
"Starlight Sanctuary!"
Off they went again.
They found yellow curled up inside one of the enormous star-shaped cushions.
Green was hiding beneath a mossy log in Wonder Woods.
Blue had somehow ended up at the very bottom of Crystal Caverns.
Getting that one involved Max crawling through a very small tunnel.
"I'M STUCK!"
"Keep wriggling!" shouted Ava.
"I AM WRIGGLING!"
Eventually, two muddy boots appeared.
Elsie grabbed one.
Ava grabbed the other.
"PULL!"
They pulled.
Max shot out of the tunnel.
POP!
He landed on the ground holding the blue light.
"My trousers are ripped."
"But you found blue!"
"My trousers. Are. Ripped."
"We'll fix them at Creativity Cove."
Which, luckily, was exactly where purple was hiding.
They found it inside an enormous pot of paint.
Unfortunately, Max found it by sitting in the pot.
SPLAT!
Ava stared at him.
Elsie stared at him.
Max slowly stood up.
Purple paint dripped from his hair.
"Nobody say anything."
Ava pressed her lips together.
Elsie's cheeks puffed out.
"Don't."
Elsie snorted.
Then Ava started laughing.
Within seconds, both girls were lying on the ground.
Even Max started laughing.
"Fine," he said. "I look ridiculous."
"Completely ridiculous," said Ava.
They captured purple.
Six colours.
Only one remained.
Red.
Orange.
Yellow.
Green.
Blue.
Purple.
Elsie counted again.
"We're missing..."
"Indigo," said Ava.
The final clue appeared.
But this one was different.
THE LAST COLOUR HIDES
WHERE MOST EXPLORERS
WON'T GO AFTER DARK.
All three slowly turned towards the distant crooked trees.
Mystic Hollow.
Max sighed.
"Why is it ALWAYS Mystic Hollow?"
The sun was already beginning to disappear.
They didn't have long.
By the time they reached Mystic Hollow, everything was almost dark.
Lanterns flickered between the trees.
The old cottages creaked.
Something howled in the distance.
Max moved closer to Ava.
"Probably a dog."
"Probably."
Another howl echoed through the trees.
"Big dog."
They followed a faint indigo glow deeper into the Hollow.
It led them to an old crooked cottage.
The door was open.
Ava pushed it.
Creeeeeeak.
"Hello?"
No answer.
They stepped inside.
The glow was coming from upstairs.
Slowly, they climbed.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
At the top was one tiny room.
In the corner sat a little creature.
It was holding the indigo light.
The creature had enormous ears, tiny wings and a tail twice as long as its body.
When it saw the Explorers, it hugged the colour tightly.
"Please don't take it."
The Explorers stopped.
"You can talk?" asked Max.
The creature nodded.
"Why do you have the colour?" Elsie asked.
The creature looked down.
"Because I don't have one."
Ava frowned.
"What do you mean?"
The creature stretched out its wings.
They were grey.
Its fur was grey.
Its tail was grey.
"Everyone on the island has beautiful colours," it whispered. "The flowers. The crystals. The rainbow. Even the fish."
It looked at the glowing indigo light.
"I just wanted one colour of my own."
Elsie sat beside it.
"But when you took one, all the others disappeared too."
The creature's ears drooped.
"I didn't know."
Outside, the last tiny piece of sun was disappearing.
"We have to put them back," said Ava.
The creature looked at the indigo light.
Then slowly held it out.
"I'm sorry."
Elsie took it.
Then she smiled.
"Come with us."
They ran.
Out of Mystic Hollow.
Along the Treasure Trail.
Past Courage Crossing.
Through Wonder Woods.
"FASTER!" shouted Max.
"I'm running as fast as I can!"
The sun touched the horizon.
They reached Rainbow Rapids.
The giant rainbow was still grey.
Ava held up the bottle.
"Now what?"
Nobody knew.
The seven colours swirled inside.
The final piece of sunlight began to disappear.
"Maybe we throw it?" suggested Max.
"No!"
"Pour it?"
"Maybe!"
Elsie pulled out the stopper.
Nothing happened.
The colours stayed inside.
The little grey creature stepped forward.
"Rainbows belong in the sky."
It took the bottle.
And threw it as high as it could.
The bottle spun through the air.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Then—
POP!
It burst.
Seven colours exploded across the sky.
Red.
Orange.
Yellow.
Green.
Blue.
Indigo.
Purple.
They raced across Rainbow Rapids.
The river turned bright blue.
The flowers burst into colour.
The boats changed.
The rocks changed.
A wave of colour rushed across the entire island.
Through Wonder Woods.
Across Creativity Cove.
Into Crystal Caverns.
Over Starlight Sanctuary.
All the way to Explorer Dock.
Max looked down.
"My jumper!"
Blue again.
"My backpack!" shouted Elsie.
Purple.
Ava looked towards the little creature.
Its fur was still grey.
Its wings were still grey.
It stared at the rainbow.
"That's okay," it whispered.
Then something extraordinary happened.
A tiny drop of indigo fell from the rainbow.
It floated down...
down...
down...
and landed right on the creature's nose.
POP!
Its nose turned bright indigo.
The creature went cross-eyed trying to look at it.
Max burst out laughing.
Elsie found a little mirror in her backpack and held it up.
The creature stared at its reflection.
Then it smiled the biggest smile the Explorers had ever seen.
"My nose!"
"Looks good," said Max.
"Very fashionable," Ava agreed.
The creature danced around Rainbow Rapids.
"I HAVE AN INDIGO NOSE!"
The Explorers laughed.
Above them, the rainbow glowed brighter than ever.
And from that day on, if you ever visited Mystic Hollow, you might spot a little grey creature with an extremely bright indigo nose.
Although you would probably hear it first.
Because it told absolutely everyone about it.
Even people who didn't ask.
And Rainbow Rapids?
It never lost its colours again.
Well...
almost never.
But that's another story.
The End