TITLE: THE LOCKED COLORS November 11, 2015 By Lisa Enqvist 11/11/15 |
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The Queen of a beautiful island cared deeply about all who lived there.
One day terrifying clouds covered the sky.
The Palace Gardener heard strange quarreling voices. He did not know where they came from.
“I am the most beautiful color you can find!”
“No, you are not! I am the loveliest color!”
“You two think that you are the most beautiful, but just look at me!”
“You are all wrong! Without me, none of you would be worth anything!”
The colors disappeared one by one until it was too dark to see anything.
All the colors vanished.
The Gardener stumbled into the kitchen. As he went in he heard a horrible laugh.
The sound seemed to come from everywhere.
“Now I, Darkness the Great, am the Ruler of this Island. I lured the colors to do what I wanted them to do. Now they have locked each other into the bottomless pit. They will never get out. Black now guards the way in to the pit. No one can escape.”
Soon everything was as black as the clouds. No one dared to go out. The Queen was worried.
No fire burned, no candle glowed. Even the moon and stars had lost their light.
When the Queen heard the story she cried.
“We can’t let our Island die. I must go out and find Black and ask him to free all the other colors.”
The King tried to stop her. How could she find Black when everything was black?
At last he let her go.
The Queen took a stick along. She did not want to trip over anything in the dark.
Everything seemed dead.
Suddenly her stick struck something hard. A voice grumbled in the darkness,
“Who hit me?”
“Who are you?” the Queen asked.
“I am Black, the most beautiful color. I was chosen to keep the bottomless pit closed.
No color can escape from there.”
“You are just the one I’m looking for. I need your help.”
“How can I help you? I have been changed to stone. I cannot move,” said Black.
The Queen said, “I heard that you have the key to the other colors. Give me your key so I can release them. We can’t let our Island die in darkness.”
“When Darkness transformed me I lost my key. If you find it you may use it,” Black promised.
The Queen began searching. She poked her stick around in the dark. She hoped that she would hear the sound of metal. It was impossible to find the key in such deep darkness.
The Queen had come to a tiny hut. She heard the voice of an old woman saying,
“My Grandma had a secret key. Even the rustiest locks would open if one used her secret.”
The Queen stood still and hoped to hear some more. The voice continued.
“A kind word can open all locks.”
What a strange key, the Queen thought. Could she use it to free the colors?
When she found Black again she knew what to say.
“Black, I think you are beautiful, but I cannot see you clearly. I want to see you as you are.”
Just then the stone rolled away from the mouth of the bottomless crater.
Black said,
“You will need Light to see me properly. I believed the lie Darkness told me. He said I would rule the Island if I obeyed him. Instead I became his slave.”
Black disappeared into the deep hole and cried out,
“Light, no one can live without you! I want to see you clearly. I want to be seen as I am.”
Light appeared immediately. The Queen was almost blinded by the sudden brightness.
She knew that her work was not yet done. She said,
“Black, I believe that you will look even better together with another color. Try my key.”
Black went to another door in the pit.
The Queen heard him say,
“Yellow, forgive me for getting infuriated when you were always happy. I need to see you clearly.”
In a moment Yellow appeared, dancing with joy.
The stars came out. They too were clapping their hands with delight.
The Queen asked Yellow to use the same key to set another color free.
Yellow had been jealous of Red. She always caught everyone’s attention wherever she was.
While Yellow sat in solid darkness, he had longed for Red’s warmth and love.
Now he was glad to use the Secret Key and tell her,
”Red, I have missed you so much. I want to see you clearly.”
Red was released at once. She came out, ready to hug both Black and Yellow.
Red was sent to free the following color. The others heard her asking Blue,
"Blue, can you forgive me? I have been envious of you spreading your color over all the skies and oceans. I have longed for you. I want to see you clearly."
Blue appeared like a great big balloon and was ready to paint the skies again.
The Queen called him back.
“Before you fly up, go and see if there is another color locked up in the crater.”
Blue went down again and was heard saying,
”Green, forgive me for accusing you for stealing colors from me and from Yellow. Now I want to see you as you are!”
Green was set free at once and flew up to a dry branch on a tree. Soon everything began to grow again. All the colors found their own places. They understood how their quarrel had caused harm to everyone.
The Queen had been so busy freeing all the colors; she had not noticed the dark clouds had vanished. She looked around at the beauty that was returning to the island.
As the last black cloud disappeared, a distant voice rumbled,
“I have lost my power over the colors. Now they are all encouraging each other more than ever. There is no place for me. Light has triumphed over Darkness.”
996 words
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