Lady Raven was a little superhero with a soft black cape and shiny red boots. She lived high, high up in the Celestial Observatory. The observatory had round windows, silver stairs, and a big golden telescope.
Every night, Lady Raven waved to the stars.
“Hello, small star!” she said.
“Hello, bright moon!” she said.
One night, the stars went pale.
Their blue, pink, and yellow colors were gone.
The sky looked gray.
“Oh dear,” said Lady Raven. “The sky needs help.”
A door went whoosh.
In floated Astral Traveler. Astral Traveler wore a puffy space coat and carried a tiny star map. He was kind, curious, and a little bit silly. His boots did not touch the floor. Boing. Boing. Boing.
“I saw a silver puff fly away,” said Astral Traveler. “It went past the Moon Room.”
Lady Raven put on her superhero mask.
“Then we will follow it!” she said.
They climbed the silver stairs. Up, up, up.
They passed a sleepy comet.
“Good night,” yawned the comet.
They passed three little moons playing ball.
“Do not bump the telescope!” they called.
At the top was the Moon Room. It was full of mirrors. In every mirror, Lady Raven looked funny. One Lady Raven had huge ears. One had teeny boots. One had a noodle-shaped cape.
Astral Traveler giggled.
“Your cape looks like spaghetti!”
Lady Raven giggled too. “Silly mirrors!”
Then a voice said, “Hee-hee-hee!”
Out popped Illusionist. He wore a purple hat with stars on it. He held a silver puff in his hand.
“I made the colors disappear,” said Illusionist. “Now the sky is my gray picture!”
Lady Raven stood tall.
“Stars like their colors,” she said. “Please give them back.”
Illusionist shook his head. “No, no, no!”
He waved his hand.
Poof!
The room became a pretend jungle.
Big pretend vines tickled Astral Traveler’s nose.
“Achoo!” he said.
Lady Raven looked closely. A real vine would feel scratchy. These vines felt like soft clouds.
“They are not real,” she said.
She blew a brave superhero puff.
“Whoooosh!”
The pretend jungle vanished.
Illusionist made a pretend ocean.
Splash! Splash!
A big pretend fish wore a hat.
Astral Traveler started to worry.
Lady Raven held his hand.
“Look at my boots,” she said. “They are dry. This ocean is a trick.”
Together they stomped.
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
The pretend ocean popped like a bubble.
Illusionist frowned. “You see my tricks too well.”
Then he made the biggest trick of all. He made a gray cloud around the golden telescope. The telescope could not see the stars.
Lady Raven felt small for one tiny moment.
But she took a slow breath.
In. Out.
“I can be brave slowly,” she said.
Astral Traveler opened his star map. On it was a picture of a rainbow button.
“The telescope has a Color Button!” he cried. “It is behind the cloud.”
Lady Raven flew up. Her black cape flapped.
Flap, flap, flap!
She did not hit the cloud. She did not punch the cloud. She sang to it.
“Gray cloud, gray cloud, move aside.
Pretty colors want to ride.”
Astral Traveler sang too, a little off-key.
“Ride, ride, ride!”
The gray cloud wiggled. It liked the song. It drifted away.
There was the rainbow button, round and bright.
Lady Raven pressed it.
Click!
The golden telescope shone a warm golden beam into the sky.
Blue came back.
Pink came back.
Yellow came back.
Green, orange, and purple came back too.
The stars sparkled happily.
“Thank you, Lady Raven!” they chimed.
Illusionist looked at his silver puff. “My gray picture is gone.” His voice sounded sad.
Lady Raven came close.
“You can make fun pictures,” she said. “But do not take things that belong to everyone.”
Illusionist nodded. “Can I make a picture with colors?”
“Yes,” said Lady Raven. “Make it kind.”
So Illusionist made a tiny rainbow dragon. It sneezed little glittery hearts. Astral Traveler laughed so hard that he floated upside down.
For being brave, clever, and kind, the stars gave Lady Raven a treasure. It was a Rainbow Star Badge. It had seven bright stripes and a small silver bell.
Lady Raven pinned it on her cape.
Ting-ting!
“Lady Raven, Color Hero!” said Astral Traveler.
Lady Raven smiled at the bright sky. “We helped together.”
Then everyone watched the stars. The observatory was cozy. The moon was round. And Lady Raven’s new badge twinkled all night long.