Laura Castillo was a little girl with bright red boots. She was kind, curious, and a tiny bit shy. One rainy morning, Laura visited the Magical Art Gallery with her Teddy Bear.
The gallery was full of big pictures. There was a blue whale picture. There was a yellow sun picture. There was a pink cake picture, too.
“Hello, colors!” said Laura.
“Hello!” said Teddy Bear. Teddy loved saying hello. He also loved honey sandwiches.
Then Laura saw the Queen and the Princess. The Queen wore a silver crown. The Princess wore a purple cape and had a paintbrush in her pocket.
“Oh dear,” said the Queen. “All the colors are going away.”
Laura looked around. The blue whale was becoming gray. The yellow sun was becoming gray. Even the pink cake was gray.
“No, no, no!” said Teddy Bear. “Gray cake looks like a sad rock.”
The Princess nodded. “The Crystal Guardian has closed the Color Door. He thinks the gallery is too noisy.”
At the end of the hall stood the Color Door. It sparkled, but it was shut. In front of it stood the Crystal Guardian. He was tall and shiny. His crystal arms made a little clink-clink sound.
“Stop!” he said. “No more colors.”
Laura felt small. Her boots went tap, tap. But she took Teddy Bear’s paw.
“Why are you sad?” Laura asked softly.
The Crystal Guardian looked down. “People rush past my crystal room. Nobody looks at my tiny stars. Nobody says hello.”
Laura had an idea. She was shy, but she was brave, too.
“Can we look?” she asked.
The Guardian opened one crystal hand. Inside were very small stars. They twinkled like little sleepy lights.
“Oh!” said Laura. “They are beautiful.”
The Queen bent down. “Beautiful little stars,” she said.
The Princess smiled. “Let us make a picture for them.”
Teddy Bear clapped. “And maybe a honey-colored moon!”
So they worked together. Laura painted a round moon. The Princess painted soft purple clouds. The Queen painted gold stars. Teddy Bear put one careful brown pawprint at the bottom.
“Oops,” said Teddy Bear.
“It is perfect,” Laura said.
The Crystal Guardian watched. His face was still serious. Then one tiny star in his hand went twinkle. Then another went twinkle-twinkle.
“For me?” he asked.
“For you,” said Laura.
The Guardian’s crystal smile appeared. “Thank you for seeing my stars.”
He opened the Color Door with a gentle clink.
Whoosh! Blue flew back to the whale. Yellow jumped onto the sun. Pink danced onto the cake. Red, green, orange, and purple swirled all around the gallery.
The pictures sang, “Color is back! Color is back!”
The Queen gave Laura a small box. Inside was a crystal star pin with a tiny golden moon.
“For the brave girl who stopped and looked,” said the Queen.
Laura pinned it onto her red coat. It shone brightly.
The Princess gave Teddy Bear a honey sandwich. “For your excellent pawprint.”
Teddy Bear took one happy bite. “Best art snack ever!”
Laura waved to the Crystal Guardian. “Goodbye, friend.”
“Goodbye, Laura Castillo,” he said. “Come see the stars anytime.”
Laura walked home in her red boots. Tap, tap, tap. Her new crystal star glimmered. And whenever she saw something small and lovely, Laura stopped, looked, and said, “Hello.”