In the warm Greenbell Jungle lived a boy named Imran. Imran was small, curious, and kind. He wore bright yellow boots because puddles made him happy. On his back he carried a little blue bag. Inside were a banana, a red pencil, three smooth stones, and his best friend, Teddy Bear.
Teddy Bear was round, soft, and very proud of his tiny explorer hat. He loved jokes, honey biscuits, and saying, “A good plan needs a snack!” Imran loved Teddy Bear’s silly ideas, even when they were very silly.
One morning, the jungle looked strange.
The parrots were gray.
The flowers were gray.
Even the big waterfall was gray like cloudy soup.
“Oh dear,” said Imran. “Where did all the colors go?”
From the tallest tree came a rumbling sound.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
A Giant stepped from behind the vines. He was enormous. His hair looked like a bush, and his feet made little ponds in the soft ground. In one huge hand, he held a shining glass jar. Inside the jar swirled red, blue, yellow, orange, and green light.
“I took the jungle’s colors,” grumbled the Giant. “They were too bright. They tickled my eyes when I tried to nap.”
Imran held Teddy Bear close. He felt a little scared, but he stood straight in his yellow boots.
“Mr. Giant,” he said politely, “the jungle needs its colors. The birds cannot find their berries. The bees cannot find their flowers. And my boots look very sad without yellow.”
The Giant frowned. “I need quiet sleep. No bright colors. No buzzing. No chirping.”
Teddy Bear whispered, “Maybe he needs a nap hat! Or twelve nap hats!”
Imran almost giggled. Then he had an idea.
“Will you give the colors back if we make you a calm, cozy place to sleep?” asked Imran.
The Giant scratched his leafy head. “A cozy place? With no tickles?”
“No tickles,” promised Imran.
The Giant pointed toward Misty Hill. “Bring me three things: a soft cloud-leaf, a quiet river song, and one moonflower that glows gently. Then I will think about it.”
“Adventure time!” cried Teddy Bear.
Imran and Teddy Bear walked under gray palms. The jungle sounded sad. A monkey searched for his yellow bananas. A ladybug could not see her red spots. Imran waved to them.
“We will bring the colors back,” he said.
First, they came to a pond covered with giant lily pads. In the middle grew the soft cloud-leaf. It was silver-gray and fluffy as a pillow.
But a little frog sat beside it, crying.
“Ribbit,” sniffled the frog. “I cannot jump across the pond. I cannot see which lily pads are safe.”
Imran looked carefully. He took his red pencil from his blue bag. He drew tiny arrows on the lily pads that did not wobble.
“This way,” said Imran.
The frog hopped. Plip! Plop! Plip! He reached the cloud-leaf safely.
“Thank you!” said the frog. “Please take the leaf. It is soft because kindness makes it grow.”
Imran tucked the cloud-leaf into his bag. Teddy Bear patted it and sighed. “Oh, that is a very fine pillow. I will not nap on it. Probably.”
Next they followed the river. Usually it sang, “Trickle-tickle, splash-splash!” But today it made no sound at all.
At a bend in the water, they found three baby otters. A pile of sticks had blocked their little stream.
“We cannot hear our mama’s river song,” squeaked the smallest otter.
Imran rolled up his sleeves. Teddy Bear pushed with his fuzzy paws. The otters tugged sticks with their teeth. Push, pull, wiggle, splash!
At last, the sticks floated away.
The river began to sing again. “Trickle-tickle, splash-splash!” Its song was soft and sweet.
Imran held out one smooth stone from his bag. The river’s song curled around it like a blue ribbon. The stone hummed gently.
“A quiet river song,” said Teddy Bear. “It is much better than my snoring. Not that I snore.”
“You do,” said Imran.
“I make brave bear noises,” said Teddy Bear.
Finally, they climbed Misty Hill. At the top, under a sleepy old tree, grew one moonflower. It had closed its petals tight.
“Please open,” Imran said. “We need your gentle glow.”
But the moonflower did not move.
Then a gray parrot fluttered down. “The flower opens only when it hears a happy color song,” it said.
“Oh,” said Teddy Bear. “We have no colors.”
Imran thought of the jungle before it turned gray. He thought of red berries, blue water, golden sunlight, and green leaves dancing in the wind. He began to sing in a soft voice.
“Red for the berries,
Blue for the stream,
Yellow for sunshine,
Green for a dream.”
Teddy Bear joined in, a little too loudly.
“Orange for pumpkins!
Purple for peas!
Pink for my hat—
If I had one, please!”
The parrot laughed. The otters clapped their paws. Even the wind made a whooshy tune.
Slowly, the moonflower opened. In its middle shone a small pearl of silver light. It was not bright or sharp. It was gentle, like a night-light.
Imran carefully placed the moonflower in his blue bag.
“We have all three things!” he said.
Back they went to the Giant. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The Giant was waiting beside the gray waterfall, rubbing his tired eyes.
Imran gave him the cloud-leaf. The Giant placed it beneath his head.
“Soft,” he murmured.
Imran gave him the humming stone. The quiet river song floated around the Giant’s ears.
“Peaceful,” he murmured.
Last, Imran showed him the moonflower. Its gentle glow made a small circle of calm light.
“Not tickly,” said the Giant. “Very nice.”
Then the Giant looked at the gray jungle. He saw the monkey’s sad bananas. He saw the ladybug’s hidden spots. He saw Imran’s yellow boots, which were now only muddy gray.
“I did not know the colors helped everyone,” he said in a small voice. “I only thought about my nap.”
Imran nodded kindly. “Sometimes we all need help. You can ask before taking something.”
Teddy Bear raised one paw. “And you can wear a giant nap mask! I can make one from leaves. It may look like a pancake, but that is fashionable.”
The Giant gave a deep, rumbling laugh. It sounded like thunder that had learned to be friendly.
He opened the glass jar.
WHOOSH!
Red flew to the berries. Blue raced into the river. Yellow jumped onto Imran’s boots. Green danced over every leaf. Orange warmed the sunset flowers. Purple kissed the parrot’s feathers.
The whole jungle sparkled again.
The animals cheered. The monkeys brought bananas. The otters brought shiny shells. The parrots sang a happy song. The ladybugs made a tiny red-and-black parade.
The Giant built a cozy bed under the tallest tree. Imran and Teddy Bear helped cover it with cloud-leaves. The Giant wore a leafy nap mask with two funny holes for his eyes.
Before he slept, the Giant reached into the empty glass jar. At the bottom was one little treasure: a golden compass with a rainbow arrow.
“For you, Imran,” he said. “It points toward anyone in the jungle who needs help.”
Imran’s eyes grew wide. “Thank you!”
Teddy Bear looked at the compass. “Does it point toward honey biscuits too?”
The arrow spun and pointed to Teddy Bear’s own pocket. Inside was a squished biscuit.
“Oh,” said Teddy Bear. “Excellent compass.”
Imran laughed. The Giant laughed. The bright jungle laughed in chirps, splashes, and rustling leaves.
From that day on, Imran became the Jungle Helper with his golden rainbow compass. Whenever it twinkled, he put on his yellow boots, packed Teddy Bear, and set off to help. And each time, the colors of Greenbell Jungle seemed to shine a little brighter.