[Jessari]

"Come on, come on!"

A cute little girl ran across the beach, her shoes making tiny indentations in the black sand. Her chest heaved as she struggled to draw breath into her burning lungs. She had, at one time, been dressed in a pretty dress, all pink and purple pastels, with yellow shoes and a golden bow holding back her silky blue hair. Now it was all pale shades of grey. She had been so proud of her new outfit, so excited to show it off. She had cried when she had first realized that all the color had drained right out of it.

[Jessari]

Now she was near tears again, and not because of the lack of color. Rather, it was because she had 'found' color. Clutched tightly to her chest was what appeared to be a large, cobalt-colored leaf. Every few steps, it seemed to wiggle, as though it was trying to burst from her tiny arms. But her grip was firm. She had found color, and although she didn't know what she was supposed to do with it, she knew she did not want to let it go. Especially since it seemed that everyone who saw it was determined to take it from her!

[Jessari]

The leaf squeaked against her chest.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said breathlessly. "We're almost there."

Just a little further down the beach, she could see what she had been looking for: The Waterfront Fair. Her pace picked up, and her little legs churned faster as she moved toward it. Her parents had brought her here every summer since she had turned five - which meant she had been here a total of two times so far. She knew if she could just reach the fair, she would be safe. And if she was really lucky, her parents would meet her there.

[Jessari]

The little girl slowed down as she approached the fair. It seemed deserted, and no wonder. Who would want to come to a colorless fair? The tents and banners, which had all been so bright just a day ago, were white and grey. The signs advertising various events and shows were decorated with letters and images that were colored a gloomy dark grey. It kinda reminded her of when she'd been over her grandma's house, and an old black-and-white show had been on TV. She remembered how her grandma had laughed when she had asked what was wrong with her TV.

[Jessari]

It hadn't seemed funny then, and it didn't seem funny now, either.

The little girl climbed over the barriers that had been placed around the entrance. She passed the empty ticket booth and ducked under the turnstiles. There really wasn't much to keep people out, but as she had noticed before, who would want to come in right now?

"Mom? Dad?" she called, not quite as loudly as she could. She hadn't forgotten about the men who were following them. The ones who wanted to use their phone thingies to suck the color out of her new friend. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'll protect you."

[Jessari]

No one answered her. The little girl sniffled a little bit, but did not cry. She had to be a big girl. She had to protect her friend. Speaking of which...

"Are you hungry?" she asked it, letting her arms loosen so she could look it in the face. It smiled and wiggled its limbs, making a cute little sound that sounded a lot like, "Meep!"

The little girl took that to mean yes. "Okay. Just gimme a minute. I know of the perfect place!"

She looked around, her shoulder-length hair bobbing around her face. Now, which way was she supposed to go?

[Jessari]

As she walked, she kept sneaking glances at the blue leaf. It was hard to explain, especially for a child, but she couldn't seem to stop looking at it. It was like asking a man lost in the desert to stop taking sips from his water flask. It was like her very soul was starved for color. How could anyone want to take its color away? How could anyone think that was okay?

She patted the blue leaf on what she supposed was the top of its head. "You're so cute. You know, when I find my parents, they'll probably let you come home with us. They won't let anything bad happen to you!"

[Jessari]

"Meep meep!" said the leaf excitedly.

It was then that the booth she'd been looking for came into view. She gave a squeak of joy and ran forward. "Look, Leafy! Cotton candy!"

She reached up and set the blue leaf on the counter, then hoisted herself up as well. Standing atop the counter, she took down a couple of the big plastic bags, filled with grey cloudlike material, and handed one to her new friend. "Look," she said, pinching off a little piece. "This is how you eat it. Omnomnom!"

She put the cotton candy in her mouth, making exaggerated chewing motions.

[Jessari]

The blue leaf watched her for a moment, then plucked a tiny piece of for itself and stuffed it in its mouth. As the sugary substance hit its tongue, its dark eyes widened. "Meeeeep!" it squeaked loudly, bouncing up and down.

Before the little girl knew what was happening, the leaf had torn into the bag and buried its face in the cloud of cotton candy. Sitting on the counter, she kicked her feet and giggled as the leaf turned into a blue blur that quickly made the cotton candy disappear. "You'll get a tummy ache! That's what my momma always tells me when I eat that fast."

[Jessari]

The sound of footsteps made them both pause. The little girl jumped down behind the counter, pulling the leaf, bag and all, off the counter with her. She set it carefully on the ground, and put a finger to her lips, shushing it.

A shadow appeared over the counter, and then a voice said, "Lily-bit? is that you?"

The little girl jumped up and nearly flew over the counter into the arms of the young woman who stood there. "Auntie Nadine!" she cried. "I didn't know you were still here!"

"I work here, silly," said the young woman. "I just stopped by to check and make sure no one had broken in. Guess someone did."

[Color Harvested]

[Jessari]

The little girl's face turned serious. "Oh, Auntie, it's been aweful! There were some mean men who chased us, and they were going to steal its color, and I saved it, and we came here, and I didn't mean to steal the cotton candy, but we were hungry, and I thought maybe they wouldn't mind if momma and daddy paid for it later and-"

"What do you mean, we?" Nadine had been laughing as the little girl rambled on, but halted her as that little word sunk in.

"Oh, me and my new friend. See? Right there! The mean men were going to use something to suck its color out, but that seemed so mean, so I saved it."

She puffed her chest out proudly as she said so.

[Jessari]

Nadine peered over the counter, her mouth gaping as she caught sight of the first bit of color she had seen in over 24 hours. "Oh my," she gasped. Then she smiled widely and hugged the little girl tightly. "Lily-bit, you have done an amazing thing! Now, let's get you back to your parents. They have been worried sick about you. Then we can get your friend to someone who can both protect him and use him to help bring color back to the world."

"He can really help bring all the color back? Yay!" The little girl cheered. The blue leaf just looked up and smiled, bits of cotton candy stuck all over its face.

"MEEP!"