Demi,

You always told me I should turn this story into a book. So, here it is!! I hope your little one enjoys it as much as you did.

Love you, Mom

Written & Illustrated

BY

Cheryl Driscoll

     Once upon a time, there was a small village surrounded by a beautiful forest. All of the people who lived in the village wore colorful clothing with lots of blue, pink, red and yellow. All of the houses were painted in bright colors and surrounded with flower gardens with purple, green, orange and gold. Wonderful colors could be seen everywhere. The people of the village were so happy, that laughter and singing could be heard for miles. 

     To the West of the village lived a little girl named Demi. She lived on a farm and worked very hard growing vegetables and gathering water from her well to care for her animals. Every week, Demi would take her vegetables to the village. She would sell her vegetables at the market and use the money she had earned to buy a basket of colorful flowers to take home.

     To the East of the village, lived a bitter, grumpy witch. Her home was very drab. The color on her home had faded long ago. The flowers in her garden had wilted. The birds in the trees had flown to the colorful village to join the singing there. And the Pegasus, that she had captured years ago, had broken free and happily flown away to live in the forest near the colorful village. 

    The grumpy witch was very jealous of the village. She would sit at night by the fire, listening to the people of the village laughing and singing. Oh how she hated it! She would often go to the village and warn the people that one day they would be as sad as her. She would fly back home angry and even more jealous than before. The witch decided she would punish the village. 

   One night, the witch swooped down on the village as the people slept and stole all their beautiful colors. She bundled the colors and rushed deep into the forest. Being very tricky, she hid the colors away knowing the colors would never be seen again. The grumpy witch ran far away taking the secret of where she hid the colors with her. She was never seen again.

When the villagers woke the next morning, they saw that all of their colors were gone. The once colorful houses and colorful gardens were now black, white and gray. Even their clothes were drab and colorless. All of the laughter and singing came to an immediate stop and sadness filled the air. 

 When Demi came to the village the next morning to buy flowers, she could not believe her eyes. Where were the beautiful colors? Where was the singing? Where was the laughter? 

     Everyone knew this was the work of the jealous witch. But, nobody knew were she had hidden the bundle of colors. With Demi's help the villagers looked for hours but, the colors could not be found. 

    For years it remained a village without color. Without the colorful flowers to decorate her farm, Demi's home became as sad as the village. As the years past, one by one the villagers stopped looking for the witch's hiding place and gave up hope of ever finding their beautiful colors again.