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Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a wizard who was a very good artist. He owned a set of magic crayons in all colors - red, yellow, green, black, white and even electric lime. The wizard had trained his crayons for so long that there wasn't a set of crayons in the whole turf that could sketch as expertly as the wizard's set.
Every night, before going to sleep, the wizard would set out a fresh piece of parchment and an oil lamp on his work table. As the oil in the lamp slowly burned away, the crayon sticks would climb out of their box, work their magic on the parchment all night and would retreat back into their cases at the break of dawn. The wizard would wake up the next morning to find the most beautiful drawings on his table. He would pile them up and sell them from his cart. Hordes of people came to buy the wizard's sketches, for they were absolutely bewitching! After he'd sold the last sketch, he'd return home, have supper, and retire to a night of more magic.
One such night, as the magic crayons glided about the parchment, BLUE saw something that started a huge quarrel. She saw a green leaf in the river she'd just drawn so flawlessly, and that steamed her up.
"GREEN! What's this leaf doing in the river?"-yelled BLUE at GREEN, who was working intently at a mango tree by the river.
"The wind blew it there." he said uncaringly, and went back to work.
"There is no wind!" said BLUE, bristling with rage.
BROWN, who was never very fond of GREEN, took this opportunity to convey his displeasure.
"Isn't GREEN always like this? He cares nothing for our hard work!"
"Excuse me for wanting our sketches to look good!" retorted GREEN. All the slander was beginning to get to him.
RED admired GREEN for his dedication and supported him.
"Why is everyone so mad at GREEN? All he did was sketch a leaf!" said she.
And, thus, began a battle between the crayons. Soon, all the colors took sides, even those that didn't want to, for the fear of being left out. They worked on different sketches, on different sheets. So, when the wizard woke up next morning, he found trees without leaves, and night sky without stars. People refused to buy the drawings, for what are trees without leaves and what is a night sky without stars?
The crayons kept at it and the wizard kept losing customers day by day. Soon, he was poor and miserable. He tried drawing with normal crayons, but they weren't any good. He tried casting spells on them, but they weren't nearly as good as his magic crayons. The wizard lost apetite, sleep and hope. He wandered through the house, day and night, looking like a ghost. This upset the magic crayons, and one evening, BLUE walked upto GREEN and said-"Look, I am sorry. You may draw as many leaves as you want. But we have got to work together, atleast for the wizard's sake!"
"I am sorry too. I realise now that I should have asked."
The friends shook hands, much to the relief of all the crayons. That night, they worked together and produced the best sketches ever.
The wizard woke up next morning, and found a heap of sketches on the table. He looked at them, and was thrilled to bits. He took them out to his cart, and the sketches sold like hot cakes.
The crayons learnt the value of team work and compromise, and never fought again.
Jeffy Joseph
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