Bramble pushed through the tall ferns. Something round and wooden waited by the sparkling stream. It creaked open. A click-click-click came from inside.
A rainbow smear of crayons tumbled into the moss. Bramble's paw hovered over them. The click-click-click grew louder, as if the box were waiting.
Bramble grabbed a yellow crayon and dragged it across a gray mushroom. It glowed like a tiny sun! Color bled onto a flower petal. It unfurled in a burst of orange.
Bramble scrambled from patch to patch, leaving color behind every step. Then Bramble dashed to a gray stone and rubbed hard with a blue crayon. But the blue slid right off.
Bramble stomped both paws. CRACK! The crayon snapped in half. A red half rolled toward a puddle and started wiggling. It looked exactly like a little worm.
Bramble lifted the box high and held it toward a cluster of bare branches. A flock of goldfinches landed. Each took a crayon. The branches exploded into every color at once!
The birds chirped and kept coloring. The whole clearing pulsed with light. Bramble watched the goldfinches trade crayons and chitter above the rainbow trees.
Bramble sat on a rainbow-spotted log and watched the forest gleam. Everything sparkled. A fresh pink petal drifted down from above.
The pink petal landed on Bramble's nose. Its whiskers twitched — once, twice — and then Bramble grinned a wide, happy grin.
The goldfinches chittered above. The forest gleamed. And Bramble, surrounded by every color, sat very still and very happy.
