In tonight's bedtime story for kids, Camo's throwing a parade encouraging all of his school friends to be proud of who they are and show their true colours - just as he learnt when he decided to embrace his rainbow style.
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Narrator 🎙 Abbe Opher
Author ✍️ Luke Prendergast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Kuwala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream. Coco's got his maracas out and wants to
00:00:23
Speaker 1: give a tough thumping happy birthday. Welcome to brothers Attad
00:00:27
Speaker 1: and Kanishk and to Lily from New Zealand for tomorrow.
00:00:31
Speaker 1: Plus happy belated birthday to new Coco Club members May
00:00:35
Speaker 1: from Minnesota who just turned six, and Harrison in Hawaii
00:00:39
Speaker 1: recently turned eight. I have a little message for a
00:00:44
Speaker 1: very sweet little person. He lives in San Francisco and
00:00:48
Speaker 1: is turning six today, a whole big six years old,
00:00:53
Speaker 1: and with the help of our friend Coco, the Koala
00:00:56
Speaker 1: and our stories, he is now happily sleeping in his
00:00:59
Speaker 1: own bed without mom and dad. Go Jad, have a
00:01:03
Speaker 1: very happy birthday from all of us here at sleep HQ.
00:01:07
Speaker 1: Warm wishes for all your birthdays and or welcome to
00:01:11
Speaker 1: the Cocoa Club. We love hearing from your parents about
00:01:14
Speaker 1: how much you're enjoying bedtimes now, so enjoy all the
00:01:18
Speaker 1: extra stories and let us know what you'd like to
00:01:20
Speaker 1: hear more of. We're all ears. Well, that's a funny phrase,
00:01:25
Speaker 1: isn't it. But you know what I mean. In tonight's story,
00:01:28
Speaker 1: we're meeting up with our rainbow striped pal, Camo the Chameleon. Now,
00:01:33
Speaker 1: as you know, Camo went through quite a process to
00:01:36
Speaker 1: become comfortable with his own colors. But now that he's
00:01:39
Speaker 1: learned to be proud of who he is and how
00:01:41
Speaker 1: he looks and feels, he wants to help others learn
00:01:44
Speaker 1: to do the same. So he organizes a parade and
00:01:49
Speaker 1: invites everyone to come along and show off exactly who
00:01:52
Speaker 1: they are, whatever their colors. Let's get started. This is
00:01:57
Speaker 1: Camo the Comedian's Carnival of Color by Luke Prendergast. Camo
00:02:08
Speaker 1: the Chameleon had the most extraordinary ability, which he often
00:02:12
Speaker 1: thought of as his own superpower. He could change his
00:02:16
Speaker 1: skin to be any color imaginable. He could be orange
00:02:20
Speaker 1: as a setting sun or green as grass. He could
00:02:24
Speaker 1: turn his skin banana yellow, or make himself a bright
00:02:28
Speaker 1: gold and covered with glittering silver sparkles. But you know
00:02:32
Speaker 1: what his absolute favorite color to be was. Yep, that's right,
00:02:37
Speaker 1: You've got it. He liked to be every color all
00:02:40
Speaker 1: at once, stripes of red, blue, pink, green, and yellow,
00:02:45
Speaker 1: covering his entire body, so that he looked like a
00:02:49
Speaker 1: brilliant reptilian rainbow. There was a time not so long
00:02:53
Speaker 1: ago that Camo had felt a teensy bit ashamed of
00:02:57
Speaker 1: his brightly colored skin. He'd been afraid that it was
00:03:00
Speaker 1: all a bit too garish, a bit too loud. He
00:03:03
Speaker 1: thought it best not to draw too much attention to himself,
00:03:07
Speaker 1: and so he'd avoided letting his skin be his favorite
00:03:10
Speaker 1: rainbow color. Instead, he chosen to be quieter, more muted
00:03:15
Speaker 1: tones like grays and dark greens. But when he had
00:03:20
Speaker 1: dimmed his colors like that, all of Camo's friends and
00:03:24
Speaker 1: family had told him that he should never be ashamed
00:03:27
Speaker 1: to be exactly who he wanted to be. They'd gone
00:03:31
Speaker 1: out of their way to make him feel very safe
00:03:33
Speaker 1: and loved. And so now Camo walked around proudly with
00:03:37
Speaker 1: his rainbow skin, the skin he felt most comfortable in,
00:03:41
Speaker 1: the skin he called his home. In fact, his friends
00:03:46
Speaker 1: celebrated Camo's technicolor superpowers so much that often they would
00:03:51
Speaker 1: beg him to put on a dazzling show during playtime
00:03:54
Speaker 1: that Sleepy Forest Elementary School, Hamo would stand in the
00:03:59
Speaker 1: middle of the playground, changing from electric blue to pale
00:04:04
Speaker 1: lavender from sea green to black and white stripes just
00:04:09
Speaker 1: like a zebra. His friends would stand there applauding and
00:04:14
Speaker 1: hooting and calling out, how about red and green spots? Camo?
00:04:20
Speaker 1: Or try turning the same color as Coco's ukulele. And
00:04:25
Speaker 1: when the head teacher, who was a wise old owl,
00:04:29
Speaker 1: flew off her perch, ringing her bell and telling everyone
00:04:32
Speaker 1: that it was time to return to lessons, all Camo's
00:04:36
Speaker 1: friends would give him a final hurrah and say they
00:04:41
Speaker 1: couldn't wait for his next display. But one morning, after
00:04:46
Speaker 1: he'd put on a particularly fabulous show and had now
00:04:50
Speaker 1: returned to his favorite rainbow colors, Camo noticed that his
00:04:54
Speaker 1: good pal Prickles the Hedgehog wasn't smiling. He was frowning.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: It was clear to Camo that something was up, so
00:05:04
Speaker 1: Camo sidled up to him and said, Hey, Prickles, is
00:05:09
Speaker 1: something up? Did you not like the show? Oh? No,
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Prickles said, flashing Camo a quick smile. I loved your show.
00:05:20
Speaker 1: I always do. It was swell. Camo asked, then, what's wrong?
00:05:29
Speaker 1: It's okay, Prickles, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: Let's find a way to turn that frown upside down.
00:05:43
Speaker 1: It's just, Prickles said, before looking over his shoulder, where
00:05:48
Speaker 1: the rose of prickly spines growing down his back rippled
00:05:52
Speaker 1: in the breeze. Then he fell silent. What is it,
00:05:59
Speaker 1: Camo asked gently. He put his arm around Prickles's shoulder,
00:06:04
Speaker 1: careful not to get spiked by any of his spines.
00:06:08
Speaker 1: It's just sometimes I wish that I could be rainbow colored,
00:06:14
Speaker 1: just like you, Prickles said, or at least some color
00:06:20
Speaker 1: more exciting than I am. My spines are just this dull,
00:06:25
Speaker 1: grayish brown. Nothing special about that. That's not true, Prickles,
00:06:33
Speaker 1: Camo said, There's nothing dull about you at all. Prickles said, well,
00:06:42
Speaker 1: it's certainly not special like you. Then he gave a
00:06:46
Speaker 1: sigh and went inside. As he watched Prickles go, a
00:06:52
Speaker 1: peculiar feeling took hold of Camo. It was as though
00:06:58
Speaker 1: a little hand had closed around his tummy. The feeling
00:07:03
Speaker 1: was one of realization, but not an entirely happy one.
00:07:09
Speaker 1: Camo had never, not for one moment, thought of Prickles
00:07:13
Speaker 1: as spines, which were lustrous and shiny as dull. He
00:07:19
Speaker 1: had never thought of the fur that grew around his
00:07:22
Speaker 1: cheeks as grayish brown. If he had to describe it,
00:07:27
Speaker 1: he'd call it tawny with flecks of copper and fire red.
00:07:32
Speaker 1: But it was clear that Prickles did think so little
00:07:36
Speaker 1: of himself. And what was worse, it seemed the seeing
00:07:41
Speaker 1: Camo's technicolored comeleon's skin only made Prickles feel worse by comparison.
00:07:49
Speaker 1: That left Camo feeling a little bit guilty. Maybe he
00:07:55
Speaker 1: thought to himself, he should dim his colors a bit,
00:08:00
Speaker 1: not for fear of being too brash and showy, but
00:08:04
Speaker 1: because it might make others feel bad. Caamo carried this
00:08:10
Speaker 1: not altogether cheery thought around with him for the rest
00:08:14
Speaker 1: of the day, and with it he began to notice
00:08:18
Speaker 1: something about all his friends that he hadn't noticed before.
00:08:24
Speaker 1: Just like Prickles didn't seem to appreciate the beauty of
00:08:28
Speaker 1: his spines and instead wished he was different to the
00:08:31
Speaker 1: way he was, so his other friends didn't appreciate their
00:08:36
Speaker 1: own amazing qualities. For example, during art class, Camo's friend
00:08:42
Speaker 1: Feathers the Blackbird, tossed down her paint brush in a huff.
00:08:47
Speaker 1: Oh I wish I were butter up painting, she groaned.
00:08:52
Speaker 1: I don't have any talents at all. Kamo found this
00:08:58
Speaker 1: an odd and surprising thing for Feathers to say, indeed,
00:09:02
Speaker 1: because she had the best singing voice of anyone he
00:09:07
Speaker 1: had ever met in Sleepy Forest. If you caught a
00:09:11
Speaker 1: note of her warbling from up in the tree tops,
00:09:14
Speaker 1: it transported you to a world of dreams right away.
00:09:19
Speaker 1: She was certainly talented, and yet she didn't seem to
00:09:24
Speaker 1: be proud of her singing at all. Later, Camo heard
00:09:29
Speaker 1: Twigger the giraffe wishing his neck wasn't so long as
00:09:33
Speaker 1: it was and hunching to try to hide it, and
00:09:37
Speaker 1: Milicent the millipede complaining that she thought she had far
00:09:41
Speaker 1: too many feet. Slowly, it dawned on Camo that all
00:09:48
Speaker 1: his pals in Sleepy Forest was suffering from the same
00:09:52
Speaker 1: thing that he had once suffered from. Too. They were
00:09:56
Speaker 1: afraid to let their true colors sh shine. None of
00:10:02
Speaker 1: them were proud of their talents, of their brilliance, of
00:10:06
Speaker 1: the qualities that made them wow, that made them them. Instead,
00:10:13
Speaker 1: they were all wishing they were different, somehow, something other
00:10:18
Speaker 1: from what they were. That made Camo feel sad, because
00:10:23
Speaker 1: he loved all his friends for who they were, and
00:10:27
Speaker 1: he wished that they would too. That was when he
00:10:31
Speaker 1: decided something had to be done about it. When school
00:10:38
Speaker 1: finished and they were all released to make their way
00:10:41
Speaker 1: home through sleepy forest, Camo ran up to one of
00:10:45
Speaker 1: his best friends, Cocoa, and stopped him in the playground. Hey, Cocoa,
00:10:51
Speaker 1: he said, to the little Koala, do you have a
00:10:54
Speaker 1: minute or two? I need to speak to you about something.
00:10:59
Speaker 1: Camo told Coco about what he'd noticed that day, about
00:11:04
Speaker 1: how it seemed some of the other kids at their
00:11:06
Speaker 1: school had forgotten to be proud of who they were,
00:11:10
Speaker 1: that instead they were wishing there was someone else completely.
00:11:17
Speaker 1: Coco blinked at him a few times, thinking this through.
00:11:21
Speaker 1: Then he gave a sigh. Now I think about it, Camo,
00:11:29
Speaker 1: he said, I think you might be right. Sometimes people
00:11:36
Speaker 1: forget how magic they really are, so they need reminding.
00:11:41
Speaker 1: They need to take some time to appreciate themselves and
00:11:45
Speaker 1: show everyone they're proud of who they are. But what
00:11:50
Speaker 1: do we meant to do about it? Well, said Camo,
00:11:55
Speaker 1: giving his power Coco a little smile. I have an
00:11:59
Speaker 1: eyea idea about what we can do about it, and
00:12:04
Speaker 1: I think I could use your help to put it
00:12:07
Speaker 1: into action. And so Camo told Coco about the idea
00:12:13
Speaker 1: he had come up with. What he wanted to do
00:12:18
Speaker 1: was to put on a huge parade that would start
00:12:21
Speaker 1: at Sleepy Forest Elementary School and then wend its way
00:12:26
Speaker 1: through the forest. And the parade would be full of color,
00:12:31
Speaker 1: and everyone would be invited to march and celebrate themselves.
00:12:36
Speaker 1: If they had talents, they could perform them, and they
00:12:40
Speaker 1: could show off their truest colors, whatever those true colors
00:12:44
Speaker 1: might be. It would be a big celebration of each
00:12:50
Speaker 1: and every one of us, Camo concluded. And have got
00:12:56
Speaker 1: a name for it too, the Carnival of Color. The
00:13:03
Speaker 1: Carnival of Color. Coco repeated the name dreamily. Then he
00:13:10
Speaker 1: nodded his head. I love it, Camo, what a brilliant idea.
00:13:17
Speaker 1: And I know just the person who can help us
00:13:20
Speaker 1: out with it. Miss Bushytail, who heads the cheerleading squad.
00:13:25
Speaker 1: She knows a thing or two about pomp bombs and
00:13:28
Speaker 1: celebrations and pudding on a show. I just bet she'll
00:13:33
Speaker 1: be able to help us out. Thanks, Cocoa, Camo said,
00:13:39
Speaker 1: I knew you'd be the right person to ask. The
00:13:44
Speaker 1: Next day, at lunchtime, Camo and Coco went to speak
00:13:49
Speaker 1: to Miss Bushytail about their plan for the Carnival of Color.
00:13:54
Speaker 1: She thought it was just a splendid idea, and said
00:13:58
Speaker 1: that she would help them in whichever way she could.
00:14:03
Speaker 1: She would organize costumes and pompoms for whoever wanted them,
00:14:08
Speaker 1: and would oversee the running of the parade itself. I'll
00:14:13
Speaker 1: stay on top of all of that boring organization or stuff,
00:14:18
Speaker 1: she said, with a shake of her fluffy tail, and
00:14:22
Speaker 1: leave the exciting stuff to you two. The date was set,
00:14:29
Speaker 1: and over the following days, Camo and Cocoa spread the
00:14:33
Speaker 1: word about the Carnival of Color. Everyone seemed very excited, indeed,
00:14:39
Speaker 1: and they had lots of questions. What were they meant
00:14:43
Speaker 1: to wear and what were they meant to do? Well,
00:14:49
Speaker 1: that's just the point, Caramo told them.
00:14:53
Speaker 2: It's entirely up to you. You wear and do whatever
00:15:00
Speaker 2: makes you feel most like you. After that, there was
00:15:06
Speaker 2: chitter chatter all across sleepy forest about what costumes people
00:15:11
Speaker 2: might wear or what amazing talents they might show off.
00:15:16
Speaker 2: Even certain creatures who weren't so sure of themselves before
00:15:21
Speaker 2: became excited about celebrating who they were. Twigger the giraffe,
00:15:27
Speaker 2: for instance, trotted up to Camo one afternoon in the
00:15:30
Speaker 2: playground to tell him, full of excitement, that he planned
00:15:36
Speaker 2: to display how he could pluck the leaves from the
00:15:40
Speaker 2: highest branches of the trees thanks to his long neck.
00:15:45
Speaker 2: And when Feathers the Blackbird was fretting that she didn't
00:15:49
Speaker 2: have any talent she could try out at the Carnival
00:15:53
Speaker 2: of Color, Camo.
00:15:54
Speaker 1: Told her that, in fact she did. She had the
00:15:59
Speaker 1: most beautiful singing voice in all the forest. Do I really,
00:16:07
Speaker 1: Feathers asked, looking at him skeptically, You certainly do, Camo
00:16:14
Speaker 1: told her. Everybody says so. A little smile crept on
00:16:21
Speaker 1: to Feathers's face when he said this, well, then she said,
00:16:28
Speaker 1: I should probably choose a song and get practicing quick.
00:16:34
Speaker 1: And even Prickles said that he had an idea for
00:16:37
Speaker 1: the Carnival of Color, though he wouldn't tell Camo what
00:16:41
Speaker 1: it was. It's a secret, he said, smiling shiftily. You'll
00:16:48
Speaker 1: see days passed in a flurry and fluster of planning,
00:16:55
Speaker 1: Miss Bushytail sowd dozens of sequined and glittery outfits and
00:17:00
Speaker 1: stitched together many multi coolored pomp poms. Camo planned the
00:17:05
Speaker 1: best route to take, and Coco asked the birds to
00:17:09
Speaker 1: deliver a message from branch to branch, letting the residents
00:17:14
Speaker 1: of Sleepy Forests know that they should come out to
00:17:17
Speaker 1: watch the parade. Until finally the big day arrived. How
00:17:26
Speaker 1: are you feeling, Miss Bushytail last Camo by the entrance
00:17:31
Speaker 1: of Sleepy Forest Elementary School as they waited for everyone
00:17:35
Speaker 1: to arrive for the Carnival of Color. A little bit nervous,
00:17:42
Speaker 1: Camo admitted, mostly excited. I just can't wait to see
00:17:49
Speaker 1: everyone showing off their truest, grvious colors. I just hope
00:17:56
Speaker 1: that people actually turn up. Camo, of course, had nothing
00:18:02
Speaker 1: to worry about. First one forest creature, then two, then
00:18:09
Speaker 1: dozens more arrived and they looked fabulous. They were all
00:18:16
Speaker 1: dressed in spangly displays of color, sequin skirts and glittery
00:18:22
Speaker 1: shirts and pompoms of every color you can imagine. They
00:18:27
Speaker 1: gathered in large, excited groups waiting for the parade to begin.
00:18:34
Speaker 1: Some of them even gave early demonstrations of their favorite talents.
00:18:40
Speaker 1: Coco's little sister Kira did her best backflips across the playground,
00:18:45
Speaker 1: and Feathers the Blackbird sang a few lines of her
00:18:49
Speaker 1: favorite tune. Soon enough, Miss Bushytail announced that the parade
00:18:56
Speaker 1: would be starting in five minutes, so that everyone should
00:19:01
Speaker 1: line up ready. Camo watched, his heart filled with pride
00:19:07
Speaker 1: and joy as the parade collected. He was so happy
00:19:13
Speaker 1: to see all his friends ready to celebrate themselves. Cocoa
00:19:19
Speaker 1: and Kira, Tweager and Feathers even Wait a second, where
00:19:26
Speaker 1: was Prickles. Camo looked around, but he couldn't see him anywhere.
00:19:33
Speaker 1: He started asking if anyone had seen him. Finally he
00:19:38
Speaker 1: reached Coco. Hey, Coco, he said, have you seen Prickles anywhere?
00:19:47
Speaker 1: But Coco the Koala just shook his head. Isn't he here?
00:19:52
Speaker 1: Then he asked, wait there. Camo told him I have
00:19:58
Speaker 1: to find him before the carnival hicks off. I'll try
00:20:01
Speaker 1: to be quick, and with that, Camo dashed into sleepy forest,
00:20:06
Speaker 1: calling out Prickles's name. Camo searched in all the usual spots.
00:20:12
Speaker 1: He thought he'd be in a tree house where they
00:20:16
Speaker 1: liked to hang out, down at the hedgerow where Prickles
00:20:20
Speaker 1: lived with his family. Camo ran this way and that,
00:20:25
Speaker 1: but try as he might, he couldn't find Prickles. He
00:20:30
Speaker 1: was almost ready to give up when he heard a
00:20:34
Speaker 1: sniffling sound coming from a leafy bush. He peeked inside,
00:20:40
Speaker 1: and there he was. Prickles was hiding in the bush.
00:20:46
Speaker 1: What are you doing in there? Camo asked him. Come out.
00:20:53
Speaker 1: When Prickles emerged from the bush, Camo was taken rather
00:20:57
Speaker 1: by surprise. Prickles wasn't his usual lustrous brown color. Instead,
00:21:06
Speaker 1: his whole body was covered in splashy, multi colored stripes
00:21:11
Speaker 1: of paint, clinging thickly to each of his spines. Why, Prickles,
00:21:19
Speaker 1: Pamo said, you've painted yourself in all the colors of
00:21:24
Speaker 1: the rainbow. Was that your secret idea? Brickles nodded, yes,
00:21:32
Speaker 1: he whispered solemnly. It was, And yet Camo could tell
00:21:39
Speaker 1: that Prickles didn't seem very happy about it. But Prickles,
00:21:45
Speaker 1: he said, what's the matter? Well, said Prickles, glancing uneasily
00:21:53
Speaker 1: from side to side. This was my big idea, to
00:21:58
Speaker 1: be rainbow colored, just like you, Camo, and I felt
00:22:02
Speaker 1: pretty happy with it at first. But when I left
00:22:06
Speaker 1: home and began to walk towards the Carnival of color,
00:22:10
Speaker 1: a cold feeling began to steal over me, and I
00:22:14
Speaker 1: realized what it was. It's that in painting myself rainbow colored.
00:22:21
Speaker 1: I wasn't being well, I wasn't being me. It was
00:22:27
Speaker 1: more like I was trying not to be me, and
00:22:31
Speaker 1: that quite frankly, didn't feel so good. But the problem
00:22:36
Speaker 1: was I'd already painted myself and I didn't know what
00:22:40
Speaker 1: to do. I had no way to get it off,
00:22:42
Speaker 1: so I just hid in this bush. And well, that's
00:22:48
Speaker 1: where you found me. Hiding here in the bush. Camo
00:22:54
Speaker 1: looked at his pal Prickles for a few moments, waves
00:22:59
Speaker 1: of many feelings washing through him, happiness and sympathy, a
00:23:06
Speaker 1: little sadness, but mostly buckets and buckets of love. Then
00:23:13
Speaker 1: he threw his arms around Prickles, even enduring a couple
00:23:17
Speaker 1: of sharp spikes from his spines. Oh, Prickles, Camo said,
00:23:24
Speaker 1: that's just what the Carnival of Color is all about.
00:23:29
Speaker 1: It's about being proud of being exactly who you are.
00:23:36
Speaker 1: I'm glad you can see that now, and don't worry.
00:23:40
Speaker 1: I have an idea about all this paint. Follow me
00:23:47
Speaker 1: saying no more. Camo let Prickles down through the forest,
00:23:52
Speaker 1: in between the broad tree trunks until they reached the
00:23:56
Speaker 1: edge of the sleepy river. Quick, Camo said, dunk yourself,
00:24:03
Speaker 1: Prickles did Just as Camo directed, he took a run
00:24:08
Speaker 1: at the Sleepy River and plunged himself into the cool water.
00:24:14
Speaker 1: Camo watched from the bank as the paint was rinsed
00:24:17
Speaker 1: from Prickles's body and disappeared into the water. When Prickles
00:24:24
Speaker 1: clambered out of the river, he was back to normal.
00:24:29
Speaker 1: How does that feel, Camo asked him. Prickles looked back
00:24:35
Speaker 1: at his spines, their red brown lengths covered in crystal
00:24:40
Speaker 1: droplets of water, all sparkling in the shimmering sun. It feels,
00:24:48
Speaker 1: he said, It feels just like I'm wearing my colors,
00:24:54
Speaker 1: my very own true colors. Camo Prickles exchanged a big hug,
00:25:03
Speaker 1: then agreed that they had to get to the parade.
00:25:07
Speaker 1: They hurried through the forest and reached the Carnival of
00:25:10
Speaker 1: Color just as Miss Bushy Tail blew a loud whistle
00:25:15
Speaker 1: signaling that the parade had begun. Camo Prickles up here.
00:25:22
Speaker 1: Coco's voice rang out over the parade, and Camo and
00:25:26
Speaker 1: Prickles went and joined him. Right at the front. Coco
00:25:31
Speaker 1: was holding his ukulele and strumming it to his heart's content,
00:25:37
Speaker 1: And then all together they paraded through Sleepy Forest. What
00:25:43
Speaker 1: a spectacle of color it was. Everywhere they went, forest
00:25:50
Speaker 1: creatures came to applaud and cheer them on. Coco played
00:25:55
Speaker 1: his ukulele, Feathers sang her song, Twiager percked leaves from
00:26:02
Speaker 1: the tallest trees, Kira somersaulted up and down the parade,
00:26:08
Speaker 1: and all the other Sleepy Forest kids performed their great talents.
00:26:14
Speaker 1: Trumpets were blown and fiddles were plucked, Dancers performed pirouettes,
00:26:21
Speaker 1: and the sports team threw balls high into the air
00:26:25
Speaker 1: and caught them. A few students even performed some magic
00:26:30
Speaker 1: tricks as they marched, making each other apparently disappear before
00:26:36
Speaker 1: making them reappear again. And up at the front, Camo
00:26:40
Speaker 1: the comedian strode proudly along with his best friend Prickles,
00:26:47
Speaker 1: Camo's skin shining with all the colors of the rainbow,
00:26:52
Speaker 1: and Prickles as spines, their glorious red brown color like
00:26:57
Speaker 1: a sunset captured and bottom two pearly white grins plastering
00:27:05
Speaker 1: their faces, chanting as they marched. It was generally agreed
00:27:12
Speaker 1: by all of the residents of Sleepy Forest that the
00:27:16
Speaker 1: Carnival of Color was one of the most wondrous and
00:27:20
Speaker 1: uplifting celebrations in all of forest history. Just watching all
00:27:28
Speaker 1: of the students at Sleepy Forest Elementary School parading through
00:27:34
Speaker 1: the forest filled the other creatures with joy and self confidence.
00:27:40
Speaker 1: It was important, they all agreed to appreciate yourself just
00:27:47
Speaker 1: as much as it was important to appreciate others. You
00:27:52
Speaker 1: can't love others before you love yourself, they joke to
00:27:56
Speaker 1: each other, nodding, you have to celebrate just what it
00:28:00
Speaker 1: is that makes you you. And Camo the Comeleon, when
00:28:06
Speaker 1: he heard such comments, being past mouth to mouth and
00:28:09
Speaker 1: wing to wing through Sleepy Forest, just knew his plan
00:28:14
Speaker 1: had worked. Everywhere he looked, there were smiles on people's faces.
00:28:21
Speaker 1: All the foresters, he could tell, loved themselves just that
00:28:25
Speaker 1: bit more, and as a consequence, he could also tell
00:28:31
Speaker 1: they also loved each other a bit more too. After
00:28:36
Speaker 1: the parade, they packed the pomp poms away in boxes,
00:28:40
Speaker 1: took off their costumes, and took down the arch of
00:28:44
Speaker 1: biodegradable balloons and banners that had marked the starting line
00:28:49
Speaker 1: of the Carnival of Color. Everyone was pretty sleepy now.
00:28:56
Speaker 1: As they put the final boxes back in storage, yawns
00:29:00
Speaker 1: were breaking out and people were stretching their tired limbs
00:29:07
Speaker 1: and talking about just how much they were looking forward
00:29:12
Speaker 1: to a delicious dinner and a warm and cozy night's sleep.
00:29:19
Speaker 1: Camo said thank you to miss Bushytail for all her
00:29:23
Speaker 1: help and gave her a big hug. Then he met
00:29:27
Speaker 1: Coko and Prickles outside Sleepy Forest Elementary School, and they
00:29:33
Speaker 1: made their way home arm in arm through the darkening forest.
00:29:39
Speaker 1: Happiness hung in the twilight like a warm pulse bearing
00:29:45
Speaker 1: the friends home. What an awesome parade, Coco said the Camo,
00:29:53
Speaker 1: you really pulled it off. Yes, Prickles agreed. What a
00:30:00
Speaker 1: carnival it was a true carnival of color. Camo the
00:30:07
Speaker 1: comedian smiled at his two friends. Thanks guys, he said,
00:30:14
Speaker 1: But you know, just because the Carnival of Color is over,
00:30:20
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that you stop loving yourself or being
00:30:24
Speaker 1: proud of your true colors. The carnival isn't just for
00:30:29
Speaker 1: one day. The carnival is for life. Oh I know,
00:30:36
Speaker 1: said Prickles merrily. He looked back over his shoulder at
00:30:40
Speaker 1: his spines, which to night, he thought, shone like gold.
00:30:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to be proud of my true colors forever.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: And with that, the three friends walked home. Through the
00:30:58
Speaker 1: gentle night, m