The Guardian of Colors (1985)
Once in the magic city of Aponathyme there was a special boy named the Guardian of Colors. He kept all the colors for the city and kept them steadfastly from grey. Each one he kept separately in the drawer of a big chest. His was a job of great importance and great history. For hundreds of years ago in the magic Aponathyme, there were only three colors and only three drawers in the big chest. There was the blue drawer with its bits of sky and bird feathers, grapes and blueberries, sapphires and marbles. Sometimes, if the drawer was opened very quickly, you could see a thousand blue eyes blink very fast. There was a red drawer with the most delicious fruits inside: apples, strawberries, raspberries. Sometimes the boy could hear the squabble of the cardinals chasing each other through millions of rose petals, and, at other times, he would open the drawer just in time to see a last trace of a sunset provoking a glow on even the palest of red lips. And finally, there was the yellow drawer with its flaming mass of primroses, buttercups, bananas, lemons and daffodils.
As history and leaking drawers would have it, the colors dripped by chance one into another. Soon there were six colors. Oranges, green leaves and amethysts were to be considered; freckles, kiwis and plums besides. The Great Council met to discuss the matter of mixed up colors. Was this a shocking dereliction of duty on the part of the great Guardian of Color, or was it a miracle? Who could tell for sure? There were those who argued for purity and tradition, and there were those who argued for the taste of kiwi. And what do you think? The world was, after all, a wonderful place, and the taste of kiwi won.
And that was hundreds of years ago, before chocolate, olives and violets; honey, apricots and opals. Now the chest had so many drawers, the Guardian of colors had to work very hard indeed to keep every color in the right place. And, as you can well imagine, nobody would dare to mention stripes to him. He would surely need another chest of drawers. Then there was the problem of the golden-winged woodpecker and the painted bunting and plaid skirts. Just to get from burnt sienna to aquamarine took several hours and at least a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Oh, but then we must go to the red drawer and – what color is peanut butter? I think between brown and honey. And what color is bread?
The poor boy was so tired that his own personal store of pink began to escape from him. He began to look a little grey. The city was buzzing with sad secrets. Was it not, after all, the job of the Guardian of Colors to keep them steadfastly from grey? There was even talk of impeachment.
The Guardian of Colors was frantic. He began to fling open drawers looking for his pink and all the other colors to make the city happy with him again. But in his haste he left the drawers open and all the colors began to escape. They were everywhere mixed up – grapes and honey and opals and freckles and daffodils.
And then (Was it another miracle?) the strangest thing began to happen in the great room with the chest of colors. All together they began to glow. The people of Aponathyme came running to see the magnificent white light. It was like diamonds and crystals and water in the sun. it was like everything in your imagination and everything in your heart all at once. It was more beautiful than the contents of any one drawer. It was more beautiful than all of them together. Aponathyme cheered for the Guardian of colors. The Guardian of Colors beamed.
