Your choices change the story. Read carefully, choose wisely, and help Rohan bring color back to the world!
The Boy Who Woke Up in a Grey World
Rohan was eight years old, and the first thing he noticed when he woke up on Thursday morning was that something was very, very wrong.
His room was grey. Not dark-grey or stormy-grey, but a flat, dull, empty grey, as if every single color had been quietly drained away overnight. His blue bedsheets were grey. His orange juice on the breakfast table was grey. Even the red strawberries in the bowl looked like little grey pebbles.
He pressed his face to the window. Outside, the sky was grey. The grass was grey. Mrs. Kapoor’s roses next door, which were usually the most brilliant red on the whole street, were completely, utterly grey.
“This is not normal,” Rohan said to himself. “This is very, very not normal.”
He was still standing at the window with his mouth open when something landed on the curtain rod with a tiny, frantic thud.
It was a creature about the size of his thumb. It had the body of a tiny bird, but instead of feathers it seemed to be made entirely of light, and where its wings should have been there were two little prisms that caught what little light there was and threw pale sparkles onto the walls. It was, Rohan realized, almost completely colorless too, which made it look quite unwell.
“Are you real?” Rohan whispered.
“Extremely real and extremely busy, thank you,” said the creature, in a voice like a tiny bell that had been dropped. “My name is Chroma. I am a Color Sprite. And you are Rohan, and you need to help me, and we do not have very much time.”
Quiz Activity 1
Chapter 1: Chroma Explains Everything (Very Quickly)
Chroma spoke very fast. She explained that the Rainbow Maker was a very ancient machine that lived at the top of Sky Mountain, and its job, every single morning, was to take the light of the rising sun and split it into all its colors, and send those colors out into the world. Without it, the world would slowly lose color until everything was grey and flat and lifeless, and eventually, even people’s memories of what colors had looked like would fade away entirely.
Last night, a storm had broken the Rainbow Maker into five pieces. They had been scattered across five different places. Only a human child with a brave and patient heart could gather them all back.
“Why me?” Rohan asked. “Why a kid? Why not a grown-up?” Chroma tilted her tiny prism-wings. “Because grown-ups tend to rush and grab. Children still know how to truly listen. And these five pieces can only be gathered by someone who truly listens.”
Rohan thought about this for three seconds. Then he picked up his school backpack, tipped out his math homework onto the floor, and said, “Right then. Where do we start?”
Chroma made a sound like a tiny chime and said, “That is exactly the right answer.”
Chapter 2: The Cloud Deer and the First Piece
The first Rainbow piece was in the misty meadow at the edge of town, and it was being guarded by a Cloud Deer named Kiri.
Kiri was the most beautiful creature Rohan had ever seen. She was made entirely of soft white cloud, with antlers like wisps of morning mist and enormous eyes the color of lavender. Hanging from one of her antlers was a glowing piece of the Rainbow Maker, shaped like a small golden jewel.
But Kiri was trembling.
“She is terrified of people,” Chroma whispered from behind Rohan’s ear. “The last humans who came here ran straight at her and shouted. She bolted into the clouds and did not come back for three weeks. She has not trusted anyone since.”
Rohan stood very still at the edge of the meadow and thought carefully. He had two choices.
Your First Decision – Pick one!
The story will continue based on what you choose.
Kiri the Cloud Deer is trembling at the far end of the meadow. The golden piece glows on her antler. What should Rohan do?
Path A: Patience and Gentleness
Rohan sat down cross-legged in the grey grass, put his backpack beside him, and waited. He did not call out. He did not wave. He did not do anything at all except sit quietly and look at the meadow.
Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Chroma, who was perched on his shoulder, looked like she might burst from impatience, but she stayed quiet because Rohan had asked her to.
At thirty minutes, Kiri took one cautious step toward him. Then another. And another.
When she was close enough that Rohan could see the little white puffs of cloud that made up her eyelashes, she bowed her head very gently. The golden jewel slid from her antler and landed with a soft chime in Rohan’s open palm.
The moment it touched his hand, a burst of warm gold light spread outward across the meadow. The grass at Rohan’s feet turned green. Just a small circle of green, but it was the most beautiful color he had ever seen in his life.
Kiri pressed her soft cloud nose briefly to Rohan’s forehead. It felt like being touched by a cool morning breeze. Then she turned and walked slowly back into the mist, her head held high.
“One down,” said Chroma, and there was a tiny tremor of color back in her wings. “Four to go. And you were wonderful.”
Path B: The Shortcut
Rohan crouched down and whispered the plan to Chroma. She looked uncertain, but flew ahead. She began making tiny chiming sounds at the far edge of the meadow, trying to draw Kiri’s attention.
Kiri’s head snapped up. Her enormous eyes went wide. She saw Rohan creeping around the side.
In an instant, she leaped upward and dissolved entirely into a cloud, disappearing completely. The golden jewel fell to the grass and lay there, still glowing, but fenced in by a sudden ring of thorny brambles.
Chroma landed on Rohan’s shoulder, very quietly. “I think,” she said carefully, “that might have been the wrong approach.”
They spent extra time clearing the path, losing precious minutes. Eventually, they retrieved the piece, but it felt cooler in Rohan’s palm than it should have, and the meadow’s reaction was weaker than before.
The piece is yours, but the meadow remembers what happened. You still have time to get all five pieces, but you will need to choose more carefully from here on.
Chapter 3: The Old Woman and the Missing Minutes
The second Rainbow piece had landed somewhere in the old market district, and only one person knew exactly where: a woman named Mrs. Iyer, who was 78 years old and had been watching over that neighborhood for longer than most people could remember.
But when Rohan found Mrs. Iyer, she was standing in the middle of the grey street with two enormous bags of groceries, her arms shaking from the weight. She had been to the market and was trying to carry everything home by herself.
“Excuse me,” said Rohan, “I am looking for a glowing piece of something. It landed near here. Do you know where it is?”
Mrs. Iyer looked at him kindly. “I do know, dear. It is in my back garden, under the old peach tree. But I am afraid I cannot walk any further until I have put these bags down somewhere.” She smiled a little tiredly. “My hands do not work as well as they used to.”
Chroma buzzed anxiously near Rohan’s ear. “We are losing time! Ask her for directions and run. Someone else will help her with the bags.”
Rohan looked at Mrs. Iyer’s shaking arms. Then he looked at the grey street stretching ahead of him. He had a decision to make.
Your Second Decision – Pick one!
The story will continue based on what you choose.
Mrs. Iyer is struggling with her groceries. She knows exactly where the next piece is. Rohan is running low on time. What should he do?
Path A: Helping First
Rohan took both heavy bags from Mrs. Iyer’s hands without another word. She looked surprised and then very, very grateful.
“How very kind,” she said softly.
It took twenty minutes to walk to her house. Chroma spent the entire time making tiny worried noises near Rohan’s ear. Rohan carried the bags up three steps and set them gently inside the kitchen door.
Mrs. Iyer opened the back garden gate and pointed to the peach tree. There, nestled in the grey roots, was a glowing piece of the Rainbow Maker, pulsing soft blue.
But as Rohan picked it up, something unexpected happened. The piece glowed much more brightly than the first one had, and a whole wave of color swept through Mrs. Iyer’s back garden. The grass turned green. The peach tree’s leaves turned a rich, deep gold. And on the branch above his head, a peach blushed bright orange and fell with a soft thud at his feet.
“I think,” said Chroma quietly, with something like wonder in her voice, “that the pieces glow brighter when they are collected by someone who has just been truly kind. That is how the Rainbow Maker rewards a good heart.”
Mrs. Iyer handed Rohan the peach. “For the road,” she said. “Now go save the rest of the world, dear.”
Path B: Asking for Directions
Rohan asked Mrs. Iyer for directions as carefully as he could, thanked her, and ran ahead. He found the peach tree in a few minutes and picked up the glowing piece from the roots.
It was the right thing to do for the mission, but as he ran, he kept thinking about Mrs. Iyer standing in the grey street with her shaking arms. He looked back once and saw her still standing there, slowly working her way forward, step by step.
The piece in his hand glowed quietly, but not as brightly as he somehow felt it should have.
“Got it,” said Chroma. But she sounded less excited than usual.
Two pieces collected. The mission is on track, but the Rainbow Maker responds to the spirit in which its pieces are gathered. Keep going, and try to choose differently at the next chance you get.
Prediction Activity
Here is a clue from the story so far: “Rohan had chosen how to act, and the world around him was beginning to reflect those choices.” Based on the clues in the story, which color do you think came back the weakest at the end?
Quiz Activity 2
Chapter 4 – The Boy Who Would Not Let Go
After collecting the third and fourth Rainbow pieces with the help of a family of talking river otters (who were delightfully dramatic about the whole experience), Rohan and Chroma arrived at the foot of Sky Mountain to look for the fifth and final piece.
They found it almost immediately, because it was the most beautiful thing in all of the grey landscape, and it was very hard to miss. It was shaped like a long, glowing crystal prism, and it threw tiny rainbows on every grey surface around it.
It was also being held very tightly by a boy.
The boy’s name was Veer. He was about Rohan’s age, maybe a little older, with curly dark hair and a look on his face that said he was not going to budge. He had found the piece lying in the playground and had been looking at its rainbows for the past hour.
“This is mine,” Veer said, before Rohan even had a chance to say hello. “I found it. It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life and I am not giving it to anyone.”
Chroma landed on Rohan’s shoulder and whispered, very urgently, “We have forty minutes left. Just tell him he has to give it back. It does not belong to him.”
Rohan looked at Veer carefully. He could see that Veer was not being greedy. He was just someone who had found something extraordinary in a grey and colorless world, and was holding onto it with everything he had. Rohan understood that feeling completely.
He had to decide how to respond.
Your Third Decision – Pick one!
The story will continue based on what you choose.
Veer is holding the last Rainbow piece and refuses to let go. Time is almost up. What should Rohan say?
Path A: Invitation and Understanding
Rohan sat down on the ground next to Veer, which surprised Veer quite a lot.
“I understand why you don’t want to let go of it,” Rohan said. “I really do. In a grey world, something like that feels like the most important thing there is.”
Veer said nothing, but he was listening.
“That piece,” Rohan continued carefully, “is one part of a machine called the Rainbow Maker. Without it, and without the other four pieces I have collected, color never comes back to the world. Not just here. Everywhere. Every flower, every sunset, every painting, every thing anyone has ever loved for being beautiful.”
He paused. “But here is what I want to offer you. Come with me to the top of Sky Mountain. Help me put it back. And you will be the first person on Earth to see the Rainbow Maker come back to life.”
Veer looked at the glowing prism in his hands. He looked at Rohan. Then he looked at Chroma, who was trembling with anxious light on Rohan’s shoulder.
Very slowly, he held the piece out toward Rohan. “Okay,” he said. “But I’m coming with you.”
“I was hoping you would say that,” said Rohan.
“I understand you found it,” Rohan said, as carefully as he could, “but it is not yours to keep. It belongs to the Rainbow Maker. Every color in the world is going to disappear if you don’t give it back.”
Veer’s jaw tightened. “You don’t know that.”
“Chroma does,” said Rohan, and Chroma flew forward and explained everything very quickly and very seriously.
Veer listened. His grip on the piece loosened slightly. Then he handed it over, but his expression was flat and disappointed, and he did not say anything more.
“Thank you,” said Rohan, meaning it. “I’m sorry. I wish I could explain it better.”
Veer shrugged and walked away.
Rohan watched him go, feeling something uncomfortable in his chest that he could not quite name. He had been right. He had gotten the piece. But something about the way the piece sat in his hand felt incomplete.
All five pieces collected. Rohan did the right thing for the world, but there was a way to have done it that would have been kinder to Veer too. That feeling you are feeling right now? That is your own good heart telling you something important.
What Would You Have Done? Cast Your Vote!
At Decision Point 3, what would YOU have chosen if you were Rohan?
This poll collects your local vote only. Share your choice in the comments!
Quiz Activity 3
The Good Ending: Color Returns, Mostly
Rohan placed all five pieces into the Rainbow Maker at the top of Sky Mountain. The machine hummed and then blazed to life.
Every color came back. Red, orange, green, blue, violet, all of them swept back across the world like a tide, and everyone everywhere stopped and stared at the sky and felt something warm and grateful they could not quite put into words.
Almost every color, that is.
Yellow came back a little pale. Not grey, but not fully itself either, like a candle where there had once been a lamp. Chroma explained it quietly. “The Rainbow Maker runs on kindness as much as on its pieces,” she said. “Some kindness was left out along the way. Yellow always reflects that. But it will heal,” she added quickly. “Give it a week of good choices and yellow will be back to its full self.”
Rohan looked at the slightly pale yellow sky and felt something settle into him that was not regret exactly, but was very close to it. He made a quiet decision that he would pay it forward in whatever way he could.
Chroma touched one prism-wingtip to his chest. “You saved the world,” she said. “That is not nothing. Do not forget that.”
“I know,” said Rohan. “Next time I will do it better.”
Chroma smiled her tiny bell-smile. “There is always a next time. That is what makes someone a guardian.”
Quiz Activity 4
The Big Lesson of Rohan and the Broken Rainbow
Rohan did not save the world’s color because he was the strongest, the cleverest, or the fastest. He saved it because he stopped to truly listen: to a frightened deer, to a tired old woman, to a boy holding onto the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Patience and kindness are not slowdowns. They are the fastest way to truly solve hard problems.
The world around us works exactly the same way. When we rush and grab, we miss what matters. When we stop and listen, even for a few extra minutes, we find that the world is far more willing to work with us than we ever imagined.
Talk About It! Discussion Questions
Can you think of a time when you were patient with someone, even when it was hard? What happened? Did things turn out better because you waited?
Rohan understood that Veer was not bad, just someone holding onto something beautiful. Have you ever judged someone too quickly, and then found out they had a really good reason for what they were doing?
The Rainbow Maker ran on kindness as well as its pieces. Can you think of something in your own home, your school, or your friendship that works the same way? Something that only works properly when people treat each other well?
Ask each student to draw their own “Rainbow Maker” piece and write on it one act of kindness they will do this week that nobody asked them to do. Put all the pieces together into a class rainbow on the wall. Watch it grow.
