Starlite Saves the Day
From WikiBrite: The Rainbow Brite WIki
| Starlite Saves the Day | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Book | |
| Author: | Jean Lewis |
| Illustrator | Darrell Baker |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Golden Books |
| Publish Date | 1985 |
| Media Type | HB |
| ISBN | 0-307-16005 |
Story
On a sparkling summer day, Rainbow Brite called in the Color Kids. "Rainbow Land has never looked so beautiful!" she said. "Let's do something special for the sprites - to thank them for giving us the best Star Sprinkles ever."
"Let's give them a party!" said Patty O'Green. "Let's make it a costume party!" said Lala Orange. "How about a softball game?" said Buddy Blue. "We could play the sprites for the Rainbow Land Championship."
"I could take the sprites over Rainbow Falls in a barrel!" said Red Butler. "Oh, my!" gasped Lala Orange, gazing at Red adoringly. Indigo wanted to put on a show, and Canary Yellow suggested a picnic. Shy Violet couldn't get a word in edgewise.
"We'll use all your ideas," said Rainbow Brite. "First, we'll declare a special holiday -- Sprite Day. We'll invite the sprites to an all-day picnic at Rainbow Falls."
Rainbow Brite asked Shy Violet and Lala Orange to make posters. Shy Violet was as good at writing as Lala was at drawing pictures, so they got busy with pens and crayons.
Rainbow put Patty O'Green and Buddy Blue in charge of sports and games for the picnic.
Indigo offered to tell fortunes, and Red Butler promised a bang-up display of fireworks. Canary Yellow agreed to help Rainbow plan the picnic menu, and Buddy Blue said he would personally squeeze six dozen lemons for lemonade.
Starlite, Rainbow's horse, and Twink, her favorite sprite, felt left out -- but not for long.
"Starlite," said Rainbow, "would you take the sprites sky-riding on your back? They'd love that." Starlite tossed his rainbow mane. "I'd be delighted!" "And, Twink," said Rainbow, "will you invited all the sprites to the picnic?" Twink responded by bouncing right off the Color Mines.
Everyone was busy getting ready for Sprite day. Everyone, that is, except Murky Dismal and his sidekick Lurky.
"Why didn't you tell me we were all out of evil potion mix?" growled Murky as the two villains rooted through the weeds growing around their cave, The Pits. They were hunting for toadstools, wormwart, and any icky yuck they could find to brew a fresh batch of evil potion.
"How about this, boss?" asked Lurky, waving a fistful of shiny green weeds.
"That's poison ivy, you idiot!" roared Murky. Lurky threw the weeds as far away as he could.
"Oh, my back!" groaned Murky, trying to straighten up. "We've been on our knees in these weeds for hours and all you can find is a bunch of poison ivy!"
"Maybe we should look someplace else," said Lurky.
"If you hadn't stalled the Grunge Buggy, we could go look anywhere we wanted to," snarled Murky. "Here, take this rope and drag the Buggy back up here. Now!"
Lurky, eager to get away, fairly flew down the hill.
Meanwhile, Patty O'Green and Buddy Blue had been jogging all over Rainbow Land putting up Sprite Day posters.
Buddy carried a can of blue paint and Patty a can of green. They neatly sprayed blue and green borders around each poster after they hung it up.
Patty and Buddy spotted the grimy, mud-spattered Grunge Buggy in a ditch. They both shuddered.
"What an eyesore!" said Patty. Then she grinned. "Think how furious Murky Dismal would be if we cleaned it up!" "That would take years," laughed Buddy. "Not if we just spray-painted it," said Patty. "Let's do it, then," said Buddy.
Patty and Buddy couldn't resist.
When they finished painting, one side of the Grunge Buggy was bright green and the other shiny blue. Patty hung a Sprite Day poster on the car.
"Quick!" warned Buddy, pulling her behind a rose bush. "Here comes Lurky."
Lurky walked right past Buddy and Patty and the Grunge Buggy.
"See?" giggled Patty. "He doesn't even recognize it!"
Lurky was walking around and around the Grunge Buggy when Murky Dismal came looking for him.
"Where have you been all this time?" Murky roared. "Haven't you found the Grunge Buggy yet? How can you lose something that big?"
Then they both walked in a circle around the Grunge Buggy. Suddenly Murky stopped for a closer look.
"It's right under your nose!" he yelled. "But it's all shiny clean!" gulped Lurky. "This is the work of that 'Rainbow Brat' and her gang," howled Murky, kicking the Grunge Buggy. The motor started with a wheeze and a snort.
"Hurry up! Get in!" roared Murky, shoving Lurky behind the wheel while he jumped into the sidecar. Off they went in a cloud of exhaust fumes, headed for the Pits.
Near the entrance to the cave, the motor stalled. The Grunge Buggy lurched down the hill and flung the pair into a muddy ditch.
Murky shook Lurky like a rug. Then he saw the Sprite Day poster hanging on the car. An evil grin spread over his face. Murky Dismal was plotting something.
"Do you know what this means?" he gloated. "I'll have that 'Rainbow Brat' in my power. I'll close the Color Mines forever. Rainbow Land will be drab, drab, drab!"
As they pushed the mud-covered Grunge Buggy back up the hill, Murky revealed his plan. "First, we'll float a giant-size gloom cloud over the picnic. Then we'll drop our big net and we'll have them -- every last one of them!"
Now Murky and Lurky were inside the cave. "But where will you put them, boss?" asked Lurky. Murky opened one of the cages he kept for Rainbow Brite and her friends. "Right where they belong!" And he slammed the cage shut.
The weather for Sprite Day was picnic perfect. It was warm enough for a dip under Rainbow Falls, and it was warm enough to work up a thirst for fresh-squeezed lemonade. And it was not too hot to run sack races, jump hurdles, or hit a home run.
Everybody was having such a wonderful time that no one noticed the giant-size gloom cloud overhead.
Starlite, galloping high atop the arc of a rainbow with three squealing sprites on his back, spotted it first. Heading for a landing on the picnic grounds, he saw the gloom cloud spread out between him and the ground.
"Watch out below!" he cried. "Gloom cloud alert!" No one heard him. Climbing swiftly above the cloud, Starlite saw Murky Dismal and Lurky throw out their huge net.
"Hang on!" Starlite warned the frightened sprites as the net whistled past them. Lashing out with his sharp hooves, Starlite dived under the net tearing it to shreds before it could drop on Rainbow and the others.
Then he headed straight for Murky and Lurky, stamping up and down on their hill.
Murky and Lurky took one look at those sharp hooves and scampered into their cave for safety. They jumped into the very cages they had planned to use for Rainbow Brite and her friends.
Starlite looked into the cave. "Right where they belong!" he snorted.
Rainbow Brite had seen Starlite defeat Murky and Lurky. She made sure he and the sprites were all right.
Then she said, "Let's get back to the picnic. We don't want to miss Red Butler's fireworks display."
The magnificent display of fireworks brought Sprite Day to a glorious close.
Then Rainbow Brite rode Starlite over the Falls on the arc of a rainbow. The sky was lit up with showers of Star Sprinkles.
What a wonderful day it had been!
Trivia
In the advertisement for the second set of Golden Books was "Starlite Saves the Day" written by Jean Lewis in 1985, however when the book was released later that year the title read "Starlight Saves the Day". On the cover, and on the inside title page of the book it reads "Starlight" but in the actual story the name is correctly spelled "Starlite", and it is also spelled correctly on the back cover. (The back cover is the same on all books released at that time, stating the name as "Starlite") Oops!
