• bbdesignzs
• 2 Comments on J-Girl and the Rainbow Race
• June 12, 2024

Jacinta, though everyone called her J-Girl wasn’t the type to sit around quietly on a Saturday morning. Especially not when the sky outside her London window looked… strange.

Instead of its usual grey drizzle, the clouds were completely colourless. No blue, no pink sunset glow, not even a gloomy grey. Just blank, like someone had forgotten to paint them in.

“Mum,” J-Girl shouted down the stairs, “did the weather run out of colour?”

Mum peeked up from the kitchen. “Maybe it’s hiding. Go see what you can do.” She said it with that tone grown-ups use when they know something magical is about to happen.

J-Girl grabbed her trainers and dashed outside. Right in the middle of the street was something she’d never seen before: a shiny silver whistle stuck to a lamp post with rainbow-coloured tape. It had her name scribbled on it.

Of course she blew it.

Instantly, a shimmering rainbow whooshed down from the sky, curling like a giant slide. A loud voice boomed, “Welcome, J-Girl! London’s colours have gone missing. Only you can win them back in… the Rainbow Race!”

Before she could argue, she was zipped up the rainbow slide and plonked at the starting line. Around her stood the strangest competitors:

• A speedy flamingo in running shoes.
• A robot on rollerblades with a squeaky wheel.
• And a grumpy corgi wearing goggles.

“Seriously?” J-Girl muttered. “This is who I’m racing?”

The starter a huge parrot with a megaphone squawked, “On your marks… get set… GO!”

They shot off along the rainbow track, each colour glowing faintly as if waiting to be re-lit.

The flamingo zoomed ahead but kept stopping to check its reflection in puddles. The robot was fast until its squeaky wheel spun off into the clouds. The corgi? Well, he just barked at absolutely everything.

J-Girl laughed, pushed harder, and tapped the first colour, red. Instantly the whole stripe of the rainbow blazed bright crimson. “Yes!” she cheered.

One by one she sprinted across the colours, each time relighting them: orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. The more she ran, the more the sky behind her London street filled with light again.

But right before the finish line, the flamingo tried to trip her with its long legs. “Cheater!” J-Girl shouted, leaping over in one giant bound. She landed on the violet stripe with a thud — and the entire rainbow exploded into colour.

The crowd of magical creatures roared. Confetti rained from the sky (well, technically it was sprinkles, and they tasted like cupcakes).

The parrot squawked, “Winner of the Rainbow Race: J-GIRL!”

Jacinta bent over, panting, but grinning so wide her cheeks hurt. She’d saved the colours, won the race, and proved that even a 10-year-old girl could out-run a flamingo with an attitude problem.

Back in her street, the sky shimmered with a perfect rainbow. Mum stepped out with a mug of hot chocolate. “Well?” she asked.

J-Girl smirked. “I think I just beat a corgi, a robot, and a flamingo. No big deal.”