Story One — Prologue
A Kind and Wonderful Dragonfly
A tiny glow of brilliance flickered in the blackness of the midnight sky. Not a star could be seen, only this one speck of silver-blue light. The light traveled forward becoming bigger and bigger — brighter and brighter. A Giant Silver-Blue Dragonfly covered the dark night, from east to west, from north to south. He was the light.
And in the place where dreams are kept, the Giant Silver-Blue Dragonfly painted a picture of a Rainbow Tree. The rainbow covered leaves rustled softly, waking up dreamland. And in dreamland, all the boys and girls asleep in their beds could see the Dragonfly and hear his voice.
"I'm going to tell you a story," he whispered, oh so softly for such a Giant Dragonfly. "There shall be Kings and Queens, dragons and pirates, and even flying ponies in my story. But mostly, it's a story about a little girl with a big problem."
"You don't know Keiko? And you've never met Keiko's magical friends? Stay asleep and dream. For it is in dreams you will meet Keiko and her friends." And with everyone fast asleep, deep in the place where dreams are kept, the Giant Silver-Blue Dragonfly began his story.
Every summer, Keiko's family vacationed together, a sort of family reunion. Keiko's Mom and Dad, her grandparents, her Aunt Holly and Uncle Ken, and of course all her cousins would come. One year they rented a houseboat on Lake Mead. The grown-ups and the toddlers sat in the cool water, at the shallow edge of the lake. The grown-ups read books, while the toddlers played in the water. Keiko and her older cousins would slide down a huge yellow water slide, in between taking turns flying about the lake on jet skis.
When they thought Keiko couldn't hear, Keiko's grandparents would ask, in very quiet voices, "How is Keiko doing in school?" Keiko's mother would answer. "I worry about my Keiko. School should be a wonderful place, but..." "She's falling behind her friends," said Keiko's father. "She's a smart kid, but she freezes up when trying to become a reader. She just can't grasp learning to read."
Ever so often, Keiko did overhear. Some of her happiness would disappear and her insides would knot up. She would lose her smile, put on a brave face, and go about playing just as hard as she played before she heard the hurtful words about how she wasn't measuring up in school.
After school on school days, Keiko went to her Japanese grandparent's house, where love abounded from her grandfather Hiro, her grandmother Sachi, and her grandfather's mother, Narika. They all worked as farmers growing flowers for sale and vegetables to eat. There was an avocado tree and a fish pond and sour stuff stored in pots in the garage. It was all very Japanese, even though they had lived in America many generations, long before Keiko's mother's side of the family came to America.
Keiko's Japanese great-grandmother couldn't speak English, but Keiko knew a few Japanese words, and she would often sit on her great-grandmother's lap where words weren't important. At her grandparent's farm Keiko could forget about school. It was there she often helped her grandfather wrap his cut flowers. It was there Keiko played soccer with her cousins.
Her oldest cousin, Chris, was the biggest — big and strong and gentle. Keiko's cousin Jesse, a couple years older than Keiko, was bigger than Keiko. Glory and Keiko were the same size. Touma was the youngest, just a toddler, too small to play soccer. Keiko's cousins loved having Keiko on their team, because, even though she was a girl, and even though she wasn't the biggest girl, Keiko had lots of determination and lots of courage.
Keiko's grandparent's yard was large and dusty, and watching all around were cats. Ghost Cats, Keiko called them, as they were ghostly-grey with stare-glaring eyes. They did not smile. The cats had a job to do. Their job was to catch all the critters popping out of the ground ready to eat the vegetables and some of the flowers in the garden.
One day, Keiko and her cousins played soccer with a giant rubber ball, almost as big as Keiko. The ball whizzed toward Keiko, and she hit the ball with her body. The ball spun where Keiko wanted the ball to go, but it picked up Keiko on the way. Keiko rode on top of that ball, until she jumped off the other side. Her cousins, the ghost cats and everyone watching, never forgot how Keiko tackled that giant ball.
"You are one determined girl," laughed Keiko's grandfather. "You are one great soccer player. By the way, how are things in school?" "Just the same," answered Keiko. And off Keiko went, ducking her grandfather's question. And, once again Keiko lost more of her happiness. Not even playing soccer with her cousins could take the hurt away. Her cousins did great in school. Keiko was a child the world overlooked — a child who gets left behind.
"Then one day," said the Dragonfly with a twinkle in his eye, "A miracle happened."
In a cavern deep and dark where tails go to play
Babu Mischief stays hidden far-far away.
He always stays invisible taking forms that come and go,
What does he really look like? Keiko wants to know.
When Keiko is in danger or so sad she cries blue tears,
Babu uses magic and instantly appears.
He always stays invisible taking forms that come and go,
What does he really look like? Keiko wants to know.
Letter Sounds: Ss Hh er ing es
Riding Bright Star through the dark night sky, Keiko felt safe surrounded by her rainbow friends. "How far is it to the Land of Dragons?" she asked. "We should arrive just before the morning light," answered Rubén. Babu Mischief, the invisible trickster of Rainbowland, spotted a dark shadow swirling in the heavens. He feared the jealous Wild Wild Wind had returned looking for Keiko.
"I'll be right back, Keiko. I'll only be gone a few minutes." And the invisible trickster of Rainbowland left to seek out the Wild Wild Wind. If Keiko could have seen the Wild Wild Wind, she would have seen his eyes turn black and bitter and cold. If Keiko could have heard the Wild Wild Wind, she would have heard his angry words: "I WILL find you Keiko! You can't hide from me! I WILL stop you from learning any more reading sounds! I WILL stop you from learning to read!"
But Keiko couldn't see or hear the Wild Wild Wind. Riding Bright Star high in the heavens, Keiko was starting to miss her Mom and Dad. Her sadness disappeared when suddenly Sir Rubén Rainbow's pony flew down from the heavens to land on the Rainbow below. Like shooting stars, Bright Star and his pony friends followed. Another adventure, thought Keiko. And her excitement shone in her eyes.
The morning Sun rose to greet the travelers. She spread her golden rays and everything in Rainbowland awoke from the darkness of the night. Keiko started to worry about meeting a dragon. But no dragons did she see. Flower garden after flower garden filled the horizon. "You must be Keiko," said a sun-kissed flower with a happy face. The tiny flower greeted Keiko by waving her petaled head from side-to-side.
"Is this the Land of Dragons?" asked Keiko. "The gardens are so splendid, it seems impossible to believe dragons are lurking about." "This is my home," answered Maleeka. "Rubén asked to stop here. He's waiting for Babu Mischief. He doesn't want to go to the Land of Dragons without him." "Neither do I," agreed Keiko. "Babu makes me feel safe."
Keiko watched squirrels scamper across tree branches, catching the bird food drifting down from hundreds of birdfeeders tucked away in this wonderland of color. "It sure is beautiful here, Maleeka. You live in a paradise." "It's my paradise, Keiko. I'm glad you like it. But remember. Everyone's paradise is different." The tiny birds flying to and from Maleeka's birdfeeders reminded Keiko of her birdfeeder at home. "I think my home is my paradise," said Keiko.
And into a cavern bigger than a whole house, bigger than a hundred houses put together, went Keiko. Rock-like forms, dark and scary, hung from the ceiling and others stood like statues scattered across the cavern floor. A shadowy cloud circled high above Keiko's head. The dark cloud burst apart. BATS! The cavern came alive with hundreds and hundreds of bats!
"Keiko, Keiko, over here," echoed lots of voices mixed with Mousey's. "Don't worry about the bats, they're our friends. Come and play hide-and-seek with us." Mousey's hide-and-seek friends wore tails — red tails, green tails, long bushy tails, short fluffy tails — all of his friends wore tails.
"Nice to meet you Keiko," said a cute little girl with a red fluffy tail. Blue and red letters were embroidered on her pink dress. "My name is Ernesta and my tail sound is er." "I know your tail sound, Ernesta," replied Keiko. "Mousey taught me." "Did Mousey teach you I am a changer of words?"
"If you say fast, I say fast-er / If you say slow, I say slow-er / High-er, low-er, slow-er, fast-er / Little ers are tail-sound masters."
"Hello Keiko," greeted the tail letter, Ping. "I ring, I sing, I'm lucky Ping. By learning my tail sound, learning to read will become easier and easier." "If you say push, I'll say push-ing / If you say point, I'll say point-ing / Read-ing, writ-ing, point-ing, push-ing / Kiss-ing, wish-ing, blush-ing, munch-ing / We be kings, if Keiko sings, to little ings."
A feisty letter without any tail pushed aside the little ings. "My name is SSSerendipity. I can make hard and soft sounds. And I change one thing into many things." "And I can change one thing into many things too," said a boy with a blue bushy tail. "I can change box into boxes. I can change fox into foxes."
"I am proud, so proud, of what I can do. I can do more than you...and you...and even you. My soft sound, sizzling and sweet / Insures a treat becomes treat-s. / My zzzz sound hard as nail-s / Allow-s boy to be boy-s without any tail-s. / Girl-s and squirrel-s, as you can see / All become more because of me."
Mischief is my middle name, Magic is my favorite game.
When mischief abounds and letters change sounds,
You can bet you'll find little huh around.
Shown, Phone, Cheater, Cheese, I love to tease, but please believe
My letter sound most frequently is used much more seriously.
h-eartbreak, h-ospital, h-urt and h-ome,
h-orse, h-awk, h-ippopotamus poem.
And while everyone taught Keiko reading sounds in the Cave of Tails, the Wild Wild Wind fought the seaweed ropes that bound him tight in his underwater prison. "I WILL get out of here! And I WILL find Keiko!" His threat sent shivers through the giant octopuses standing guard.
Babu felt the Wild Wind's anger from far-far away. He put on his serious, serious face. "Little huh and I have something important to do, but I want you to know, Keiko, we will never leave you. When you reach the Land of Dragons, we will be there."
"We know you two are determined to keep Keiko safe from the Wild Wild Wind, but he's one bad, mad, piece of work. I don't know how long we can hold him. He grows angrier and angrier, and stronger and stronger. He grows more powerful every minute." "Little huh and I will stay as long as we can," answered Babu, "but soon, we must hurry back to Keiko."
Continue the Adventure
The story continues in Book Two — follow Keiko deeper into the Land of Sounds.