Bedtime Story With a Tiny Lesson (Not a Sermon)

Child: 4yo named Aanya. Loves: dinosaurs, drawing, the color purple, her cat Mochi, the word 'banana'. Working on: sharing with her younger cousin who's visiting. Length: 7-min (about 900 words). Characters: maybe include Mochi. Tone: gentle + silly. Hates: scary endings.

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THE PURPLE PURPLE PURPLE DINOSAUR AND THE SECRET CRAYON

Aanya the dinosaur was three-quarters as tall as her front door and exactly the color of grape juice. Specifically, she was purple — the way that purple is the most important color, in case anyone had forgotten.

Aanya the dinosaur lived in a quiet jungle where the trees grew sideways instead of up. She had a cat named Mochi who slept on top of her tail.

One sunny purple morning, Aanya the dinosaur found something on her drawing rock. It was a brand-new crayon. Not just any crayon. A purple crayon. The most important kind. It glittered. It had a little label on it that said: SECRET CRAYON.

Aanya the dinosaur said, 'Banana.'

(That's what she said when she was excited. She said it three times in a row when she was really excited. Banana, banana, banana.)

Aanya the dinosaur picked up the secret crayon and ran to her drawing rock. She started to draw. She drew a purple cloud. She drew a purple flower. She drew Mochi the cat, who, in the drawing, was also purple because that was the only color the crayon could make.

Just then, a small noise came from the bushes. It was Pip — a tiny pterodactyl who was visiting from her aunt's nest. Pip was four-and-a-half years old, which is younger than Aanya the dinosaur was, and Pip had never been to a drawing rock before.

Pip walked up. Pip looked at the secret crayon. Pip looked at Aanya the dinosaur. Pip said:

'Can I draw too?'

Aanya the dinosaur thought about this. She thought about it for a quiet purple moment.

Aanya the dinosaur loved drawing. The secret crayon was her secret crayon. It had appeared on her drawing rock. She had used it for exactly four minutes, which is not very long when you have a brand-new purple secret crayon.

But Pip looked very small. Pip looked the way Aanya the dinosaur had looked, three whole years ago, when she didn't know how to use a crayon yet.

Aanya the dinosaur held out the crayon.

'Just for a little while,' Aanya said. 'I'll show you how.'

Pip took the crayon. Pip drew a wobbly purple line. Pip drew a wobbly purple circle. Pip drew a wobbly purple thing that may have been a banana, or may have been a fish, or may have been just a wobbly purple thing — which is also a perfectly good thing to draw.

Aanya the dinosaur watched. Mochi the cat watched.

After a quiet purple minute, Pip handed the crayon back.

'Your turn,' said Pip.

Aanya the dinosaur took the crayon. She drew a tiny purple pterodactyl, sitting on a tiny purple drawing rock, holding a tiny purple crayon. She turned the drawing around so Pip could see.

Pip said: 'Banana.'

Aanya the dinosaur said: 'Banana.'

Then they both said it three times in a row, very quietly, because it was getting close to nap time and the trees in the jungle were starting to go to sleep.

Aanya the dinosaur and Pip drew together until the sun went down. They took turns. Pip kept the crayon for a little while. Aanya the dinosaur kept the crayon for a little while. Sometimes Pip drew a wobbly purple thing and sometimes Aanya the dinosaur drew something with feet, and Mochi the cat snored on top of Aanya the dinosaur's tail like a tiny fuzzy purple cloud.

At the end of the day, when it was finally bedtime in the jungle, Pip the pterodactyl curled up on a small leaf next to Aanya the dinosaur.

Pip said: 'Thank you for sharing the crayon, Aanya.'

Aanya the dinosaur said: 'Banana.'

Which was her way of saying: 'It was actually more fun together.'

Mochi snored a little louder. The sideways trees grew a little more sideways.

And Aanya the dinosaur the color of grape juice, the most important kind of purple, closed her eyes and dreamed of every wobbly purple thing she had not yet drawn.

Good night, jungle.

Good night, Pip.

Good night, Aanya.

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Notes for the parent:

• 'Banana, banana, banana' is the repeated line — let your kid say it with you.
• 'Pterodactyl' is the silly word — let them ask you what it means tomorrow.
• The lesson (sharing is more fun) is in the very last quiet sentence before sleep — never stated, only shown.
• Total spoken length: ~7 minutes at gentle bedtime pace.