by Christine L. Villa
Alexa loved to paint. Just looking at watercolors made her smile.
“Oh, so many wonderful colors to choose from,” she often said.
The colors reminded her of all the beautiful things around her. Whenever she swept a paintbrush on a drawing paper, it made her smile even more. Alas, when she tried to paint a flower, it looked like a red ball of fire. If she tried to paint a tree, it looked like a green monstrous giant. If she tried to paint the sky, it looked like a blue puddle of cow poop. Alexa’s greatest desire was to be able to paint the beauty she saw all around her to share with others, but she just couldn’t paint.
One night, Alexa had a dream. She smiled when she saw the beautiful bright colors splattered across the sky. Then something lightly brushed her hair. It woke her up. Right in front of her was a paintbrush sitting at the edge of her bed!
“Hi, Alexa! Look! Look at what I painted up there in the sky!” said the paintbrush.
Alexa got up from her bed and looked out of the window.
“Gumdrops! Gumdrops twinkling in the sky!” chimed Alexa. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “Who are you? How did you do that?”
“I’m Picasso! All you have to do is make a wish, swish, stroke and sweep, save and keep, or… delete!” answered Picasso, crossing out all the gumdrops in the sky.
“Awesome! Can I paint my room violet and wish for more things I like?”
“Sure,” replied Picasso, “but remember you only have three wishes each day.”
Alexa picked up Picasso, waved her arm in the air and said, “I wish…” Alexa made three wishes and said, “Swish, stroke and sweep, save and keep!”
With just a few strokes, she had made her wishes come true. A violet bedroom, flower-shaped rugs on the floor, and a canopy bed made for a princess appeared in a flash.
Alexa was in heaven! Before she could thank Picasso, she drifted off to sleep, feeling she was the greatest painter of all time. And in her dreams, she could hear Picasso’s voice saying, “Just paint with your heart and the two of us will never part.”
The next morning she woke up finding
Picasso right beside her pillow.
Picasso was still there! It wasn’t a dream at all! She still had a violet bedroom, flower-shaped rugs on the floor, and a canopy bed made for a princess.
“Picasso! Wake up! Wake up!” cried Alexa.
Picasso didn’t speak at all. Alexa couldn’t wait to see if her next three wishes would come true. She hurried downstairs and rushed into her backyard. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. Her mother’s tomato plants were dying. She wanted to save them. Swish, stroke and sweep! Instantly, big, round tomatoes were waiting to be picked.
Next she waved her arm towards her father’s peach trees. The trees hadn’t borne fruits for a long time. She made careful brushstrokes . . . a dab here and a dab there. Suddenly, peaches were everywhere!
Lastly, she thought about her poor cat, Cottonball. He was limping because he had hurt his leg. A brand new leg would surely make him happy. With a little stroke and sweep, Cottonball was running all over the place.
“Dad! Mom! Isn’t it a beautiful morning? Look at our garden!” said Alexa.
Dad and Mom looked at the tomatoes and peaches in amazement. Cottonball quickly ran to their side. It was a wonderful day!
On the second day, Alexa thought she should do some art work on their front yard. She wished for a colorful garden so Picasso helped her paint roses, daffodils, daisies, geraniums, and tulips. Never had she seen such an assortment of flowers!
Butterflies are a wondrous sight, Alexa thought. Soon, with a few sweeping strokes, dainty wings were fluttering under the sunlight. To complete the scene, Alexa imagined mallard ducks swimming in their empty pond. Of course, it was possible. Picasso made every wish come true. Alexa believed it and she made Picasso do his own magic.
Dad, Mom, and Cottonball were surprised to see this magical garden. How on earth it happened, they didn’t care at all. They just enjoyed how beautiful the garden was.
On the third day, Alexa noticed that her sick neighbor, Mr. Sanders, needed some help mowing his lawn. With Picasso’s magic tricks, Alexa took care of it.
This is great, Alexa thought. Two more wishes to go, but she already felt that her day was perfect.
During recess, Alexa was sitting beside her best friend, Claire.
“I wish Mom added more jelly to my peanut butter sandwich,” said Claire.
“Your wish is my command,” said Alexa. “You make a wish. I swish, stroke and sweep, save and keep!”
“Wow!” exclaimed Claire.
“Or… delete!” said Alexa, showing off Picasso’s magic powers.
“What did you do that for? Giving me more jelly and taking it away!” whined Claire. “But hey, how did you do that? Where in the world did you get that magic paintbrush?”
“I woke up one night and there was Picasso, right before my very eyes! He does anything I ask him to do as long as I only make three wishes a day.” said Alexa.
“Super! How can you be so lucky?” asked Claire.
“I don’t have a clue,” said Alexa.
Alexa had one more wish. She wondered if painting a smile on her Math teacher, Mrs. Stucker would make a big difference. The frown on her face made numbers frightening. Swish, stroke and sweep! The smile on Mrs. Stucker’s face made learning easier and more fun for the whole class.
Claire was so impressed. The magic paintbrush could give them power. Power to rule the world! She quietly made a plan.
On the fourth day, Claire tried to convince Alexa to challenge the powers of Picasso.
“Don’t you know that you can do anything, Alexa? Anything!” said Claire. “Here’s my plan. I promise you. This day will be tons of fun!”
Before Alexa could think it over, she got thrilled about Claire’s idea of a fun day. For her first wish, she painted pimples all over Gary’s face. He deserved to be punished after calling Alexa and Claire ugly names.
Next, Alexa and Claire snuck by the swimming pool. In a little while, frogs were leaping everywhere! All the kids came out of the pool screaming and crying for help.
To top the day, Alexa waved Picasso in the air one more time and made the sprinklers in the ceiling burst with water, soaking everybody and flooding the classroom. Alexa and Claire thought the day was so much fun!
On the fifth day, Alexa was in a playful mood. What other mischief could she do with Claire? She enjoyed the POWER of her magic paintbrush.
Cottonball was walking in front of Alexa. She wished that Cottonball had a long, curly, swirly tail. That could be so funny! She waved her hand and made a few strokes and sweeps. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still, nothing happened.
“Picasso, stop fooling around! Make it work!” cried Alexa.
The whole day passed. Picasso never came to life. His magic powers were lost.
Alexa was so sad. What went wrong? Was it because she was having too much fun? The days and weeks went by and she never knew why.
One day Alexa stood by the window, watching the leaves falling from the trees. The sky was grey and the air was cold. She thought a little sun would be wonderful. She picked up Picasso and tried to paint a sun peeking from the clouds. Suddenly, rays of sunshine streaked down from the sky. It was a beautiful sight!
Picasso whispered, “Remember what I told you? Just paint with your heart and the two of us will never part.”
“Picasso! I missed you! I thought I’d never hear from you again.” said Alexa.
“I was never gone.” said Picasso. “Just paint with your heart. Paint with a good heart. You have a good heart, Alexa. That’s why you have me.”
Alexa smiled. With Picasso’s words in mind, Alexa made a wish of all things beautiful. She waved her hand in the air. A rainbow with all the colors of all things beautiful arched across the sky! She had nothing more to wish for on that day, because Alexa had Picasso for keeps.
So if you happen to look up in the sky and see a rainbow, it might just be Alexa, making the world a more beautiful place with her magic paintbrush Picasso.
the end.
Question Time
1. What woke up Alexa while she was sleeping?
2. How many wishes could Alexa have each day?
3. What did Alexa do to her mom’s garden?
4. How did Alexa use the paintbrush to make math class easier and more fun?
5. Why do you think Picasso stopped helping Alexa for a while?
