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 THE SPARK STORY: CRYSTAL AND THE SPARKS

** This story (with lots of pictures) is found in the Spark Guiders Manual Published by the Girl Guides of Canada

Crystal was sad. It was a very rainy Saturday morning and she had to stay inside. Crystal frowned. She had no one to play with.  As Crystal looked out the window she noticed that it wasn't raining quite as hard. As she watched, a beautiful rainbow appeared arched across the sky. It seemed so bright that Crystal almost felt she could reach out and hold its colours in her hand.

Crystal opened the door to the yard. The ground was still very wet. She was just about to go back inside and look for her rubber boots when she saw something sparkling on the ground. It looked like a very large raindrop caught on a blade of grass.

Crystal bent down and picked it up. It shimmered in her hand. As she held it up to take a closer look, she realized that the rainbow colours were reflected through the object creating a pool of bright colours on the ground.

There were reds and yellows and oranges and greens and blues and violets - all the colours of the rainbow were swirling around her feet.  As she watched, the colours changed shape and she was standing at the bottom of a beautiful stairway. The first step was red, the next orange I the next one yellow, then green, then blue....

Slowly Crystal started climbing the colourful stairway. She climbed higher and higher. All of a sudden Crystal was standing at the top of the rainbow.  Behind her were the colourful steps and ahead of her the rainbow bent down like a giant slide!

Crystal took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slid down the rainbow! It felt like flying and gliding and sliding all at once.

Then...

BUMP! Crystal landed at the end of the rainbow. All around her on the ground were Jewels of different colours red rubies, blue sapphires, green emeralds, and glistening diamonds.  She sat on the ground for a moment wondering where she was and what she had just done.

Get up! Where have you been!  I've been waiting for you for so-o-o long."

Crystal looked up. In front of her was a little girl, all dressed in bright pink and covered with stars.

Crystal was very surprised, but she still remembered her manners. "Hello," she said. "My name's Crystal. What's yours?"

The little girl looked at Crystal. "Oh, I thought you knew who I was," she replied. "My name's Jewel and I'm a Spark. I've been waiting for you to come down the rainbow and be my new friend. "

"What's a Spark?" asked Crystal.

"That’s right, you don't know what a Spark is!  Why don't we go and meet the other Sparks? Then you'll understand."

"But how do we find them?" Crystal asked.

"The fireflies will take us," answered Jewel.

Suddenly, a cloud of blinking lights was all around Crystal. They were tiny fireflies, just like the ones Crystal saw in her own garden, so she wasn't afraid.   The little fireflies flew around Crystal and then stretched in a long line down a path In front of her.  Crystal followed the line until the fireflies formed a flashing archway. It was the same shape as the rainbow.  Crystal walked through the archway to find nine little girls, dressed all in bright pink and covered with stars. They were playing games, and running, and holding hands, and singing, and dancing.

"Hello, my name's Crystal and I'm a friend of Jewel's," Crystal said.

The Sparks stopped for a moment.  One of them asked Crystal and Jewel, "Why don't you come and join our game?"

But just then the littlest Spark stepped forward. She said: "First Crystal should know about the Spark Promise.”

"What's that?" asked Crystal. "Is it hard to learn?

"Oh no, said the littlest Spark. "You Just have to know what a promise is. Then you have to promise to share and be a friend.

"I can do that. I know what a promise is, and I promise to share and be a friend." said Crystal.

In less than a moment Crystal was playing games and singing, and dancing, and laughing with all the other Sparks. Jewel threw the rubies and emeralds and sapphires and diamonds into the air. They danced colourfully around the Sparks, mingling with the bright stars.

The littlest Spark came over to talk to Crystal. She said: "The stones are important because each one stands for something. Rubies stand for love, emeralds stand for sharing, sapphires stand for friendship, and diamonds stand for peace. All those things are part of being a Spark. "

Crystal felt very happy. She sang and laughed and played with her new friends.

All of a sudden, she realized she had something in her pocket. It was the large raindrop she found when her adventure began. She pulled the raindrop out of her pocket and held it up. Jewel came over to look at the raindrop with her.

"That's a prism," said Jewel. "You can see all the colours of the rainbow through it when you hold it up to the light."

"Thank you." said Crystal.  I didn't know what it was.  But I think it will take me home now."

In the blink of an eye, Crystal was standing in her yard on the wet grass. She held the prism in her hand. "I promise to share and be a friend," she said.