One

By Kathryn Otashi

Narrator 1: Blue was a quiet color.

Narrator 2: He enjoyed looking up at the sky, floating on the waves, and on days
he felt daring…splashing in rain puddles.
Narrator 3: Every once in a while, he wished he could be more sunny like Yellow,
or bright like Green, more regal like Purple, or outgoing like Orange. But overall, he
liked being Blue…except when he was with Red.
Narrator 4: Red was a hot head. He liked to pick on Blue. Then Blue would feel
bad about being Blue.
RED: Red is a great color. Red is hot. Blue is not.
Narrator 1: Sometimes Yellow comforted Blue.
YELLOW: Blue is a very nice color.
Narrator 2: But Yellow never said that in front of Red. She never said,
YELLOW: Stop picking on Blue!
Narrator 3: Green, Purple and Orange thought Blue was nice too, but they never
told Red to stop either.
Narrator 4: Every time Red said something mean and no one spoke up, he got …
bigger… and bigger… and BIGGER …
Narrator 1: Soon Red grew so big that everyone was afraid of him. No one dared
stop him. Red picked on all the colors.
Narrator 2: Then everyone felt…a little blue.
Narrator 3: Until One came. He had a different shape with bold strokes and
squared corners.
Narrator 4: He was funny. He made the colors laugh.
Narrator 1: Red saw this and got very hot.
RED: Stop laughing! (he told Yellow)
RED: Stop laughing! (he told Green)
RED: Stop laughing! (he told Purple and Orange)
Narrator 2: And they did.
Narrator 3: Red rolled up to One.
RED: Stop laughing!
Narrator 4: But One stood up straight like an arrow and said,

ONE: No!
Narrator 1: Red was mad, but One wouldn’t budge. So Red rolled away.
Narrator 2: One turned to the colors and said,
ONE: If someone is mean and picks on me, I, for One, stand up and say, NO.
Narrator 3: Then Yellow felt brave and said,
YELLOW: Me TWO!
Narrator 4: Green agreed and said,
GREEN: Me THREE!
Narrator 1: Then Purple became FOUR. And Orange became FIVE.
Narrator 2: Blue saw the colors change. He wanted to count.
Narrator 3: Red grew red hot. He felt out.
Narrator 4: He grew hotter and hotter and HOTTER.
Narrator 1: Red raced over to Blue and said what he always did.
RED: Red is HOT. Blue is NOT.
Narrator 2: But this time Blue stood up tall and became … SIX!
BLUE: Red can be really HOT, but Blue can be super COOL.
Narrator 3: Red blew a fuse and tried to roll over Blue!
Narrator 4: But everyone took a stand and said
ALL except RED: NO!
Narrator 1: Seeing them standing tall, made Red feel…very…very…very small.
Narrator 2:Then Red turned even redder, and began rolling away.
Narrator 3: Blue called out,
BLUE: Can Red be hot… and Blue be cool?
Narrator 4: Red stopped in his tracks.
ONE: Red can count too!
Narrator 1: Red rocked and rolled and turned into … SEVEN! (Red laughed and
joined the fun.)
ALL: Everyone counts! Sometimes it just takes One to make everyone count!