The Story of the Blue Planet Read Online Free PDF Page A

slippery that dirt and mud can never stick to you.”
    “So we’ll never stink again?”
    “Not while you’re coated with Teflon ® wonder stuff.”
    “Will we ever need to bathe in the waterfall mist?”
    “Try lying in the mud,” said Jolly-Goodday.

    The kids rolled around in the mud but the dirt fell off them immediately. The children took the most disgusting filth they could find, full of dog-poop, rotten bananas, dead flies, and tiger pee, and threw it at each other. It made no difference. The filth ran off them. Their hands, nails, and bottoms were spotlessly clean. They were so spick-and-span that there wasn’t even a whiff of smelly toes about them anymore.
    “Thanks to the great Teflon ® wonder stuff, you are so slippery that you can’t even hold hands or hug each other,” said Jolly-Goodday with a big smile. His teeth were as white and straight as a row of sugar cubes.
    The children tried to hold hands but couldn’t get a grip, they were more slippery than salmon, slimier than eels. They tried to hug each other, but no matter how hard they squeezed each other, no one could hold onto anyone. The kids burst out laughing, however, because they could still fly: the butterfly powder was under the magic stuff of course!
    “Wow, you’re not only the funniest man in the world but also by far the cleverest,” said Brimir.
    “How much does the Teflon ® wonder stuff cost?”
    “Oof, not much, just a small dash of youth in addition.”
    “Just a few %?” asked the children.
    “Yes, just a very few % in addition.”
    The children realized it wasn’t really expensive to pay with a little youth from the enormously deep well in order to do without having to bathe themselves in the cold waterfall spray.
    “Hooray for Jolly-Goodday!”
    Now everything was really perfect for the children on the island and they danced in the blue sky. They could fly whenever they wanted, the sun shone all day, the sky was clear and blue, and they were coated with Teflon ® wonder stuff, which kept them squeaky clean.
    “And now you’re ready for the flying competition of the century!” cried Jolly-Goodday. “More speed! More excitement! More fun!”
    “Hooray,” shouted the children. “Now we’re really going to have a good time!”

The Great Flying Competition and into the Blue
     
    Jolly-Goodday took a loudspeaker and blared out:
    “The great flying competition is about to begin. Now we’ll really find out who’s the best on the island!”
    The children looked at Jolly-Goodday in amazement.
    “But everyone’s the best at something.”
    “But the one who’s the best at flying is the very best of all, and now it’s time for the flying fun competition!”
    “I pick Hulda,” said Brimir.
    “No, no, there’s no fun having people in teams,” said Jolly-Goodday. “Let’s have everyone against everyone else instead. The one who reaches the highest is the best of you all. Off you go!”

    The kids shot up into the air shouting and screaming. Elva and Magni were equal in first place and zoomed like jet fighters straight up into the sky, but a black and white flock of terns jabbed them back down to the ground. Arnar the thinker then took the lead, but he collided with a gaggle of geese and crashed to the ground with them. Brimir and Hulda were soon, by far and away, flying the highest.
    “I must get above her,” thought Brimir, and with difficulty climbed just a fraction higher than Hulda.
    They were now the only ones left in the competition and were soaring at a fearful height. The land below seemed tiny and the children on the ground were no longer even little dots, indeed the lakes and forests were like little blue and green spots.
    They had reached higher than the jabbing terns, higher than the gliding gannets, higher than the soaring swans, and finally even higher than the eager eagle. They had reached as high as the butterfly powder would allow them and they would have been dead level if Brimir’s hair