Ned's Big Need Jolly Phonics · Step 3, Unit 5: /ee/ mixed

Ned has a farm. He has pigs and cows and crops, and a home that creaks in the wind. But Ned has a big need. 'I need to look grand,' he tells The Book. 'A farmer can look sleek too.'

All week, Ned makes a kit in his shop. He holds it up with a proud grin. Then his smile drops off his face. 'It is brown,' he says. 'Plain, dull, ugly brown. I look like a mud heap.' 'Add some color,' says The Book, flipping its pages. 'But it is not so easy.'

The Book sends Ned out to the land, where red blooms and yellow blooms fill the tall grass. 'Pick a red bunch and a yellow bunch,' says The Book, waving its quill like a wee blade. 'I have a plan.' Ned grabs a bunch in each hand. 'No more brown,' he says. 'I mean it.'

Back in the shop, The Book speaks. 'Crush the red bloom. Squeeze it hard.' Ned squeezes and squeezes. Deep red goo seeps out and drips from his fists. 'Now rub it in,' says The Book. Ned rubs the goo onto the kit on its stand. The brown fades. Red blooms! Ned gasps.

Ned puts on the red kit. He looks down. He frowns. 'Red is too loud,' he says. 'I feel like a shout in a shirt.' 'Try the yellow bloom,' says The Book. 'See what yellow can do.'

Ned crushes the yellow bloom with a quick squeeze. Yellow goo spreads on the bench like sweet cream. 'Ooh,' says The Book. 'That is a dreamy gleam.' Ned rubs it into a fresh kit till each scrap glows bright, sunny yellow.

Ned puts on the yellow kit. He peeks down. He peeks up. He peeks down one more time. 'I look like a big yellow bean,' he says. 'A big bean with feet.' 'It is quite bright,' agrees The Book. 'Not. That. Color,' says Ned.

Ned slumps at his bench. One red bloom and one yellow bloom sit there. He crushes them both, not trying hard at all. Then he pushes the two heaps into each other. The red and yellow swirl. They blend. A warm new color spreads like sunup. Ned's eyes go wide. 'What is that?'

Ned rubs the new goo into a fresh kit at top speed. It turns warm and bright. He puts it on. He looks down. He does a little spin. 'That is the color!' he yells. 'Not too loud, not too yellow. It is peachy. It is perfect!' 'Easy,' says The Book with a sly grin. 'It just takes all day.'

At sunup, Ned starts to make stands. Stand after stand after stand. 'Why so many stands?' asks The Book. Ned just smiles a sly smile. He takes the stands outside and sets them in a neat, long row by his home. 'It is my big plan,' he says with a wink. 'Just wait till noon.'

Ned goes back to the land. He picks each bloom and plant he can see. Then he crushes and mixes and rubs all day long. Red kits. Green kits. Yellow kits. Blue kits. Each one gleams on its stand. 'Come one, come all,' says Ned, arms wide, 'to Ned's Kit Show!' The Book tries not to beam with glee. It beams.

That night, Ned steps out into the dark in his best kit, blade swinging. All the monsters can see him from far off. He glows like a small sunset. 'Ned! That is a bit bright!' calls The Book. Ned grins. 'If I fight monsters at night, I can look grand too!'