In a little home nestled near the tall green mountains, lived a kind girl named Mai. The mountains touched the sky like sleeping giants, and the air smelled sweet like earth and flowers. Mai loved helping her grandmother, who had hands like soft leaves and a smile like the sunrise. Her grandmother was very good at making beautiful things with colorful threads.
One evening, as the sun began to paint the sky in shades of orange and purple, Grandmother brought out a basket overflowing with threads. They were every color you could imagine! Bright reds, sunny yellows, deep blues, fresh greens, and sparkling purples. "Mai," Grandmother said softly, "will you help me sort these threads? We must put the reds with the reds, and the blues with the blues."
Mai happily agreed. She sat beside Grandmother on a soft mat. At first, it was fun to touch all the silky threads. But there were so many! The colors got mixed up, and some threads were a little tangled. Mai sighed. "It's taking a very long time, Grandmother," she said, her shoulders drooping just a little.
Grandmother gently patted her hand. "Yes, little one, it takes patience," she murmured. "Like waiting for a flower to bloom, or for the rice to grow tall. But look," she held up a bundle of bright red threads, "each color is special on its own. And when we put them together, they can make something even more beautiful than one thread alone."
Mai looked closely. She carefully separated a yellow thread from a green one. She saw how pretty the piles of sorted colors looked. She remembered Grandmother's words about patience and kept sorting, her little fingers working carefully. It felt good to help, and she felt a quiet happiness growing inside her.
Soon, the basket was sorted! Piles of colorful threads lay neatly on the mat, looking like tiny rainbows. Mai beamed at Grandmother. "We did it!" she whispered. Grandmother smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Yes, my helper. Now we have all the colors ready to make something wonderful. See how beautiful they look, all in order?"
Mai looked at the vibrant piles and nodded. She saw the beauty not just in the colors, but in the patience and the helping. As the stars began to twinkle outside, Mai snuggled into her bed. She closed her eyes, and the last thing she saw in her mind were the beautiful, colorful threads, all sorted and ready for magic, just like the colors in her sweet dreams.