Once upon a time, in the middle of a big city, there was a wonderful place. It was called Sunny Park. The grass was very green and soft. The sky was bright blue.
The sun smiled down warm and yellow. In Sunny Park, the birds sang. Tweet tweet! The little squirrels ran up and down the trees.
Rustle rustle! Children played on the swings. Wheee! They laughed and had fun.
It was a happy place to be. In this park lived a hero. His name was Captain Cleanup. Captain Cleanup was not a big superhero.
He did not have super strength. He did not fly in the sky. But he had a shiny green cape. He had tall green boots.
He had a big heart full of love. Captain Cleanup loved the trees. He loved the flowers. He loved the ducks in the pond.
Quack quack! Every day, Captain Cleanup walked in the park. He looked for things that did not belong. If he saw a paper, he picked it up.
Zoom! If he saw a bottle, he put it in the bin. Clink! He always said his special words.
'Clean and green! Clean and green! 'One morning, Captain Cleanup was picking up a small wrapper. Suddenly, the sky turned a little gray.
A rumble sound came from the street. Thump, thump, thump. Something rolled into the park. It was Trashy the Villain!
Trashy was a big, messy pile of garbage. He was made of old boxes, sticky wrappers, and grumpy old newspapers. He smelled like old socks. Pew!
Trashy had small, squinty eyes. He had a big frown. He did not look happy. Trashy looked at the clean grass.
He looked at the pretty flowers. He did not like them. He liked messes. Trashy took a big bag of trash.
Swish! He threw it on the soft grass. Plop! He threw an empty bottle on the path.
Clank! He threw a plastic cup near the ducks. Splash! The ducks were scared.
They swam away fast. Quack quack! The little squirrel ran up a tree and hid. The flowers looked sad.
They drooped their heads down. The children stopped playing. They were scared of Trashy. Trashy laughed a grumpy laugh.
'He he he,'he said. 'Now this is a messy park. I love messes. 'Captain Cleanup saw Trashy.
He saw the trash on the grass. He saw the sad ducks. Captain Cleanup felt sad. But he did not get angry.
He did not yell. He did not fight. He walked over to Trashy. His green cape fluttered in the wind.
Whoosh! Trashy crossed his messy arms. 'Go away, Captain,'said Trashy. 'I want to make a big mess.
I am the Trashy Villain. 'Captain Cleanup smiled a warm smile. He looked at Trashy with kind eyes. 'Hello, Trashy,'said Captain Cleanup gently.
'You are making a big mess. But I see that you look lonely. Are you lonely? 'Trashy stopped.
He looked at his messy feet. He was surprised. Nobody asked him if he was lonely before. 'Yes,'said Trashy quietly.
'I am lonely. Nobody plays with a pile of trash. I am ugly and sticky. So I make messes.
Then people look at me. Even if they are mad, they look at me. 'A single tear rolled down Trashy's dirty cheek. Captain Cleanup felt sad in his heart.
He wanted to help Trashy. 'You are not ugly, Trashy,'said Captain Cleanup. 'You are just messy. And making a mess makes the animals sad.
Look at the ducks. They are hiding. Look at the children. they are scared.
'Trashy looked at the empty pond. He looked at the children behind the benches. He did not want to be mean. He just wanted a friend.
'I do not know how to be clean,'whispered Trashy. 'I am just trash. ''I can help you,'said Captain Cleanup. 'We can do it together.
Will you help me? ''Really? 'asked Trashy. 'You want my help?
''Yes,'said Captain Cleanup. 'We are a team now. 'Captain Cleanup picked up the plastic cup. Zoom!
He handed it to Trashy. 'Where does this go? 'asked Captain Cleanup. Trashy looked at the cup.
He looked at the big green bin. 'It goes in the bin,'said Trashy. 'That is right! 'said Captain Cleanup.
Trashy put the cup in the bin. Clink! It sounded nice. Then they picked up the bottle.
Clink! Then they picked up the bag. Swish! They worked together.
Captain Cleanup used his fast hands. Zoom! Zoom! Trashy used his big hands to pick up the boxes.
They said the words together. 'Clean and green! Clean and green! 'Can you say it with them?
'Clean and green! 'They picked up all the trash. The grass was green again. The path was clear.
The sun came out from behind the clouds. Shine shine! As Trashy picked up the last piece of paper, something magical happened. The sticky wrappers fell off him.
The old boxes fell away. Underneath all the trash, Trashy was not a monster. He was a shiny silver robot! He had a happy face.
He had bright lights that blinked. He was beautiful! 'Look at me! 'said Trashy.
'I am shiny! I am not Trashy anymore. I am Shiny the Helper! 'Captain Cleanup clapped his hands.
'Yay! 'he cheered. 'You are wonderful, Shiny! 'The ducks came back to the pond.
Quack quack! The squirrel came down from the tree. The children came out to play. They laughed and ran.
Wheee! Captain Cleanup and Shiny the Helper sat on a bench. They looked at the clean park. It was so pretty.
'Thank you, Captain Cleanup,'said Shiny. 'You were kind to me. Now I want to be kind to the park. ''That is the best magic,'said Captain Cleanup.
'Kindness. 'They shared a cookie. Crunch, crunch. It was delicious.
The wind blew gently through the trees. Whoosh. The park was safe. The park was happy.
And Captain Cleanup and Shiny were best friends forever.