Every weekend, on a Sunday morning, Kit and his sister Kaolin would sit on the front step of their house and watch their mummy and daddy wash the car.
Mummy and Daddy would each have a big yellow sponge, and a red bucket of warm soapy water, and one would wash the front and left side of the car, and the other would wash the back and right side.
The white bubbles would slosh all the way down the friendly green car, over the windows and down the doors, onto the wheels and onto the lights, to be mopped and scrubbed by the sponges.
Mummy and Daddy used to complain about having to wash the car, but to Kit and Kaolin it looked like quite a lot of fun.
But what they could never figure out is why THEY weren’t allowed to help? They didn’t like having to just sitting on the front step and watch.
Daddy would say “Because we want it done properly!”
But that didn’t make sense because Kit and Kaolin WOULD do it properly. Of course they’d do it properly.
But then Mummy would say “You can’t because we don’t want you to make too much mess!”
But that didn’t make sense either because Kit and Kaolin wouldn’t make a mess. Why would they make a mess? They knew how to wash things. And it was only soap and bubbles! If you made a mess with soap and bubbles then whatever you spilt them on just got cleaner anyway. Everybody knows that.
But Mummy and Daddy were firm - no help was required.
“What about if we just help you dry it off?,” said Kaolin.
You see, after Mummy and Daddy had washed the car, a whole new operation began. Stage Two: Drying. Mummy and Daddy would both have a towel, and mummy would take the front and left side, and daddy would take the back and right side, and they’d make sure every drop of water was gone.
“Because we have to make sure we don’t leave a smidge, or it will smudge,” said Daddy.
But that didn’t make sense because Kit and Kaolin wouldn’t leave a drop, or a smidge, or anything.
“And we have to make sure no wet goes and leaks onto the inside,” said Mummy.
But THAT didn’t make sense either, because Kit and Kaolin wouldn’t let any water get on the inside. They KNOW that water shouldn’t be on the inside of a car.
They didn’t like having to sit there on the front step when they could do the job just as well.
But still Mummy and Daddy were firm - no help was required.
After the car had been dried, it was onto the next step. Stage Three: Polishing. Mummy and Daddy would each have a special cloth and one would take the front and the left side, and one would take the back and the right side, and they’d try and make sure that their friendly green car was the shiniest on the street.
“Well at LEAST let us help with the polishing!” said Kit.
“No,” said a tired looking Mummy. “It’s very difficult.”
“No it isn’t, Mummy,” said Kaolin. “You just have to do a small piece at a time and be very gentle.”
“Yes,” said Kit. “And it’s not like you can polish too much, it will just get shinier and shinier, and that’s what you want anyway! Pleeeeaaase?”
Mummy looked at Daddy. Both of them wanted a cool drink of water and a sit down.
“Alright,” said Mummy. “Here you go. We’ll be back in five minutes.”
Kit excitedly took his cloth from Mummy, and Kaolin took her cloth from Daddy.
They’d show them. They’d do the best job EVER.
As Mummy and Daddy went indoors, Kit and Kaolin got to work. They used the corner of the cloth and rubbed in circles, just like they’d seen Mummy and Daddy do. And almost immediately, the car began to shine.
“It’s working!” said Kit, from his side.
“It’s working too” said Kaolin, from hers.
As Kit polished, he began to look deeper into the shiny green metal. Was it his imagination, or could he see a face beside his own?
As Kaolin polished, she also began to look deeper into the shiny door. She began to see something, too. It was defiantly… a smiling face.
“Kit,” said Kaolin. “Something strange is happening! Come and look!”
Kit ran around to join his sister, and peered into the metal where she had been polishing. It was a face, for sure, and very similar to the one on his side.
“Hello?,” Said Kit. “Um, Who are you?”
To their surprise, the smiley face spoke.
“We are sprites,” said the sprite. “The cleaning sprites.”
“Do you live in our car?” said Kaolin.
The sprite looked confused. “In your car? No! We live in whatever needs cleaning. Do you need some help?”
“We don’t need any help,” said Kit. Mummy and Daddy are always telling us that we can’t help and we want to prove them wrong all by ourselves.
Well the sprite looked sad. “But… cleaning is what we do. We like to clean as much as you. And wouldn't you like to make sure you had the shiniest car on the street?”
Kit and Kaolin looked at each other. “What do you mean when you say ‘we’ like to clean. How many of you are there?”
And then, in the shiny reflection, they saw thousands of sprites appear, as far back as you could see.
“We are a very big family!” they all shouted. “Please let us help! We can make this car shine as bright as the desert sun!”
“Well…” said Kit and Kaolin together. “Maybe you could do a bit…”
They heard thousands of tiny voices cheer from inside the paintwork of the car, and then the most extraordinary thing happened. Little by little, bit by bit, the green car began to glow.
Kit and Kaolin stood back to watch in amazement. Inch by inch, panel by panel, door by door, the car shone brighter than a star.
“What do you think?” said a tiny voice.
The car looked like new. No, in fact, it looked far better than any new car they’d ever seen. The paint looked alive, the wheels looked like mirrors. The sunshine sparkled off the windshield.
“I… think you did quite well…” said Kit.
“Quite well?”
“Very well,” corrected Kaolin.
Just then, the front door opened and out stepped Mummy and Daddy.
“Oh!” they yelped. They both put their hands over their eyes, and took their sunglasses out of their pockets. In front of them was the shiniest car they’d ever seen.
It was so shiny, they couldn’t even speak.
Kit and Kaolin winked at the disappearing spites in the green paint, walked towards Mummy and Daddy, and handed them back their polishing cloths.
“Perhaps next week, Daddy,” said Kit, “if you’re very good, Mummy,” said Kaolin, “we’ll let you help.”
“Oh… yes please…” said Daddy, as he and Mummy sat down on the front step.
