On Flower Street, the morning smelled of pancakes and fresh air. The sun was peeping through the windows and sparrows were chirping like little alarm clocks. Lila, a six-year-old with a ponytail like a squirrel's tail, was going for a walk with her brother Frank and a dog called Goferek. Gopher had ears like croissants and always looked like he had just eaten something. - Do you hear that? - whispered Lila. - It must be Mrs Zojka's pancakes. - Definitely with jam! - added Franek, who was four years old and always called everything jam, even cucumbers. On the corner, next to the button shop, stood a big box with a sign: Found Stuff. Lila looked inside. There lay an umbrella in a colourful checkered pattern, with a banana-shaped handle and a bow tied on it. - How elegant! - exclaimed Franek. - And a hungry banana! On the handle hung a note: 'Open only when you feel like laughing'. - Do we feel like it? - asked Lila. - I always do! - yawned Goferek. It was a yawn that sounded like 'ha-ha-wuf'. Lila unfolded her umbrella. It did: snap... pyk... and suddenly - CHICHOT! A thin, cheerful voice rang out from under the colourful canopy: - Good morning! I am Chichra. I like to puff... humour! - The umbrella says! - snorted Franek and burst into laughter himself, although he didn't yet know why. - I'm talking too! - added Goferek in his 'wuf' language, and wagged his tail in such a way that he almost swept a fly off the fence. At the same moment, something unusual began to happen. A small red dot, like a strawberry balloon, popped out of Mr Walerian's red mug and flew into the air. A blue streak slipped out of Mrs Zojka's blue pot, blinked and swam like a fish. The yellow stripe from the shop sign slid down like a jelly snake. - O-o! - Chichra said. - I opened a little too wide. - But it's beautiful! - Lila spun around in a circle. - These colours are laughing! Indeed, the coloured dots giggled: he-he, hi-hi, ho-ho, like little clouds of joy. Gofer caught a blue dot with his tongue and suddenly... his tongue was all dark blue. - Oh my! - laughed Franek. - You've got a blueberry tongue! Mrs Zojka ran out onto the threshold. - My flower has faded! - she sighed, looking at the completely white pot. - But at least it's not dripping. Mr Walerian looked at his mug, now white as snow. - 'I've always wanted to look like a cloud,' he muttered delightedly, and then sneezed so loudly that two green dots flew off his socks. The chichra twitched in Lila's hands. - 'Easy, easy! - she called out. - Just shut up and... - Don't close it! - asked Franek. - Just one more dot! Just a tiny one! Lila looked at the playground across the street. The slide was now in peas, the swing had stripes, and the sandpit had a checkered pattern, like an umbrella itself. The children were jumping up and down and catching the giggling dots that gave themselves a tickle. - Look! - exclaimed Franek. - The bench got freckles! Indeed, the park bench got freckles and looked as if it had embarrassed itself. A pink cloud blew out of the bakery's chimney, which smelled of strawberries and buns. Someone turned on the sprinkler on the lawn and the falling drops caught the escaping colours and made rainbow patches on the pavement. - It's like laughing rain! - clapped Lila. Chichra threw a shade and whispered: - Nice, isn't it? Just have to be careful, because colours like freedom and sometimes they play tricks. Franek looked at his shoes. They were now... in stars. - Cool! - he shouted and started dancing until two yellow peas popped up and stuck to his nose. He looked like he had lemon freckles. The waffle barked: wuf-wuf-HAHA, and rushed after one green dash that pretended to be a cucumber. The green dash darted over the fence, followed by Gopher, but stopped politely at the wicket, because he knew that behind the wicket one was only allowed with a guardian. Lila hugged Chichra. - What now? - She asked. - Because I don't think we should leave everything on the dot? - It can be reversed,' Chichra assured her. - 'I have a 'Chichot' button and a 'Hop-Bak' button. Just don't get confused because there's also a 'Surprise' button. - Surprise! - exclaimed Franek immediately. - I always choose surprise! - But maybe... - Lila started, but was interrupted by a quiet murmur. An ever-growing, soft cloud of colour was hovering over the playground. It was gathering dots, dashes and specks from all over the street. A buzz of laughter could be heard, as if the giggles had invisible wings. The cloud swelled, swelled and... began to tilt slowly towards them. - 'Ekhm,' said Chichra, until her bow twitched. - 'If this falls, you'll have pink hair, Franek will have orange socks, and Gofer... - here the umbrella giggled - strawberry ears. - Yeah! - Franek rejoiced. - Nooo... - Lila hesitated, watching the rainbow cloud bubble up like jelly and do a 'bul-bul-hahaha'. Small letters flashed on the handle of the umbrella. Three lights appeared: the yellow 'Chichot', the blue 'Hop-Bak' and the purple 'Surprise'. The purple one flashed the prettiest. Gopher tilted his head and squealed with curiosity. - Lila, press! - whispered Franek, jumping up. - Faster! Cloud leaned in even more. The first dots touched the tip of the slide and dripped down like rainbow syrup. The sun blinked, the wind blew, and Chichra's umbrella shook so hard that its bow knotted into a double loop. Lila tightened her fingers on the handle, drew in air, stretched her finger to the purple button....