Mary Ann got on her brand new bike. She put a foot on one pedal, then one on the other. The bike teetered back and forth and toppled over. Mary Ann sat on the ground crying. She was sad and blue and had some bumps and bruises, too. "It’s been a week since I got my new bike," she moaned. "And I still can’t ride it! I don’t know why I wanted this dumb old bike anyway!" she cried.

Mary Ann went inside. "l can’t ride that bike! I can’t!" she said as she climbed the stairs to her room. She put on her
pajamas and climbed in bed. Hugging her Rainbow Brite doll in her arms, she fell into a troubled sleep.

Rainbow Brite just hated seeing Mary Ann so unhappy. She wriggled out of her arms and climbed up on her pillow. She
whispered in the little girl's ear and Mary Ann began to dream. "Where am l?" Mary Ann asked rubbing her eyes.

"In Rainbow Land, of course!" Rainbow Brite smiled. "Just look around you."

Mary Ann couldn’t believe her eyes! "lt’s so beautitul!" she sighed. "But how did I get here?"

"Oh, that doesn’t matter," said Rainbow Brite. "What’s important is that you are. Come on, I want you to meet someone."

Rainbow Brite led Mary Ann down a colorful trail. A beautiful horse came up and greeted them. "This is Starlite," Rainbow Brite said. "He’s my best friend and he’s very gentle. Would you like to ride him?"

Mary Ann wanted to ride Starlite very much, but she was afraid. "l don’t think I can," she said.

"Oh, don’t be silly," answered Rainbow Brite. "Of course you can. All you have to do is really believe you can."

Mary Ann climbed onto Starlite and held onto his mane. Starlite walked very slowly. Then, he went a little faster. "Hey, this isn’t so scary!" Mary Ann cried. Soon, Starlite’s feet left the ground and the two were flying through the sky! When they landed, Mary Ann was laughing. "That was wonderful — and I wasn’t afraid at all!"

Rainbow Brite gave Mary Ann a big hug. "See! If you really believe in yourself you can do anything!"

When Mary Ann woke up, she was very excited. Her dream had seemed so real! She got dressed, grabbed her Rainbow Brite doll and ran right outside to try her bike. "If I can fly through the sky on a horse, this should be easy!" she exclaimed.

Mary Ann put Rainbow Brite down and got on her bike. It teetered over and she fell to the ground. She got up and tried
again. Kerplop! She fell again but she kept on trying and on her third try, she did it! "I knew I could! I knew I could!" she
shouted. "All I had to do was believe in myself!"

Rainbow Brite just smiled.