Lurky

Lurky is Murky Dismal's bumbling assistant who always seems to get everything wrong, no matter how hard he tries. He hovers over Murky, getting in his way as he tries out his latest experiment, and he is too stupid to know just how evil Murky Dismal really is! Also, crafty Murky always keeps a small gloom cloud above Lurky's head to make sure he is always unhappy.

One morning, Lurky woke up in an extremely grumpy mood, which was not unusual, considering that he lives in The Pits - a nasty, gloomy place.

His mood was not improved by Murky Dismal who immediately began yelling at him.

"Get out of my way! Get out of my way! I have to work in my laboratory all day! Why don't you go catch some sprites and make yourself useful for a change?" he sneered, hurrying away to his lab.

As Lurky walked down the hill from The Pits, and headed toward Rainbow Land he felt better with each step. You see, in his hurry, Murky Dismal had forgotten to put a little cloud of gloom over Lurky's head to keep him unhappy. As Lurky entered a meadow he heard the sound of horse's hooves and quickly hid behind a great big bush.

Up rode Rainbow Brite on Starlite. They both were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Lurky knew that he should try to capture her - that's what Murky Dismal would want him to do, but he just didn't feel like it.

Lurky heard Rainbow Brite talking to Starlite. "Oh, Starlite, it's such a beautiful day! I want everyone to be as happy as I am!"

With that, she threw a handful of magic Star Sprinkles up into the sky, making it even bluer than before. Then, he made the grass and leaves greener.

As a final gesture, Rainbow Brite threw a last handful of Sprinkles into a field of wildflowers, making the colors almost glow with brilliance. Then in a twinkling, she and Starlite rode away as fast as the wind.

Lurky slowly came out from behind the bush, his mouth open as he stared at the colorful landscape. He immediately tripped on his shoelaces and fell smack in the middle of the field of flowers. As he lay there, surrounded by so many colors, he began to feel very strange.

Suddenly Lurky heard a group of sprites in the distance, giggling and chattering and skipping along. He sat up straight and watched them. Everyone seemed so cheerful, he thought. Lurky picked a little bouquet of flowers and slowly got to his feet. The strange feeling that had come over him was happiness. Without thinking, he did a clumsy little dance and began singing (rather off-key since he had never sung before):

“Lurky's got some po-sies!

Violets, daisies, rosies!"

He felt a little silly, but it was good silly and he was sorry when it was time to go home.

As he walked up the hill to The Pits, he felt gloom surrounding him again. When Murky Dismal saw him, he was furious.

"You bumbler!" he screamed, "Gone all day and you didn't capture even one sprite, not to mention that Rainbow Brite and her friends! Get out of my sight! You can't do anything right!"

Lurky hung his head and slowly shuffled off to bed. But, before going to sleep he secretly tucked something under his pillow. It was a little bouquet of flowers, which he had hidden behind his back so Murky Dismal wouldn't see.

That night, for once, he slept soundly and dreamed of that very special sunny day when Rainbow Magic had touched his life.

Lurky is a fuzzy animal-like creature who linked up with Murky Dismal years before. A big, brute of a creature, he looks like a force to be reckoned with ... till you realize he’s sweet as sugar.