William is taken to stay with his Auntie Mary on the night his mother dies. His mum, Kitten Brown, was a champion surfer, and all the colour goes out of William's life when she dies after a long illness. Auntie Mary's house seems gray, as is Auntie Mary herself. His dad drinks, and William compensates by being overly polite. As the days before the funeral pass, William sleeps and sleeps, and when he is asleep, he dreams of his mum - of her surfing. When she crests waves, she draws all the colour of the world into herself. Colour is important in this story, and after William has one last dream - when his mum sends all the colour into a rainbow and rides over it and away - he and some new friends and his dad redecorate Auntie Mary's sitting room in bright colours, symbolising new life for them all. William's healing process seems rather too quick, and the redecorating episode at the end doesn't ring true. Nevertheless, William's reactions to his mum's death are very real indeed, and the story is moving.