It was a summer evening, warm like a blanket just taken off the sunny grass. In the garden, Lily, Ziggy, Skye and Dash were playing, chasing fireflies. The fireflies blinked on and off in the grass, like little lanterns playing hide-and-seek.

"I caught one!" laughed Dash, opening his hands. But there was nothing inside, only a little tickle of light that had already flown away. Ziggy jumped to catch a high one, Skye watched, spellbound, sitting in the grass, and Lily, with her blue eyes, followed the cheekiest firefly of them all.

Just as the firefly was about to land on her nose, a sound came from the dark.

"CHOO-CHOO! CHOO-CHOO!"

Out of the bushes came two warm yellow lights. It was Toby the Magic Train, puffing little silver clouds. The children ran to him with their hearts beating fast.

Toby whistled happily and said:

"Good evening, dear children, come climb up with me,
a valley is waiting, as sad as can be.
A magic lies frozen up high in the cold,
come breathe out a secret, so warm and so bold!"

The children looked at each other. Blow into the sky? What did that mean? But with Toby you never knew where you would end up, and that was the fun part. They climbed aboard, laughing, and the little train set off among the stars.

After a while Toby slowed down. They had stopped in a green valley between the mountains. But something was wrong. The sky was dark, without even one little star. And there was a strange silence, like when everyone holds their breath.

"This is the Valley of Whispers," said Lily softly, reading a wooden sign. Just then a gentle wind passed through the leaves and carried their voices far away, from one mountain to another. It was the Whispering Wind: it took the words and made them travel.

The children climbed down. They found a stream, but it was not flowing. It was still, hard and shiny like glass. Near the still water there were little deer, hedgehogs and little birds, all sad.

"They are thirsty," whispered Skye, coming closer gently. "Look, they cannot drink."

Then, from behind a snowy bush, a little white nose popped out. It was a very soft rabbit, all white like a cloud.

"Shhh... I was waiting for you," said the rabbit, so softly that the children had to lean their ears close. He spoke in a whisper, as if every word were a secret given to the wind. "My name is Niveo. I know every path that no one else can see."

"Why did the stream stop?" asked Lily.

Niveo looked up, toward the dark sky. "The water of this valley is born from the spring of the stars," he murmured.

"The spring?" asked Dash, wrinkling his nose. "What is a spring?"

"A spring is the place where water is born," explained Niveo with a kind smile. "Like when you turn on the tap: somewhere, before that, the water was born. Here the water is born from the light of the stars. Their light warms the snow on the peaks, the snow melts and becomes a stream. But the stars have gone dark, one by one. And without their light the snow stays frozen, and the water does not come down anymore."

The children looked up. The sky was all black, fast asleep.

"And how do we light the stars again?" asked Lily, clenching her fists.

"You must climb all the way up to Wind Peak," whispered Niveo. "And up there, blow on the stars. But not with just any puff. With the breath of the heart."

Dash looked at the tall dark mountain and gulped. Ziggy came close to Skye. For a moment nobody moved.

But not Lily. Lily took a step forward. "I am going," she said in her firm little voice. "The animals are thirsty. We cannot leave them like this. Come on, we can do it together."

Then the others found their courage too, because Lily's courage was as catching as a yawn. Niveo hopped in front of them. "Follow me. Only I know the path."

The climb was steep. The dark was thick and the Whispering Wind blew hard between the rocks. Sometimes it carried their voices away, and so they held hands so they would not get lost. Skye was a little scared, but Lily held her hand and said: "I am here, let's keep going."

After walking for a long time they reached the top. Wind Peak was the highest spot in the valley, and from up there the sky looked very close. The dark stars hung in the air, gray and cold, like little lanterns with no flame.

"Try to blow," said Niveo.

Lily took a big breath and blew on the closest star with all her might. "Fffff!"

But the Whispering Wind stole her puff and carried it away. The star stayed dark. Lily tried again, puffing out her cheeks. "FFFFFFF!" Nothing. Dash blew, Ziggy blew, Skye blew. They all blew together, harder and harder, until they had no breath left. But the stars stayed gray and dark.

Skye felt her eyes get watery. "We cannot do it," she murmured. "It is too hard."

Lily was tired too. She sat down on the cold rock, out of breath. Her heart was beating fast. She looked down, toward the valley, where the little deer were waiting, thirsty. She looked at Niveo, so small and kind, who had walked all that way to help the animals. And something warm was born inside her.

"Niveo," she said softly. "Thank you. Thank you for showing us the path."

And in that moment it happened. The star in front of Lily trembled. Then it lit up, with a soft golden light, like a little birthday candle.

Everyone stood with their mouths open.

"You lit it!" shouted Ziggy. "But... how?"

Lily looked at the shining star and understood. Her heart was smiling. "Blowing hard is not enough," she said. "You have to blow while saying thank you. The star lights up with a thank you!"

Then it was like a wonderful game. Ziggy closed his eyes, thought of his cats waiting for him at home, and blew: "Thank you!" And a star lit up above him, bright.

Dash thought of running in the meadow with his friends and blew: "Thank you!" And another star lit up, sparkling.

Skye, her little voice trembling with joy, thought of her mom Elisa, who always gave her compliments, and blew softly: "Thank you." And her star lit up, so sweet, the most tender of all.

One after another, the stars began to shine again. The sky filled with light, as if someone had lit a thousand lanterns all at once. The Whispering Wind, now, instead of stealing the puffs, carried one single word all around the valley: "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

And down below, far away, the most beautiful magic happened. The light of the stars warmed the snow on the peaks. The snow melted into a thousand little drops. And the stream, still like glass, began to move. First slowly, then more and more, until it flowed happily again, singing among the stones.

"The water! The water is back!" shouted the children, running down the lit-up path.

The little deer, the hedgehogs and the little birds came close to the stream and drank, happy. One of the little birds chirped loudly, and it really seemed to say: "Thank you!"

Niveo looked at Lily with his gentle eyes. "You were right not to give up," he whispered. "And you found the most beautiful secret: saying thank you is good for the heart. Thank you lights up the stars, and it lights up people too."

Lily smiled, with a warm, warm heart. Now she understood why her star had lit up: because being grateful for beautiful things makes you happy, and happiness shines like a light.

Just then Toby the Magic Train arrived, puffing softly through the star-lit grass. "CHOO-CHOO! CHOO-CHOO!"

The children said goodbye to Niveo with a long hug and climbed aboard. As the little train set off for home, Toby whistled sweetly and said:

"The stars in the sky are all shining once more,
and water sings sweetly, from hilltop to shore.
A true little thank-you is stronger than wind:
whoever says thank-you feels glad deep within!"

The children laughed and looked out the window at the sky full of stars they had lit. Skye fell asleep sweetly, with a smile. And as Toby carried them home among the silver clouds, everyone knew that this had been the most magical evening of all: the evening when they learned that a tiny little word like "thank you" can light up the whole sky.