That morning the sky was a fresh, washed blue, and a soft wind slipped through the leaves in the garden. It was not just any wind: it seemed to whisper, as if it were telling a secret to every blade of grass. Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Skye were sitting on the grass, blowing soap bubbles with four colorful straws.

"Look at mine!" shouted Dash, and he ran after a giant bubble until he bumped right into it with his nose. The bubble went "plop" and he rolled in the grass, laughing. Ziggy jumped up to catch them, Lily chased one, determined not to pop it, and Skye watched just one, so gently, as it floated up toward the sky.

"I bet I can run faster than my bubble!" said Dash, and he zoomed off around the tree. Meanwhile, the bubble popped right on his forehead. "The bubble won," giggled Lily.

That was when they heard it. "CHOO CHOO!"

Out from the bubbles popped Toby the Magic Train, shiny and smiling, with smoke that made little round clouds. The children ran to him, clapping their hands.

Toby whistled and said:

"Climb up, my friends, the time is just right,
for dives and for races and pure delight!
Where bubbles go plop in the deep blue sea,
and the quick fish go zoom — come along with me!"

"Where are we going? Where are we going?" asked Dash, who was already hopping with excitement.

"You'll find out soon, so don't ask me how,
just hold on tight — we're leaving right now!"

The four friends climbed aboard, laughing. The little train rattled through the clouds, then went down, down, toward the sea. And without anyone getting even one finger wet, they slipped straight into the water, like going through a big blue window.

They had arrived in the Bay of the Singing Corals.

How wonderful! The corals looked like flowers made of colorful sugar. The seaweed swayed like green curtains. And everywhere little bubbles floated by, going "plop, plop, plop." The children found out that down there they could breathe and talk as if it were nothing, and that they could swim as light as feathers.

"Welcome to the Bubble Slalom!" said a quick little voice. In front of them was a candy-pink starfish, with five points that moved and never stayed still. "I am Starla Chatter, the judge of the race! You must swim through the corals following the glowing stars, and most of all you must navigate well, mind you!"

Dash tilted his head. "Navigate? What does navigate mean?"

"It means finding the right way without getting lost," explained Starla Chatter. "You look at the starfish that light up, and you understand which way to go. That's it — navigate!"

"Ahh!" they all said together. And Dash repeated "navigate" three times, because he loved the way it sounded.

Starla Chatter did not stop talking for one single second. "So, the path turns between the red corals, then under the seaweed arch, then careful — do NOT go through the cave of the ticklish jellyfish, or they'll tickle you and you'll burst out laughing! Oops... I wasn't supposed to say that. Did I say it? I said it."

Lily laughed. "You just gave away the clue!"

"I talk and I talk, and things just slip out of me!" said Starla Chatter, turning an even brighter pink.

Meanwhile, Dash was practicing. And this is where the trouble began — the kind that makes you laugh until your tummy hurts. He took a running start, but he slipped on a smooth, soapy piece of seaweed and started spinning like a top, "whoosh!", ending up with his tail in the air. He pulled himself up, pushed off again, and flew into a giant bubble that bounced him up and down, "boing, boing, boing," until he popped out with a little crab perched on his nose.

"Good morning," said the little crab, calmly.

"Good morning," answered Dash, with his eyes crossed.

He tried again, determined not to get it wrong. He swam fast toward the seaweed arch, but he took it too low and came out with a green tuft on his head, like a silly hat. "Does it suit me?" he asked, and he bowed to a pufferfish, who was so surprised that it puffed up like a balloon and bounced away.

Ziggy laughed so hard that bubbles came out of his mouth. Skye clapped sweetly, and Lily shouted "Again! Again!" Ziggy wanted to try too: he did a somersault in the water, but he landed right inside a bush of seaweed and popped out with a seashell stuck on one ear. "I can hear the sea!" he said, and they all burst out laughing again.

But in a corner of the bay, hidden behind a piece of seaweed, there was someone who was not laughing.

It was a little grey fish. Not an ugly grey — just a dull, faded grey, as if his colors had gone to sleep. His name was Flick.

Skye, who always noticed whoever was alone, swam over to him. "Hi. Do you want to play with us?"

Flick shook his head. "I don't race. I'm all grey. The other fish shine with a thousand colors, and I don't. I feel different, all wrong. And without colors I can't see the glowing stars well, so I always get lost."

Skye smiled at him. "You're not wrong. You're just a little faded. But inside you, everything is still there."

Flick lowered his eyes and did not answer.

"START THE RACE!" trilled Starla Chatter, and she blew into a shell. "READY, SET... PLOP!"

Dash shot off like a rocket. He was so fast, the fastest of all! He zipped between the red corals, passed under the seaweed arch, and turned around the bubbles with a perfect curve. The other fish were a mile behind. The finish line, a big golden shell, was close, so very close.

Dash was already smiling. He was about to win.

But right at that moment came the whispering current. It blew between the corals, "sshhh, sshhh," and swirled up a whirl of bubbles that covered the glowing stars. For a moment, no one could see the way anymore.

Dash slowed down and turned, to work out which way to go. And that was when he saw him.

Flick.

The little grey fish was going round and round, lost. Without colors he couldn't tell the stars apart, and the current was pushing him far from the path. Flick was crying, and his tears mixed into the water of the sea.

Dash looked at the golden finish line. It was a breath away. Just one flick of his fins and he would win.

Then he looked again at Flick, alone and scared.

Dash's heart did a little flip. And Dash understood something simple: winning all by himself did not matter so much anymore.

He turned his tail and went back, swimming against the current. "Flick! Flick, I'm here!"

"Dash? But... you were winning! Go on, never mind me, I always get lost..."

"I won't leave you," said Dash. "I'll teach you to navigate. Not with your eyes. With your heart."

"With... my heart?" sniffled Flick.

"Close your eyes," said Dash. "Can you feel the current on your skin? When it strokes you from the left, go left. Listen. It whispers the way."

Flick closed his eyes. He was trembling. But he felt the current brush against his side. "This... this way?" he whispered, and he moved.

"Well done! Keep going!"

From above, Ziggy had an idea. "Friends! Let's make the light ourselves!" The children gathered up the fallen glowing stars and held them up high, so Flick could see them better. Lily pushed the bubbles away with her hands, not giving up, to open the way. Skye swam next to Flick and held one of his fins. "You're almost there. You're doing so well."

And then something magical happened.

As Flick began to trust himself, as he felt that someone believed in him, the tip of his tail lit up blue. Then one fin turned yellow. Then a green stripe, a red one, a purple one. The colors were waking up, one after another, like little party lights!

"Flick! Your colors!" shouted Dash. "You're all colorful!"

Flick looked at himself and couldn't believe it. He was shining brighter than any fish in the bay.

Together, Dash and Flick crossed the finish line. Last. The very last. Everyone else had finished a long time ago.

But when they passed under the golden shell, something amazing happened: the whole Bay of the Singing Corals burst into a huge round of applause. Fish, crabs, octopuses clapping all eight arms together, and even Starla Chatter, who for the very first time was left speechless... for a whole two seconds.

"You lost the race," the starfish said then, "but you won something bigger. That little fish is shining again, thanks to you!"

Dash smiled. "I didn't win because I'm fast. We won because we helped each other."

Flick swam over to Dash and gave him a hug with his fins. "You taught me to navigate. But most of all, you made me feel important. Thank you."

Skye's eyes were a little shiny, in the happy way. Lily and Ziggy made a water ring-around dance with Flick in the middle, all sparkling.

Then, from above, came the familiar sound. "CHOO CHOO!" Toby the Magic Train had come back to get them, floating among the little bubbles.

They waved goodbye to Flick and Starla Chatter, climbed aboard Toby, and the little train said:

"The one who runs fast may win the big race,
but a kind, gentle heart puts a smile on your face!
Who helps out a friend who is sad and alone,
makes him shine with a thousand colors of his own!"

The children smiled, tired and happy. Toby whistled one last time:

"Now it's time to go home, the day's at its end,
with the sea on our lips and a full heart, dear friend!"

And with a little puff of smoke and a "plop" of bubbles, he carried them back home, to the garden where the wind was still whispering through the leaves. Skye dozed off almost right away, with a sweet smile. And that night, everyone dreamed of a little fish shining with a thousand colors.