That morning the sky was gray like a woolly blanket, but the garden was not cold yet. Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Skye had pulled out an old ball and made up a very silly game: who could roll across the grass like a log and stop right next to the bush without touching it.

"Look at me, I'm a super-fast log!" shouted Dash, spinning around like a top. He rolled and rolled, and ended up right inside a puddle with a big "SPLASH!". The others burst out laughing.

"You win the prize for the wettest log in the world!" said Ziggy, holding his belly from laughing.

Lily was trying to roll with her eyes open, stubborn as always, while Skye laughed softly and helped Dash get up. It was right then that a familiar sound came from far away.

"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"

Through the trees popped out Toby the Magic Train, all colorful, with smoke doing somersaults in the air. He braked in front of the children with a happy whistle and said:

"Hello, little champions, brave and true,
the Snowflake Woods are waiting for you!
A little spotted friend needs help today,
so keep on trying, you'll find the way!"

"Snowflakes? What snowflakes?" asked Lily, curious.

But Toby, as always, didn't say anything more. He opened the doors and the four friends climbed aboard, laughing. The little train sped off, and as it ran the air changed: it turned cool, then cold, then freezing cold. When the doors opened again, the children stood there with their mouths wide open.

They were in the Snowflake Woods. Tall, tall trees, paths and clearings, and all around soft snow was falling, light as feathers. In an instant the woods had become a big white playground.

"SNOOOW!" yelled Dash, and off he dashed. He took two steps, slipped, and flew forward, landing face-down in the snow. He got up with his whole nose white, looking like a snowman. "Everything under control!" he said seriously, while the others laughed themselves silly.

Then Skye pointed at something between two trees. "Look over there..."

Under a branch there was a little fawn. He had soft fur, and on his shoulders lots of heart-shaped spots. But he was doing something very funny: he yawned, wobbled, closed his eyes, and was about to fall asleep standing up. Then he woke up with a start, took two shaky little steps, and started nodding off again.

"Hey, hello!" said Dash, coming closer. "Do you sleep standing up?"

The fawn gave a huge yawn. "Yaaaawn... sorry... I'm terribly cold... and when I'm cold I get so sleepy... a sleepiness you can't even imagine..." And he nodded off again, resting his head on Skye's shoulder.

"But you can't fall asleep here!" said Lily, worried. "There's snow, you'll freeze!"

"I know..." murmured the fawn with his eyes half closed. "I need a warm shelter... a place with a nice cozy warmth..."

"Cozy warmth?" asked Dash, scratching his head. "What's cozy warmth?"

The fawn smiled sleepily. "Cozy warmth is a sweet little warmth... not too hot, not too cold... just right, the kind that makes you feel good-sleepy instead of cold-sleepy."

"Ah! The just-right warmth!" repeated Dash, and a light lit up in his eyes. "Then leave it to us! We'll build you a shelter with a fantastic cozy warmth! But we'll do it our own way..." He raised an arm like a captain. "SHELTER SQUAD, GO!"

The friends cheered. Dash split up the jobs like in a real race. "Let's make a relay! Ziggy and I run to grab the twigs, Lily and Skye get the base ready. Whoever carries the most stuff wins!"

And so the first race began. Dash zipped off between the trees, gathered a mountain of twigs, put too many in his arms, and couldn't see where he was going. "This way! No, that way! Where's the path?" He crashed into Ziggy and the twigs flew everywhere like confetti. The two ended up sitting in the snow, covered in little sticks.

"Points lost!" chuckled Ziggy.

But in the end they gathered the twigs, and built a first shelter: a roof of little sticks leaning one against the other. "Perfect!" said Dash proudly. "Little fawn, try under here!"

The fawn dragged himself under the roof, curled up, rested his head, and began to snore. "Zzzz... zzzz..." But the moment he snored, his belly puffed up like a bellows, pushed a twig, and the WHOLE roof collapsed with a "CRACK!". The fawn found himself buried under the sticks, with a twig on his nose, still fast asleep.

"Oops," said Dash. "The roof doesn't hold when he breathes. We've learned something: we need a stronger base!"

"Try and try again!" said Lily, rolling up her sleeves.

Second race. This time they decided to make a wall of snow, nice and thick. They all worked together, piling up soft snow. Dash, to go faster, took a running start pushing a huge pile of snow. "I'm a super-fast bulldozer!" But he ran too fast, couldn't stop, slipped, and dove right into the wall he'd just built. The wall crumbled and Dash disappeared inside a white heap. Only his tuft of hair poked out.

"I'm... inside the wall..." said a muffled voice. Everyone burst out laughing, even the fawn opened one eye and gave a little smile.

"I've learned another thing," said Dash, spitting out snow. "You shouldn't rush when you build. Slow and careful!"

The fawn yawned louder than before. "Yaaaaawn..." And the yawn was so long that the children looked at each other, worried. The more the fawn yawned, the less time was left.

"We have to hurry!" said Skye sweetly. "But let's do it right."

Third race. Now they wanted to do things properly: a wall with a door of woven leaves, so the wind couldn't get in. Lily held the branches, Ziggy wove the leaves, Dash passed them at top speed. "Leaf! Leaf! Leaf!" he shouted, tossing them. Everything was going great, until they wove the door too narrow. When Lily tried to open it to let the fawn in, the leaf door bounced right back into her face with a "PLOP!" and covered her all over. She stood there, with a giant leaf on her nose, still as a statue.

"Lily, you've turned into a bush!" laughed Dash. Even Lily, under the leaves, started to laugh.

"Okay, okay," she said, pulling the leaves away. "I get it: the door has to be just the right size. Not too narrow."

By now the fawn was yawning nonstop. He wobbled, closed his eyes, and let himself drop into the snow. "So... good night..."

"NO!" they all shouted together. Skye ran to shake him gently. "Stay awake just a little longer, we're almost there, we promise!"

Dash stopped. He looked at the three failed shelters and suddenly his face lit up. "Wait! We've learned so many things! The first shelter taught us we need a strong base. The second, that we have to go slow and careful. The third, that the door has to be just the right size! If we put all the pieces together..."

"...we build the perfect shelter!" finished Lily, her eyes shining.

This time no speed race. They worked together, calmly. First a wide, sturdy base of thick branches, planted firmly in the snow. Then walls of well-packed snow, with a slanted roof, so the new snow slid off instead of collapsing. Ziggy had the idea of a door just the right size, neither too narrow nor too wide. And inside, Skye arranged a soft layer of warm moss that smelled of the woods.

"Here's the cozy warmth!" said Skye. "The just-right little warmth."

They held their breath. The fawn, half asleep, dragged himself into the den. He curled up on the moss. He rested his head. And he began to snore. "Zzzz... zzzz..." His belly puffed up like a bellows, but this time... the den didn't move. It held. The fawn was warm.

For the first time, he wasn't sleeping from the cold. He was sleeping from the cozy warmth, with a sweet smile on his face.

The children hugged each other in silence, hopping softly so they wouldn't wake him. And then something magical happened: from the warmth of the den, among the leaves, little colorful wings slowly appeared. They were butterflies, hidden who knows where from the cold. One, two, then many, they began to flutter around the warm little den.

"The butterflies!" whispered Skye, moved. "They've come back because we beat the cold!"

"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"

Toby the Magic Train popped out among the trees, just in time. The children climbed aboard on tiptoe, waving goodbye to the fawn who slept happily. As the little train set off again, Toby said:

"Three times you tumbled, three times you fell,
but you never gave up, and you built it so well!
By trying and trying, you learn and you grow,
in a warm, cozy shelter, to sleep he will go!"

The children laughed and clapped, tired but happy. As the Snowflake Woods vanished behind them, Dash looked at his still-cold hands and smiled.

"You know what?" he said. "Even if you fall three times, the fourth time you can make it. You just have to remember what you learned the times before."

"And help each other, all together," added Lily.

The little train carried them back home, to the garden, where the gray sky had opened up and a ray of sunshine was warming the grass. And who knows, maybe there too, somewhere, there was a little bit of cozy warmth waiting for them.