It was a cloudy afternoon. The sky was all gray, like a heavy blanket over the houses. But the four friends didn't worry about the weather, because they were playing in Lori's garden with their favorite red ball.

Lori threw the ball in the air and ran fast to catch it. He was very good at running, no one was as fast as him.

"Pass it to me!" shouted Alex, jumping up and down with his arms raised.

Lori threw the ball toward Alex, but something strange happened. The ball flew slowly, too slowly, and fell to the ground with a sad sound: FLOP.

"Oh no!" said Violet with her blue eyes wide open. "The ball has gone all floppy!"

Ella came closer and touched the ball with a finger. "It's deflated," she said with her quiet little voice. "There's no more air inside."

Lori picked up the ball and looked at it sadly. It was all deflated, like an old balloon. "It was my favorite ball," he murmured.

At that moment, Fred, Lori's dad, appeared at the window. "Lori, be careful not to trip in the garden!" he said, as he always did.

"Yes, Dad," answered Lori, but his voice was sad.

Christina, Lori's mom, came out into the garden and saw the children with long faces. "What happened, sweethearts?" she asked, already worried.

"The ball broke," explained Violet, crossing her arms. "And now we can't play anymore."

Just as Christina was about to answer, they heard a distant noise.

CHUFF CHUFF!

The four children looked up quickly. They knew that sound! It was the most beautiful noise in the world!

CHUFF CHUFF!

From the back of the garden, between the bushes, a little cloud of colored smoke appeared. And then, puffing happily, he arrived: Toby the Magic Train!

He was a small but special train, with carriages painted in all the colors of the rainbow. He stopped in front of the children and whistled happily.

"Hello children, I'm here for you, the journey will be wonderful, it's true!" sang Toby the Magic Train with his bright voice. "To the jungle I'll take you today, and an ancient temple I'll show you on the way!"

The jungle! A temple! The children immediately forgot about the deflated ball.

"Can we go, Mom?" asked Lori with shining eyes.

Christina smiled, even though she seemed a little worried. "All right, but be careful!"

"All aboard!" shouted Alex, jumping onto the first carriage.

Violet climbed on decisively, Ella climbed up calmly, and Lori was last, sitting near the locomotive.

CHUFF CHUFF!

Toby the Magic Train departed in a whirl of colored stars. The garden disappeared, the houses disappeared, and everything around them changed.

When the train stopped, the children's mouths fell open.

They were in a jungle full of very tall trees. But the most beautiful thing was the sky: it was night, and above their heads thousands and thousands of little stars were shining. They looked like diamonds scattered on a dark blue carpet.

"How wonderful," whispered Ella, already a little sleepy from the magic of the place.

In front of them was an ancient temple. It was made of big, old stones, with stairs that climbed upward. A temple is a special building, very ancient, where long ago people went to pray or to keep important things safe.

"Shall we go in?" asked Alex, who couldn't wait to explore.

"I'm going first!" said Violet with her strong character, and she started climbing the stairs.

The four friends entered the temple. Inside there were corridors full of colorful drawings on the walls, and in the middle of the floor shone a large pool of water. The water was so clear that you could see the bottom, where golden stones sparkled.

"Look!" shouted Lori. "There's something shining down there!"

But suddenly they heard a flutter of wings. FRRRRR!

A large white stork came down from the ceiling of the temple and landed near them. A stork is a big bird with long legs and an orange beak. This stork had the whitest feathers and wore around her neck a small golden feather that shone like a little star.

"Don't be afraid, little ones," said the stork with a sweet voice. "My name is Celestine, and I am the Bearer Stork of this temple."

"What does bearer mean?" asked Violet, curious.

"It means I carry precious things where they need to go," explained Celestine. "Once I carried babies to families who were waiting for them with love. Now I guard the treasures of this magical temple."

Celestine seemed very kind, the type of creature who always wants to help everyone. She smelled of jasmine flowers, and when she walked she lifted her legs elegantly, like a ballerina.

"I am truly delighted by your visit," said Celestine. "It's been so long since anyone came to see me."

"Delighted?" asked Alex, scratching his head. "What does delighted mean?"

The stork smiled with her long beak. "Delighted means very happy, joyful. When you're delighted, your heart smiles."

"Ah, I understand!" said Alex. "I'm delighted too!"

"Celestine," said Ella with her calm little voice, "what are those stones shining in the water?"

The stork lowered her head and seemed sad. "That is the Treasure of Generous Hearts. They are magical stones that shine only when someone does something good for others. But unfortunately..."

She stopped and her eyes filled with tears.

"What's wrong?" asked Lori, coming closer.

"Tonight a very special stone fell into the deepest part of the pool," explained Celestine. "It's the Stone of First Generosity, the most important of all. If we don't recover it before the sun rises, it will lose all its magic forever!"

The children looked at each other worriedly. They looked at the pool: the water seemed deep, and down there at the bottom, right in the center, a stone shone brighter than the others.

"Can't you get it?" asked Violet.

"My feathers cannot get wet," said Celestine sadly. "If I get wet, I won't be able to fly anymore, and a stork that doesn't fly cannot carry treasures where they need to go."

Lori came closer to the edge of the pool and looked down. His heart was beating fast. He knew how to swim a little, but he had never dived into such a deep pool. Never in his life.

"I... I could try," he said with a trembling voice.

"No, Lori!" said Alex. "It's too deep!"

"What if you get hurt?" asked Ella, clasping her hands.

But Lori looked at Celestine, who was gazing at him with her sweet eyes full of hope. Then he looked at the stone shining down there, and thought about all the beautiful things that stone represented: every time someone had done something kind, that stone had shone a little brighter.

"I have to do it," said Lori. "If no one else can, I have to try."

Violet put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Lori swallowed. He was afraid, very afraid. The water seemed so dark, so deep. But he thought about what Celestine had said: the stones shone when someone did something good for others.

"If I'm afraid but I do it anyway," thought Lori, "maybe I can make a stone shine too."

He took a deep breath. His legs were trembling.

"Courage, Lori!" shouted Alex.

"You can do it!" said Violet.

"We love you!" whispered Ella.

And Lori jumped.

SPLASH!

The water was warm and wrapped around him like a blanket. For a moment he couldn't see anything, just bubbles and golden light. Then he opened his eyes and saw: the stone was right below him, shining and calling to him.

He swam down, deeper and deeper. His lungs were burning, but he didn't stop. He stretched out his hand and... he touched it! His fingers closed around the stone, which was warm and smooth.

He pushed with his feet and rose quickly, faster and faster, toward the surface that seemed so far away.

SPLASH!

Lori's head broke through the water and he breathed hard. In his hand he held the Stone of First Generosity, which now shone so brightly it lit up the whole temple.

"He did it!" shouted Alex, jumping with joy.

Violet and Ella helped Lori get out of the pool. He was all wet but smiling, and his eyes shone almost as much as the stone.

Celestine came closer and bowed her long neck. "Thank you, little Lori. You did something wonderful. You found the courage to dive despite your fear, to help someone you didn't even know."

Then something magical happened: next to the Stone of First Generosity, a new one appeared, small but very bright.

"What's that?" asked Lori.

"It's your stone," said Celestine with a moved voice. "Every time someone does something generous, a new stone is born. This one was born from your courageous heart."

Lori looked at the stone and felt something warm in his chest. It wasn't the gold of the stones that made him feel rich, but knowing he had helped someone.

CHUFF CHUFF!

Toby the Magic Train whistled from the entrance of the temple.

"It's time to return, dear friends," he said. "With hearts full of treasures that never end!"

The children hugged Celestine, who still smelled of jasmine.

"Come back whenever you want," said the stork. "This temple will always be open for those with a generous heart."

They climbed onto the train and, as the temple disappeared among the stars, Lori looked at his friends and smiled.

When they arrived in Lori's garden, the sky was still gray, and the ball was still deflated on the ground. But strangely, no one cared anymore.

"You know what?" said Lori. "I don't need the ball to play. I just need you."

And while Christina ran outside to check that everyone was all right, the four friends hugged each other tight.

Toby the Magic Train whistled one last time: "Who gives without asking for anything in return, is the richest of all, this lesson we learn!"

And he disappeared among the bushes, leaving only a trail of golden stars.

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**The moral of this story is:** Those with a generous heart are the richest of all. It's not the things we have that make us rich, but the love we give to others. Lori discovered that helping someone, even when you're afraid, makes your heart shine brighter than any treasure.

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