That morning the sky was blue and freshly washed, with a few soft clouds that looked like whipped cream. In the garden at home, Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Skye had drawn a long line on the ground with white chalk.

"Who can jump the farthest from this line?" asked Dash, hopping in place like a crazy spring. "I'm the fastest of everyone, so I'm the jumping champion too!"

"We'll see about that!" answered Lily, clenching her fists with grit. "Just watch this!" And she sprang into a bold jump, landing with a cheerful thump on the grass.

Ziggy measured the distance with his little steps. "Nice one, Lily! But now it's my turn. I've got an idea: I'll take a running start from way back!"

Skye laughed, sitting cross-legged on the grass. "You're all so silly. You look like four hopping frogs!"

They were all laughing together when, from behind the big bush at the end of the garden, came a sound they knew very well.

"CHOO CHOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, with his colorful smoke and his cars as shiny as candy. He braked in front of them with a puff and said:

"Good morning, dear jumpers, so bouncy and bright,
today I will take you to a sweet-smelling sight!
There's a sad little meadow that's dreaming all day,
and a honey-sweet secret not far away!"

The children clapped their hands. They loved it when Toby spoke in rhyme! Without wasting a moment, they all hopped onto the cars.

"CHOO CHOO!" And off they went, straight into the heart of the woods.

The little train dropped them off in a wonderful meadow. It was called the Dancing Flowers Meadow, because usually the flowers there would sway and do somersaults when the wind blew by. But that day something was wrong: there wasn't a single flower to be seen! Just green grass everywhere, smooth and empty.

"How strange," said Ziggy, scratching his head. "Where did all the flowers go?"

Just then they heard a very sad buzzing. Bzzz, bzzz. It was a swarm of little bees, with their faces all droopy.

"We're desperate," said the tiniest bee, in a thread of a voice. "Without flowers we can't gather nectar. And without nectar we can't make honey. No flowers, no honey!"

Skye came closer gently and whispered: "Poor things. Don't worry, we'll help you. Promise."

But how? Nobody knew yet.

Right then, from a burrow among the stones, out popped a big nose. A huge nose sniffing the air going "sniff sniff." BONK! The creature tripped over its own nose and rolled down the little hill like a furry ball.

"Ow, ow, owww!" she went, ending up upside down right in front of the children. She smelled of hay and squashed blueberries.

"Who are you?" asked Lily, helping her back to her feet.

"I'm the Weather Marmot!" she said, shaking the grass off herself. "I sniff the air and I know what the weather will be." She sniffed hard. "Mmm... watch out, children: a playful wind is imminent!"

The children looked at each other, puzzled. "Immi... what?" asked Dash, twisting his mouth.

The marmot burst out laughing. "Imminent means it's about to arrive in no time at all! Right now, in a puff!"

"Ah!" they all said together. They had learned a new, hard word.

And sure enough, WHOOSH, a mischievous little wind arrived that tousled everyone's hair and sent the leaves swirling in circles.

The marmot tried to make a nice bow to say hello, but she tripped again and plopped down on the grass with a big THUMP. And there something magical happened: right where she'd bumped her little bottom, a tiny yellow flower popped up!

"Did you see? Did you see?" shrieked the marmot, jumping in astonishment and falling right over backwards. "In this meadow, if you jump and stomp with lots of energy, after a little while a flower pops up! It's the secret of the Dancing Flowers!"

Dash's eyes went wide. Then the most wonderful idea in the world lit up in his head.

"Friends! Let's have a long-jump contest! Every time we land, a new flower is born for the bees! We'll call it... JUMP AND BLOOM!"

"HOORAY!" they all shouted, jumping into the air with joy.

Dash went first. He took a running start, ran quick as the wind, and sprang into a giant jump. He jumped with so much force that he ended up head-down inside a bush, with his two little feet sticking up in the air and swinging!

"Dash, are you okay?" laughed Skye, with her hands over her mouth.

"Perfectly fine!" he answered, upside down. And beneath him, POP, a sunflower as big as a plate bloomed.

Then it was the marmot's turn. She took a running start, but in her excitement she accidentally opened her little toy umbrella. The playful wind blew into it with gusto and... FWEEE! The marmot took off sideways, flew over the meadow, rolled through the grass, and sneezed very loudly: "AH-CHOO-WIND!"

Everyone burst out laughing their heads off. And where she had rolled, a row of little daisies popped up, one after another.

It was Lily's turn. She never gave up. She gritted her teeth, took a running start, and jumped with all her determination. POP, a red poppy! She landed and jumped again right away. POP, a blue cornflower!

"Look at my record! Nobody beats me!" she cheered, bouncing on and on like a little ball.

Ziggy, on the other hand, stopped to think with a finger on his chin. Then the lightbulb went on. "Aha! I've got a clever idea: if I jump from the highest rock, I'll fly farther than everyone!" He climbed up on a boulder and launched himself with a very funny flight, flapping his arms and legs like a little bird on its first try. POP, an orange tulip!

Meanwhile Skye was petting the little bees one by one. "Look how many flowers are coming up! Soon there'll be honey for all of you."

The bees were buzzing happily now. Bzzz, bzzz, but cheerful!

The meadow was filling up with colors. But the marmot sniffed the air and turned serious. "Wait, wait. The most beautiful and fragrant flowers, the ones that make the sweetest honey, only grow on the other side of the stream."

Everyone turned around. On the other side of the stream there was a meadow still all green, just waiting to bloom. But to get there they had to cross the Log Bridge: narrow, old, and creaky, that went CRICK CRACK with every step. Nobody had ever crossed it.

The children froze. The bridge looked a little bit scary. Even Lily, this time, hesitated.

"What if it breaks?" whispered Ziggy.

"And what if we slip into the water?" added Skye, wringing her hands.

There was a moment of silence. Under the bridge the stream went glug glug.

Then Dash took a big deep breath, puffing out his cheeks. "I'll go first. I'm the fastest, right? If I can do it, then you all can do it!"

And he set one little foot on the bridge. CRICK. Then the other. CRACK. He moved forward in little wobbling steps, with his arms spread wide like a clumsy tightrope walker.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOAAA!" he said, swaying from side to side. It looked like he was dancing a very funny dance! His friends laughed, and meanwhile, without even noticing, the fear went away.

Once he reached the other side, Dash raised his arms to the sky. "I DID IT! Come on, come over! It's easy, and fun too!"

One after another, holding hands, they all crossed. Even the marmot, who of course tripped right in the middle of the bridge and finished it rolling like a barrel. Even the little bees followed them, buzzing in a line.

The new meadow was enormous. "We could make only my lane bloom, so I win the contest!" said Lily, her eyes sparkling.

But Dash scratched his head and thought it over. "Wait a moment. If I make flowers grow just for me, the bees will have only a few. And I'd win it all by myself... how sad that would be, though." He looked at his friends and the little bees, then smiled. "You know what we'll do? Let's all jump together and fill every corner of the meadow with flowers! That way there's plenty for everyone!"

"Yeeees!" shouted the others.

And so began the best jump of the whole day. Dash, Ziggy, Lily, Skye, and the marmot jumped together, here and there, and the meadow filled up with flowers of every color: red, yellow, blue, pink, and purple. POP, POP, POP! It looked like a rainbow had fallen to the ground.

The bees were so happy that they got right to work. In the flutter of a wing they made a comb of golden, glistening honey, and offered it to the children.

"Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!" they buzzed. "You saved our honey!"

Dash took the comb in his hands. It was fragrant and shone like gold. "This we'll share with everyone!" he said. And he gave a little piece to each friend, one to the bees, and one to the marmot too, who out of happiness sneezed one last time: "AH-CHOO-HONEY!"

Meanwhile evening had fallen. And in the Dancing Flowers Meadow the last magic of the day happened: the sky filled with stars, twinkling like a thousand little lit lights. The flowers, finally back, swayed gently under that light.

All together they tasted the honey, sitting on the warm grass. It was the best honey in the world. Maybe because it was shared with everyone.

"Have you noticed something?" said Skye, with a tender smile. "The honey is even better when we eat it together."

"It's so true!" exclaimed Dash. "Joy, when you share it, becomes twice as big as before!"

Right then it sounded again: "CHOO CHOO!" It was Toby, come back to get them. He looked at them, all happy and smeared with honey, and said:

"What flowers, what jumping, what laughter today,
sharing the honey chased sadness away!
When you share what you have, there is more in the end:
for joy grows much bigger when shared with a friend!"

The children climbed onto the train, waving goodbye to the little bees and the Weather Marmot, who fell over backwards one last time, laughing heartily. And while the starry sky shone above them, Toby carried them home, CHOO CHOO, with warm hearts and tummies sweet with honey.