It was raining outside. It was not a strong rain, it was a soft rain that drummed on the roof, like someone playing a tiny drum with their fingers.

The four friends were in Lily's room. Mom Marti, Lily's mom, had put a big rug on the floor and the children were sitting on it, playing a card game.

"My turn!" said Lily, picking a card from the deck. Her blue eyes were super focused, like always when she was doing something. Lily never did things halfway. If she played, she played to win.

"You got the dragon!" said Ziggy, peeking.

"No peeking!" Lily covered the card with both hands, with a look that would have scared even a real lion.

"I have the knight," said Dash, waving his card. "The knight beats the dragon!"

"No, the dragon beats the knight!" answered Lily, standing up.

"Actually the dragon and the knight tie," said Skye, who was reading the rules on the back of the box with her usual calm. "It says so right here."

Lily huffed. She did not like ties. She liked winning.

A sound came from the open window. Everyone turned around quickly.

"Toby!" they shouted together.

They ran to the window. Out in the rain, in Lily's garden, was Toby the magic train. He was wet but shiny, with raindrops sliding down him like little beads. He was puffing warm steam that smelled like vanilla.

They ran downstairs. Dad Luke, Lily's dad, saw them rush by like lightning. "Where are you going in the rain?" he asked, fixing his glasses.

"With Toby, Daddy!" said Lily without stopping.

Toby the magic train whistled happily and spoke in his sing-song voice:

"Hello dear friends on this rainy day,
I'll take you somewhere fun to play!
A magic gym with colors so bright,
with mats and balls and pure delight!"

"A gym?" Lily's eyes opened wide. "I love gyms! Let's go!"

They all climbed on. The little train left under the rain, going through a tunnel of raindrops that stopped in mid-air as if time had frozen. Then they crossed a meadow where the flowers were happily taking a shower, and finally they went inside a big building colored like a gift box.

When they got off, they found themselves in a huge gym. It was not a normal gym. The balls were colored like rainbows, the hoops shone like magic rings, and the mats were so soft you could jump on them without getting hurt. There were ropes for climbing, slides that curved, and a wall with handholds that looked like a tiny mountain.

"Wow!" they all said.

And in that moment, from the center of the gym, came hopping the funniest character they had ever seen. He was a big puppet, as big as a grown-up, all colorful: yellow body, red arms, blue legs, and a round head with a huge smile and two spiral eyes that kept spinning. He hopped on one foot, making a springy boing sound with every jump.

"Welcome! Welcome to the Joy Gym!" said the big puppet, doing a somersault that ended in a funny split. "I am Pompon, the bouncy mascot! I cheer for every team, always! Even when they lose!" He laughed so hard that his spiral eyes spun backwards.

"What is a mascot?" asked Ziggy.

"A mascot is a funny character that cheers at games," explained Skye. "They are usually big colorful puppets that make everyone laugh."

"Exactly! I make everyone laugh!" Pompon jumped so high that for a moment he looked like he was flying. "But today I need your help."

"What happened?" asked Lily, who was already ready to act.

Pompon stopped hopping. For the first time he stood still, and his spiral eyes slowed down. "Do you see that climbing wall?"

The children looked. At the back of the gym there was a very tall wall, full of colorful handholds. At the very top there was a golden bell.

"Every day, a different child tries to climb to the top and ring the bell. But today something bad happened." Pompon lowered his voice. "The bell is gone. Someone took it."

"Who?" asked Lily, crossing her arms.

"I do not know," said Pompon. "But without the bell, the gym loses its magic. Look."

The children looked around. The colorful balls were turning gray. The hoops were not shining anymore. The mats were getting hard.

"We have to find it!" said Lily.

They started searching. Lily organized the team like a general. "Ziggy, you check behind the mats. Dash, look under the trampoline. Skye, search near the ropes. I will look up high."

Lily climbed up the climbing wall. She was very good, strong and determined. She climbed fast, hold after hold, without hesitating. She got to the top in less than a minute.

"It is not here," she shouted from up there. "Just the empty hook where the bell was."

She climbed down. No one had found anything. They looked everywhere: in the baskets, under the mats, behind the doors. Nothing.

Lily was frustrated. "It's impossible! We have looked everywhere!"

But Skye was watching Pompon. The bouncy mascot was not helping search. He was standing in a corner, hopping softly, with his spiral eyes spinning very slowly.

"Pompon," said Skye, with a sweet but firm voice. "You know where the bell is, do not you?"

Pompon stopped hopping. His huge smile trembled.

"I... well... I..."

"What did you do?" asked Lily, planting herself in front of him with her hands on her hips.

Pompon sat on the floor with a soft thud. His spiral eyes stopped completely. "I wanted to try ringing it myself. But not from the top of the wall. I wanted to bring it down and ring it here, where I could jump around it. So I took it this morning, before everyone arrived. But when I unhooked it, the bell stopped shining. I tried to put it back, but I cannot reach. I do not know how to climb. I only know how to jump." Two rubbery tears rolled down his cheeks. "And now because of me the gym is losing its colors."

Lily opened her mouth to say something hard. She was about to tell him he had been silly, that you do not touch other people's things, that he had ruined everything. The words were already on the tip of her tongue.

But then she looked at Pompon. He was sitting there, with his blue legs crossed and his red arms hanging, and he really looked like the saddest puppet in the world.

Lily closed her mouth. She breathed. Then she said something that surprised even her.

"Where is the bell now?"

Pompon pointed to a basket of equipment near the door. "In there. Under the cones."

Lily went to the basket, pushed the cones aside and found the bell. It was small, golden, and it was not shining anymore.

"Good," said Lily. "Now we take it back up."

"But I cannot climb!" whined Pompon.

"You cannot. But I can." Lily took the bell and put it in her pocket. She walked up to the wall and started to climb. Hold after hold, with the same determination as before.

But halfway up the wall, the bell slipped from her pocket. Lily tried to grab it in mid-air, lost her grip and fell on the soft mat with a bounce.

"Lily!" they all shouted.

"I'm okay," said Lily, but her face was red. She picked up the bell and tried again. This time she put it inside the belt of her pants. She climbed again, but the hold she grabbed moved and Lily slipped down again.

Twice. Lily had fallen twice. She, who never made mistakes. She, who was the strongest. She clenched her fists.

"I cannot do it with just one hand," she admitted. And that word, "admitted," cost her more than all the climbs in the world. Lily almost never admitted she could not do something.

"Let's make a chain," proposed Skye. "Lily climbs. Ziggy stays in the middle of the wall and passes her the bell when she is ready. That way Lily has both hands free."

"And me?" said Dash.

"You cheer!" said Pompon, who had stood back up. "Like me! Let's cheer together!"

Lily looked at Skye and nodded. "Good idea."

Ziggy climbed up to the middle of the wall and held on tight. Lily took a running start and began to climb with both hands free. She was very fast, sure, strong. She reached Ziggy.

"Pass me the bell!" she said.

Ziggy passed it to her. Lily held it tight in one hand and with the other kept climbing. One hold, another, and another.

Down below, Dash and Pompon were jumping like crazy. "Go Lily! Go Lily!" Pompon did a somersault with every shout.

Lily reached the top. With one hand she held on tight, with the other she hooked the bell onto the hook. As soon as the bell touched the hook, it started to shine again. A sweet sound filled the gym, like a thousand little bells ringing together.

The colors came back. The balls became rainbow. The hoops shone. The mats became super soft again. The gym was alive again.

Lily rang the bell one more time, loud, and the sound echoed through the whole gym.

When she came down, everyone hugged her. Pompon too, who squeezed her so hard with his rubbery arms that Lily almost disappeared inside the puppet.

"Thank you," said Pompon. "And I am sorry. I should have said it right away instead of hiding what I did."

Lily looked at him. "Yes, you should have. You would have saved us a lot of time." Then she paused. "But I learned something too."

"What?" asked Ziggy.

"That admitting you made a mistake is not easy. Pompon took a while, but in the end he said it. And when he said it, we could solve the problem." She looked at Pompon with a half smile, which for Lily was like a hug. "Whoever admits they made a mistake is already on the right path."

Pompon started hopping again. His spiral eyes were spinning very fast again. "I promise I will not take things without asking anymore!"

When they came back to the big room, Toby was waiting for them, puffing vanilla steam.

"What a sweet adventure on this fine day,
admitting mistakes is the bravest way!
Who tells the truth grows tall and strong,
that is the gift that lasts so long!"

The children climbed on. Lily sat down and looked out the window. The rain had stopped and the sun made the puddles sparkle.

When they got home, Dad Luke was at the door.

"There you are! How did it go?"

Lily walked up to him and, which was rare for her, took his hand.

"Daddy, did you know that admitting you made a mistake is hard?"

Dad Luke bent down and looked at her with his sweet eyes behind his glasses. "Yes, I know. It is one of the hardest things in the world."

"But it is also the right thing, isn't it?"

"Yes. Because when you admit a mistake, you can fix it. If you hide it, the problem stays."

Lily nodded, serious. Then she added: "A big puppet with spiral eyes taught me that."

Dad Luke laughed and picked her up. Lily, who usually wriggled because she wanted to do everything herself, this time let herself be held, resting her head on her daddy's shoulder.

And this is the most important thing that Lily and her friends learned that day: that making mistakes is human, but admitting you made a mistake is brave. And whoever has the courage to say "I made a mistake" is already on the right path to fixing it.