It was a cold morning and the sky looked like a grey blanket stretched over the houses. A light wind made the remaining leaves on the trees tremble. Inside Lori's house, however, everything was warm and cozy.

Lori, Ale, Viola, and Eletta were sitting near the big living room window. With their little mouths they blew hard on the glass, which became all foggy like a magic mirror.

"Look! I'm making a sun!" said Ale, drawing with his finger on the foggy window.

Viola pressed her little nose against the glass and laughed. "I'm making a flower!"

Eletta, with her calm eyes, drew a tiny house. Then she yawned a little because it was almost time for her nap.

Lori blew very hard, harder than everyone, and drew a big blob with lots of lines going everywhere.

"What's that?" asked Viola, tilting her head.

"It's... it's..." Lori didn't know what to say. He wanted to make a drawing as nice as the others, but his came out all strange.

Fred, Lori's dad, came closer and looked at the window. "Be careful not to bump your head on the glass when you blow so hard," he said with a caring voice.

Christina, Lori's mum, smiled. "It looks like a beautiful firework to me!"

But Lori wasn't convinced. He looked at his friends' perfect drawings and felt a little sad.

At that moment, from outside came a sound that all the children knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF! CHUFF CHUFF!"

"Toby!" they shouted together, running toward the door.

In the garden, among the dry leaves swirling in the wind, there he was: Toby the Magic Train. He was red like an apple, with golden wheels that shone even without sun. From his chimney came blue smoke that smelled like cotton candy.

"Good morning little ones, dear friends of mine! Today I'll take you where the ice is divine!" said Toby with his cheerful voice.

"Ice?" Lori opened his eyes wide. He was fast at running, but he had never been on ice.

The parents came out to say goodbye. Grace took Ale in her arms for one last tight hug. Christina adjusted Lori's scarf three times, worried he might get cold.

"Be careful!" said Fred.

The four friends climbed onto the little train, which left immediately. The houses became small, then disappeared. The trees became white, covered in snow. And suddenly, everything around them sparkled.

In front of the children was a huge ice rink, as big as ten swimming pools put together. The ice glittered as if someone had scattered millions of sparkles on it. White snowflakes fell slowly, like feathers falling from a pillow.

"Ohhhhh!" they all said together.

But the strangest thing was the mist. A light mist that, when a ray of sunlight touched it, became colourful. Pink, light blue, green, yellow. It was a rainbow mist!

"How beautiful!" whispered Eletta, with her eyes wide open.

Toby stopped beside the rink. "Now get off, dear friends. Here you'll find rare treasures!"

The children got off carefully. At their feet, skates appeared by magic: light blue for Ale, purple for Viola, pink for Eletta, and red for Lori.

Ale was the first to jump onto the rink. With his skinny little legs he slid fast, laughing. Viola followed him, determined, with her blue eyes sparkling. She slid well too, because when Viola decides to do something, she does it.

Eletta moved slowly, calm as always, watching the snowflakes falling on her hair.

Lori instead stayed still at the edge. He watched his friends sliding happily. He tried to move one foot, but immediately felt himself tremble.

"Come on Lori!" called Ale.

Lori took a step on the ice. His legs trembled. He took another step. He slipped sideways. He moved his arms like a little bird learning to fly.

"I can't do it!" he said in a small voice.

At that moment, from the centre of the rink, came a strange sound. A big, cheerful laugh.

"AHAHAH! Who's wobbling like a penguin with hiccups?"

The children turned around. On the rink was a character they had never seen before. He was a little man made entirely of ice, but he wasn't cold. He had two blue eyes that sparkled with joy, a pointed nose like a crystal carrot, and around his neck he wore lots of medals. But the medals weren't made of gold: they were made of ice that never melted, and inside each one a little rainbow was trapped.

When he moved, he glided everywhere gracefully, and he smelled of fresh mint. Before speaking he did a somersault in the air and landed laughing.

"I'm Frizz! The most formidable champion of this magic rink!"

Viola tilted her head. "Formi... what?"

Frizz laughed again, that big laugh that sounded like little bells. "Formidable! It means very very good, exceptional, fantastic! It's a word to say that someone does things really well!"

"Formidable," repeated Ale, hopping. "I like this word!"

Frizz did another somersault, then his smile became a little less big. "But today, my friends, I have a formidable problem. That is... a very big problem."

He pointed to the centre of the rink. There was an ice fountain, beautiful, with a liquid inside that sparkled in all colours. But the liquid was going down, lower and lower.

"That is the Potion of Happiness," explained Frizz. "It's what makes the ice sparkle and creates the rainbow mist. But it's running out! And if it runs out, the rink will become grey and sad."

"How awful!" said Eletta, worried.

"How do you fill it up?" asked Viola, already ready to help.

Frizz spun around three times, thinking. Then he clapped his hands.

"The potion fills up with splashes! When you skate on the ice and make splashes with your skates, if you do it with true joy, the little droplets fly into the fountain!"

"Easy!" said Ale. He launched into a fast run and braked suddenly. SPLASH! A spray of ice flew into the air. But the droplets fell to the ground and didn't go into the fountain.

"Mmm," said Frizz, scratching his ice chin. "Normal splashes aren't enough. They have to be special splashes. Splashes that come from the heart!"

Viola tried. She skated with all her strength, determined. SPLASH! Her splash fell to the ground too.

Eletta tried calmly. Nothing.

Lori watched from the edge of the rink, too scared to try.

Frizz glided over to him gracefully. "And you, little friend? Don't you want to try?"

"I'm not good," murmured Lori. "The others can skate better than me."

Frizz laughed, but this time it was a gentle laugh. "Do you know what I've learned in a thousand years of skating? That copying others never works."

"But you're a champion!" said Lori. "You have all those medals!"

Frizz took one of his medals and showed it to Lori. Inside was a little rainbow spinning.

"I didn't win this because I was the fastest. I won it because I skated in my own way. My special way, that no one else has."

Lori looked at the medal. Then he looked at his friends who kept trying without success.

The ice began to turn dull. The rainbow mist was fading. The colours were going out one after another.

"It's running out!" shouted Ale, worried.

"No no no!" Viola stamped her feet, frustrated.

Eletta looked like she was about to cry.

Lori felt his heart beating fast. His friends needed help. He couldn't stay still.

He put one foot on the ice. He trembled. He put the other foot on. He almost fell. But instead of trying to skate like Frizz, like Ale, like Viola, he did something strange.

He let himself go.

He began to slide in a funny way, with his arms spinning like windmill blades. His legs each went their own way. He looked like a crazy spinning top. It was ridiculous. It was strange. It was... Lori.

And Lori began to laugh.

He laughed so much that tears ran down from his eyes. He slid and spun and bounced, and he didn't care about looking funny.

SPLASH!

An enormous splash shot from his skates. But this splash was different. It sparkled. The droplets flew high, very high, and they all fell into the fountain!

"HOORAY!" shouted Frizz, doing five somersaults in a row. "Now that was a real splash! A splash from Lori!"

The other children understood. Ale stopped trying to be fast and began to jump on the ice like he always did, because he loved to jump! SPLASH! Droplets into the fountain!

Viola skated with that serious, determined face that only she knew how to make, and when she braked suddenly with all her stubbornness... SPLASH! More droplets!

Eletta moved slowly, calmly, almost sleepily, in her peaceful way. And her splash was the most delicate of all, like a gentle rain of tiny stars.

The fountain filled up. The ice sparkled again. The rainbow mist exploded in a thousand colours, more beautiful than before!

Frizz hugged all the children, and even though he was made of ice, his hug was warm.

"You've understood the secret! You don't have to be like others. You have to be yourselves. It's the bravest thing that exists!"

At that moment they heard Toby's whistle.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

It was time to go home.

Frizz gave each child a small ice medal that would never melt. Inside each one was a little piece of rainbow.

"This is to remind you that you are formidable. Each in your own way."

The children climbed onto Toby. Lori turned to look at the rink one last time. Now he knew that being funny, being different, being simply Lori... was the best thing he could be.

Toby left as the snow fell gently.

"On the rink you learned a treasure true: that being yourself is worth more than gold to you!" said the magic train.

When they arrived home, the parents were waiting for them. Christina ran straight to Lori to check he was alright.

"Did you have fun?" asked Fred.

Lori smiled the biggest smile ever.

"Yes! And I made the funniest splashes in the world! And you know what, Dad? I'm formidable!"

Fred laughed and hugged him tight.

That evening, as the children fell asleep, the moral of the adventure stayed in their hearts:

**The bravest thing you can do is truly be yourself. You don't have to be like others. Your special way of doing things is perfect, because it's only yours. And when you are really you, even the hardest things become possible.**

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