It was a very hot summer day and Eletta, Ale, Viola, and Lori were playing in Eletta's garden. They were pretending to be pirates on a ship made of blankets and pillows. The sun was beating down hard and everyone was sweating.

"I'm hot!" said Viola, fanning herself with her hands.

"Me too!" added Lori, sitting in the shade of a tree.

Eletta was calm as always, but even she wiped her forehead. Ale, on the other hand, kept jumping around, even though it was so hot.

Just at that moment, they heard a familiar sound: "CHUFF CHUFF!"

"It's Toby the Magic Train!" shouted Ale, very happy.

The colorful little train appeared in the garden, shining under the summer sun. It stopped in front of the children and spoke with its sweet rhyming voice:

"Hello children, what a hot day,
come with me, I'll take you away!
But not a normal city you'll see,
a special attic awaits you with me!"

The four friends climbed onto the train right away, curious to discover where it would take them. Toby the Magic Train set off quickly, passing through white, fluffy clouds. After a while, it stopped in front of a large old house, with wooden walls and a very high roof.

"We've arrived!" said Toby the Magic Train, and the children got off.

They entered the house and climbed a wooden staircase that creaked under their little feet. With every step, the stairs went "creak crack." They arrived in a huge attic, full of old trunks, dusty boxes, and strange objects. There were antique toys everywhere: dolls in lace dresses, tin trains, rocking horses, and colorful spinning tops.

"Look at all the toys!" said Viola, opening a trunk full of toy cars.

Ale found a wooden sword and started pretending to be a knight. Lori discovered a very old but sweet teddy bear. Eletta instead approached a blue trunk, decorated with drawings of waves and fish.

"This is beautiful," Eletta said quietly, and opened it.

As soon as the trunk opened, a brilliant blue light came out and a jet of water splashed out! The children jumped back, surprised.

From the water appeared a little seahorse! It was orange with yellow spots, and it swam vertically in the air, as if it were in water. It had a crest on its head and big, sad eyes.

"Oh!" they all said together.

The seahorse looked around, bewildered. Then it saw the children and swam through the air toward them. It clung to the edge of the trunk with its curly little tail.

"Hello," said the seahorse in a thin voice. "My name is Coral. I am very... puzzled."

The children looked at each other, confused. That word was strange.

"What does puzzled mean?" asked Viola, curious.

"Puzzled means confused, when you don't quite understand something," explained Coral. "And I am confused because I don't know where my friend is."

"Which friend?" asked Eletta, approaching gently.

"My best friend is called Starfish. We live together in this magic trunk, in a little sea made just for us. But Starfish has disappeared!" Coral seemed very sad, and a small tear fell from his big eye.

"Don't cry!" said Ale. "We'll help you find him!"

"Yes!" added Viola and Lori together.

Coral smiled a little. "Thank you. But there's a problem. Starfish has promised me many times that he would never go far from our trunk. But he never keeps his promises. Last time he promised not to touch the magic shells, but then he touched them all. Another time he promised to wait for me to play, but he went off alone."

"That's not good," said Eletta seriously. "Promises are important."

"I know," sighed Coral. "But I love him anyway. He's my friend, even if sometimes he doesn't keep his promises. But now I'm worried. What if he's lost? What if he needs help?"

The children looked at each other. They had to find Starfish!

"Where could he have gone?" asked Lori.

"I don't know," said Coral, swimming in nervous circles. "The attic is big and full of strange places."

Just at that moment, Eletta had an idea. "We should ask advice from someone wise. Someone who knows the attic well!"

"But who?" asked Ale.

They looked around and saw, in a dark corner of the attic, a large porcelain owl on a shelf. It had painted eyes that looked real and wore little golden glasses.

"Maybe the owl!" said Viola.

They all approached together, with Coral swimming in the air beside them. When they arrived in front of the owl, it suddenly opened its eyes for real!

"Oh!" went the children, a bit scared.

"Who disturbs my rest?" asked the owl in a deep voice. It had a serious but not mean tone.

"Excuse me, Mr. Owl," said Eletta politely. "We're looking for Starfish, Coral's friend. Do you know where he is?"

The owl opened its porcelain wings and stretched. "Hmm, Starfish. Yes, I saw him. He went toward the Room of Memories, on the other side of the attic. But be careful, there are wobbly stairs and boxes that can fall."

"Thank you!" they all said, and set off in that direction.

The attic was big and they had to pass between mountains of boxes. Some were so tall they looked like towers. The summer heat could be felt there too, and warm sun came through the dusty windows.

Suddenly, while they were walking in single file, they heard a noise: "CRASH!"

A pile of boxes in front of them started to shake!

"Watch out!" shouted Ale.

The boxes were about to fall! Coral swam fast and clung to the topmost box, trying to hold it still with his little tail. But it was too heavy for him!

"Let's help him!" said Eletta.

Ale, Viola, and Lori ran to help Coral. They pushed the boxes the other way, making them lean against the wall. They made it just in time!

"Phew, we did it!" said Lori, wiping her forehead.

"Thank you," said Coral. "You are true friends!"

They continued walking and finally arrived at the Room of Memories. It was a part of the attic separated by an old curtain. They moved it aside and entered.

Inside there were antique mirrors, paintings with serious faces, and lots of photographs in golden frames. And in the middle of the room, clinging to an old chandelier, was Starfish!

Starfish was pink with purple tips, had five arms, and looked scared. He was hanging from the chandelier that was swaying gently.

"Starfish!" shouted Coral, swimming quickly toward him.

"Coral!" said Starfish. "Help! I can't get down! I climbed up here to see the photographs better, but now I'm scared!"

The chandelier was very high and wobbly. The children understood they had to help him, but how?

"We need to make a tower!" said Ale.

"Yes! Like when we play with pillows!" added Viola.

They found some low trunks and stacked them one on top of another, being careful they didn't fall. Then Ale, who was good at climbing, went up slowly. Lori and Viola held the trunks steady, while Eletta encouraged Ale: "Come on, you can do it!"

Ale reached the top and stretched his hand toward Starfish. The chandelier was swaying and it was a bit scary.

"Come on, come!" said Ale.

Starfish stretched out one of his arms and grabbed Ale's hand. Then, with a brave jump, he let go of the chandelier and landed in Ale's arms.

"We did it!" everyone shouted happily.

Ale climbed down slowly from the tower of trunks and put Starfish on the ground. Coral swam right over to him.

"Starfish, you gave me such a fright!" said Coral. "You promised me you wouldn't go far!"

Starfish lowered his five arms, very sad. "I know. I'm so sorry, Coral. I know I don't always keep my promises. But when I see new things, I forget. This time though, I understood I was wrong. When I was up on that chandelier, I needed help. And you came right away, even though I'd made you angry so many times."

"That's true," said Coral. "Because when someone needs help, you have to help them. Even if sometimes they make us angry. Because helping others is the most beautiful thing you can do."

Eletta smiled. Those words were so true.

"But now you have to promise me something," said Coral seriously. "Promise me that when you make a promise, you'll really try to keep it. Promises are important."

"I promise!" said Starfish. "And this time I really mean it with all my heart!"

The two friends hugged, or rather, Starfish wrapped Coral with his soft arms, and Coral held him tight with his little tail.

The children were happy. They had helped Coral find his friend!

Suddenly, the blue trunk they had left on the other side of the attic began to glow. A trail of blue light guided them back.

"It's time to go home," said Coral. "Thank you for everything! You taught us that helping those in need is wonderful. And we also learned that keeping promises is important!"

Starfish bowed with all five of his arms. "Thank you, friends!"

The children waved goodbye to Coral and Starfish, who returned to their magic trunk. The blue light faded and the trunk closed gently.

When they went down the stairs and left the old house, they found Toby the Magic Train waiting for them.

"Climb aboard, it's time to go,
a lovely story to tell and show!
You helped with a heart so true,
you were real friends through and through!"

The train took them back to Eletta's house, where the sun was starting to set. It was still hot, but it was a beautiful summer evening.

"That was a lovely adventure," said Eletta, with her eyes closing a little from tiredness.

"Yes!" said all the others.

And as the sun set, the four friends continued to play, happy to have helped Coral and to have learned how beautiful it is to help those in need.

**The moral of the story is:** Helping those in need is the most beautiful thing you can do. Even when someone makes us angry or doesn't keep their promises, if they need help, we must be there for them. And helping others makes us feel happy in our hearts!