It was almost evening in Lily's garden. The sky looked like a slice of watermelon, all pink and orange, and a warm little breeze pushed lots of soap bubbles into the air. Lily, Ziggy, Skye, and Dash chased them, laughing, jumping to pop them before they touched the grass.

"This one's mine!" shouted Dash, and he took a great big jump.

"Look at that big one!" said Ziggy, pointing at a bubble that floated up toward the first stars of the evening.

Skye stopped to watch it, her nose turned up. Lily's eyes were already shining: whenever there was something to discover, she always wanted to be the first to go.

That was when, from the far end of the garden, a familiar sound arrived.

"CHOO CHOO! CHOO CHOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, with his colorful cars and smoke that smelled like cotton candy. He stopped beside the gate and whistled happily.

"CHOO CHOO! Climb aboard now, little ones, let's go,
tonight we'll fly up high where the bright stars glow!
Up in the sky the stars shine golden and bright,
while all my crystals sleep away the night."

The four friends looked at each other, thrilled. Stars? Crystals? They rushed onto the cars and Toby set off, climbing up into the evening sky as if the tracks were made of clouds. Below them the houses became as small as toys, and the higher they went, the darker the sky grew, full of little silver dots.

"Where do you think we're going?" whispered Skye, her nose pressed to the window.

"I don't know," said Lily, "but I really want to find out."

When the little train stopped, it was deep night. They were at the foot of a mountain, at the start of a narrow path that climbed in zigzags among the rocks. A wooden sign said: "Path of the Sleeping Fireflies."

"What a funny name," whispered Skye.

And it was true: along the path, lots of little fireflies sat still on the twigs, not shining at all, like tired little lightbulbs. At the top of the mountain, a dark cave opened up. Up there, wonderful crystals usually sparkled. But that night they were dark, black as stones.

In the sky, shooting stars went by. They left golden trails, but they were weak and flickering, like little candles about to go out.

"The stars are tired," said Lily. "And if they don't shine, the crystals don't shine either. We have to help them!"

"But how?" asked Dash.

"By climbing up and finding out," answered Lily, already with one foot on the path.

Up they went. The dark was thick and their footsteps echoed among the rocks. The wind rustled the bushes, and now and then a little pebble rolled off who knows where. All at once, behind a bush, they saw a strange shadow: it had a long tail that twitched.

"A MONSTER!" shouted Dash, and he darted back.

"Help!" cried Ziggy and Skye, hiding behind a rock.

Only Lily didn't run. Her heart was pounding, so hard she felt like she could hear it in her ears, but she squeezed her fists and took a step forward.

"Who are you?" she asked in a steady voice.

The shadow trembled and stepped out into the open. It wasn't a monster at all. It was a salamander—that's a little animal like a small lizard, with smooth, damp skin and two sweet little eyes. It smelled of moss and blueberries.

"Please, don't run away," said the creature in a tiny voice. "I'm mortified."

The children found their courage and came back closer, one at a time.

"Morti… what?" asked Ziggy, curious.

"Mortified," repeated the salamander. "It means I'm very, very sorry, almost a little ashamed."

"Oh," said Skye gently. "And why are you mortified?"

"Because I think I'm the one who put out the crystals," she answered. "My name is Sparkle. I live down here under the leaves. Everyone runs away when they see me, because in the dark I look scary. So I always hide, and I stay all alone."

Lily came closer and smiled at her. "I'm not scared anymore. You're small and kind."

At those words, something magical happened: Sparkle changed color. From gray she turned blue, then green, then pink. And her little tail made a tiny golden spark.

"You're turning colorful!" laughed Dash.

"It happens when I'm happy," said Sparkle, all glad. "But now listen. The crystals don't shine anymore because the stars are too tired. To light them up again, you have to climb the path and blow on each star, one by one. Your breath gives them air again, and they start to shine."

"Then let's blow!" exclaimed Lily. "All together, let's go!"

Sparkle led the way, hopping in little jumps. When she was happy her colors lit up, and so she lit the dark path better than a lantern. At the first bend, a shooting star came down close by, weak and pale. Lily took a big breath and blew.

"Fffffff!"

The star lit up all at once, golden and shining, and a firefly on a twig glowed. The children clapped their hands. One after another, they blew too. Ziggy blew on a star, Dash on another, Skye on a tiny one that lit up right away. Every time a star lit up, a little piece of the path came out of the dark.

But just as they were laughing, a strong gust of wind came down from the mountain.

"WHOOOSH!"

And the stars they had just lit went out again, all at once, like candles on a cake.

"Oh no!" said Dash, with tears in his eyes. "It's all for nothing!"

The others lost heart. Ziggy sighed, Skye lowered her head. But not Lily.

"Let's not give up," she said. "Let's do it again, and this time let's cover the stars with our hands, so the wind can't blow them out."

So they did. They blew and then made a little cup with their hands around the light, to shelter the golden flame. It worked! The stars stayed lit, and little by little the path filled with dots of gold, like a glowing necklace climbing up the mountain.

Up they climbed, higher and higher. The second peak of the mountain was near. But suddenly, from above, a big rock broke loose and rolled down.

"RRRRUMBLE!"

The rock stopped right in the middle of the path, blocking the way. It was too big to move and too tall to climb over.

"We can't get through," said Ziggy, disheartened. "Now we're stuck."

Lily didn't give up. She looked the rock over carefully, walking all around it. Then she looked at Sparkle, so small, and then at a narrow crack on the side of the boulder.

"Sparkle, you can squeeze through that little hole," she said. "Ziggy, you're slim and nimble: if I give you a boost, you can reach that ledge up there and help us climb up one at a time."

Ziggy smiled. "A champion's idea!"

Sparkle slipped into the crack, fast as a colorful flash. Ziggy jumped, grabbed on, climbed up, and reached out his hand to his friends. One after another, holding tight to each other's wrists, they got over the rock. It took courage, and Skye's legs shook a little, but nobody got hurt. On the other side they found themselves all together, closer than before.

At last they reached the top, in front of the dark cave. They had managed to light so many stars. Only one was left: the last one, the most important. But it was so far away, so high in the sky, as small as a dot.

"It's too far," said Dash. "Our breath won't reach it."

Ziggy tried: "Fffff!" Nothing. Skye tried: "Fffff!" Too weak. The little star stayed dark, and in the cave the crystals stayed black as pitch.

Everyone sat down on the ground, tired and sad. But Lily stood up. She had that light in her eyes that came whenever she found the answer.

"We can't do it alone," she said. "But if we all blow together, at the very same moment, our breath becomes big! Sparkle, you blow too. Let's join everyone's breath!"

They stood close, shoulder to shoulder, and took the biggest breath of their lives. Sparkle stood in front, trembling but determined.

"Ready?" said Lily. "One… two… THREE!"

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!"

They all blew together, with all the breath they had. And it happened. One single big breath flew up into the sky like a gentle wind and reached the faraway little star.

The star lit up, brighter than ever. Its golden trail slid down, went into the cave, and touched the crystals. And then the cave burst with light! Red, blue, purple, green, gold: the crystals shone again all together, and the whole mountain filled with colors. The fireflies lit up too, one after another, like little stars along the path.

Sparkle was so happy that she turned a thousand colors all at once, and her tail made a rain of golden sparks.

"We did it!" shouted Lily, hugging her friends.

"And to think we mistook you for a monster," said Dash to Sparkle, laughing. "When really you're the sweetest friend of all."

"What seems scary," said Skye softly, "is sometimes just someone waiting for a friend."

They stayed a while, looking at the sparkling cave, with Sparkle hopping happily among the crystals. Then, from the path, the familiar sound arrived.

"CHOO CHOO!"

It was Toby, come to take them back. He opened the doors and, as they climbed aboard, he said his rhyme.

"CHOO CHOO! The scary monster in the night
was just a gentle friend, so sweet and bright.
You blew as one and lit the stars up high,
now home we go, with happy hearts that fly."

The children waved goodbye to Sparkle until the mountain became a tiny glowing dot far away. Then, rocked by the swaying of the little train, they fell asleep happy, with all those colors still in their eyes.

And that night, above their little houses, the brightest stars of all shone.