It was a golden afternoon, and a playful little wind blew through the garden, the kind that messes up your hair and makes the leaves giggle. Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash were playing with soap bubbles. Ziggy dipped the ring into the little bucket, lifted it to his lips, and blew with all the breath he had.

"Look how many I can make!" shouted Ziggy, bouncing like a spring. Around him, curled up on the grass, his four cats followed the bubbles with their eyes: Sofia, the cuddly little black cat; Dora, the brave tabby; Poldo, round and chunky; and Milo, quick and jumpy.

Dash chased the bubbles and tried to catch them with his mouth, but every time he tripped and landed flat on the grass. "Ouch! Another tumble!" he laughed, and everyone laughed with him. Lily, so stubborn, wanted to make the biggest bubble in the world. Skye, calm and quiet, blew her bubbles gently and watched them float up to the sky.

Then, all of a sudden, the wind carried a familiar sound.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Out from behind the bushes came Toby the Magic Train, shiny and smiling, with a puff of white smoke that smelled sweet and lovely.

"CHUFF CHUFF! Hello, children, what a joy you all are!
Hop aboard my train, for the sweets aren't far!
Come along, little ones, and hold on tight:
a whole land of candy is now in sight!"

The children clapped their hands. "Where are you taking us, Toby?" asked Lily.

"Here's a little clue for you, so curious and keen:
it's a land of sweet treats, the yummiest ever seen!"

Without thinking twice, they all climbed aboard, and the four cats hopped on too. The little train sped off, through a tunnel of light, and when it stopped the children's mouths fell wide open.

In front of them was the Land of Sweets. It was early morning, and the meadows were not made of grass: they were made of soft, black licorice. On every little strand sat drops of dew that sparkled like tiny diamonds, so many that it looked like a thousand little stars had fallen from the sky. Above their heads the sky was made of pink cotton candy, and funny clouds floated across it: one looked like a bunny, one like an elephant, one like a sleeping kitten. Far away rose a great Sugar Mountain, white and shining.

"How wonderful!" whispered Skye.

Just then, down a licorice track, came a little train, whistling along. It was made all of chocolate, with cookie wheels and a chimney that puffed out powdered sugar.

"Toot! Hello there, friends! I'm Choco," he said in a cheerful voice. "I know every road here, every sweet, every little path. And I'm not scared of anything, you know? I'm fearless!"

Ziggy tilted his head to one side. "Fearless? What does fearless mean?"

Choco gave a proud little whistle. "Fearless means very, very brave. It means I go even where it's dark, and I don't tremble, not even a tiny bit."

"Ohhh!" said the children all together. They had learned a new word.

But then Choco slowed down, and his whistle grew soft and small. "But today I'm a little sad. There's a little girl here, and her name is Caramella. She's as small as a gummy bear. For a few nights now she's been having bad dreams, and when she closes her eyes, thoughts she doesn't like come along. So she can't fall asleep anymore."

Skye came closer and rested a hand on the train's warm chocolate. "Poor little Caramella. We have to help her."

Ziggy stopped to think. When he was thinking, Ziggy scratched his head and wiggled his feet, as if his ideas were sliding all the way down to his shoes. "I have an idea!" he said. "What if we sent her a lovely dream? A sweet dream, tucked inside a soap bubble! The bubble floats all the way to her pillow, opens up without a sound, and lets the dream out. That way, when she sleeps, only good things come to her!"

"Yes! Yes!" Dash jumped up. "I'm really good at bubbles! Watch!"

They got to work right away. They had brought their little bucket of soap. Dash blew a big bubble, and inside it they imagined a meadow full of butterflies. The bubble rose up a tiny bit and... POP! It burst at once.

"Aww," said Dash. He tried another one. POP! And another. POP, POP, POP! Every bubble burst before it could really fly.

"That's not fair," said Lily, with her hands on her hips. "I won't give up." She blew so hard that her face turned red. Out came a huge bubble, it wobbled in the air... and burst, leaving a drop of soap on her nose. Dash laughed so hard that he fell down on the grass again.

But after so many tries, not a single bubble would jump up high. Skye looked toward Caramella's little house far away and sighed. "What do we do now? The dream will never get there."

It was right then that Ziggy noticed something.

He had bent down to rest, and placed his finger on a strand of licorice. A little drop of dew stayed on his fingertip. It didn't pop. It didn't break. It just stayed there, round and shiny like a tiny diamond, strong and sturdy.

Ziggy's eyes went wide. "Aha! I've got it!" he shouted, and it was like a little light switched on in his head. "The bubbles are too delicate, that's why they pop! But look at the dew: it's small, but it's strong, it doesn't break! If we put the dew inside the soap, the bubble will become strong and it will be able to fly!"

"Brilliant!" said Lily.

And here began the hardest part, the part you do with your whole body. Ziggy dashed off across the licorice meadow, bending down to gather the drops of dew one by one into a little spoon of caramel sugar. He ran, he crouched, he jumped back up, he leaped from strand to strand. His cats helped him: Milo made big jumps and caught the highest drops, brave Dora ran to the farthest spots, Poldo carried them on his soft round belly, and Sofia kept them safe without letting a single one fall.

Lily gathered with him, never stopping once. Dash played the clown so they wouldn't get tired, sliding on purpose down the licorice like it was a slide. Skye, with her hands cupped together, kept the drops safe and whispered: "Hold on, Caramella, your dream is on its way."

When the little spoon was full of sparkling dew, Ziggy poured it into the bucket and stirred it carefully, round and round. Then he dipped the ring, lifted it to his mouth, and blew one long, gentle breath.

Out came a big, glowing bubble, full of twinkling specks. It rose up a little way. Everyone held their breath. The bubble wobbled... but it did not pop! It stayed whole, strong, and beautiful.

"We did it!" cheered Ziggy.

But the bubble, strong as it was, could not rise all the way up to the sugar sky. It needed a big push, from somewhere very high. And the only place that high was the top of the Sugar Mountain. By now, though, evening had fallen, and the mountain was wrapped in darkness.

The children looked at each other. Up there, in the dark, no one felt brave enough to go.

That's when Choco rolled forward, with a firm little whistle. "Don't worry. I'm fearless, remember? The dark doesn't scare me. Put the dream-bubble on me: I'll carry it all the way to the top."

Gently, Ziggy set the bubble on the little chocolate car. Choco set off up the mountain, into the dark of the night, whistling to keep himself brave. The children watched with their hearts beating fast. They saw him climb, and climb, until he was just a little dot way up at the top.

"Now!" shouted Ziggy from below. "Give it a push!"

Choco took a running start and, with a mighty whistle, sent the bubble flying up high.

The bubble flew. At last it flew! It rose into the sugar sky, crossed the night, and as it flew it changed shape: it became a soft cloud shaped like a little bunny, white and fluffy. It glided over the rooftops of the Land of Sweets, all the way to Caramella's window. There it settled on her pillow and opened without a sound, letting the dream out.

Little Caramella, who had been tossing and turning in her bed, slowly grew calm. Her breathing became peaceful. A smile appeared on her lips. And the little cloud bunny curled up beside her, like a gentle guard, watching over her peaceful sleep.

From far away the children saw it, and Skye's eyes grew teary with joy. "She's sleeping," she whispered. "She's sleeping peacefully."

Choco came back down the mountain, whistling happily, with a puff of powdered sugar. He stopped in front of Ziggy and held out something very tiny: a drop of dew that had turned hard, shining like a real diamond.

"Here, Ziggy. It's the smallest thing in the whole meadow, but it's the one that made the dream fly. This way you'll never forget it."

Ziggy held it tight in the palm of his hand, his eyes shining and his smile big. "Thank you, Choco. I never thought one little drop could do something so big."

Just then the familiar sound came again: "CHUFF CHUFF!" Toby the Magic Train had come back to get them.

"CHUFF CHUFF, time to go home, what a wonderful day,
a tiny little drop chased the bad dreams away!
Remember, dear children: a gentle little thing
can give a soft dream the strength to take wing."

The children waved goodbye to Choco, climbed aboard the magic train with the four cats, and Toby carried them home through his tunnel of light.

That evening, as they fell asleep, each of them thought about little Caramella, who was finally sleeping soundly. And Ziggy, with his little diamond drop on his nightstand, understood something important: you don't have to be big, or do enormous things, to help someone. Sometimes one small thing, one tiny little thing, used with your head and your heart, is enough. Because even the tiniest act, if it's done with love, can become the biggest thing in the whole world.