That morning the sky was a pale, sleepy blue, as if it too wanted to stay a little longer under the covers. In Ziggy's garden the air was cool and smelled of wet grass. Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash had tied a rope between two trees and were hanging their stuffed toys on it, pretending they had a little circus.

"Look, this is the trapeze!" laughed Ziggy, while his four cats watched him with curious eyes. Sofia, the little black cat, purred curled up at his feet. Dora, the brave tabby, batted at the swinging rope. Poldo, fat and soft as a cushion, had already dozed off in the sun. And Milo, long and nimble, jumped so high he almost seemed to fly.

They were all laughing together when, from far away, a familiar sound arrived.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, who popped out from the bushes all shiny, with smoke that drew little heart-shaped clouds. He stopped beside the gate, blew his whistle and said:

"Good morning, dear children, hop on and let's go!
I've a magical journey I'm eager to show.
I'll take you to a town where the morning bells chime,
where a shy little voice sleeps up high, keeping time."

The children clapped their hands and ran aboard. The four cats scrambled in last, with Poldo arriving all out of breath and puffing. Toby closed the doors, whistled once more and sped off among the green hills.

After a while, the little train slowed down. "Chuff..." In front of them appeared a square wrapped in a light mist, soft as cotton candy. It was Good Morning Square, a little seaside town with a fountain that sang and gurgled and an old clock tower, tall and a little crooked. Lower down you could see the Lazy Boats Harbor, where the little boats floated still in the haze.

"What a lovely smell of cookies!" said Skye, sniffing the air.

But something was wrong. Near the boats there were three fishermen holding their caps in their hands, in despair. "We can't set sail!" they moaned. "All the ropes of our boats have tangled into one giant knot. And the more we pull, the tighter the knot gets!"

The children ran to look. It was true: in the middle of the harbor there was a tangle of ropes as big as a bear, all knotted and stubborn. Dash tried to pull with all his might. "Ugh!" he huffed, falling backward onto his bottom. The knot hadn't moved one bit. In fact, it had gotten even tighter.

Just then, from the clock tower, came a very, very timid sound. "Trin... trin..."

Ziggy looked up. Up there, among the clock hands, was a little silver alarm clock with two frightened eyes. It hopped on two springy little feet, "boing, boing," and clutched a tiny shiny key in its hands.

"Who are you?" asked Lily, softly.

"I'm... I'm Trillina," answered the alarm clock, in a thin little voice. "I live here, in the tower. I'm supposed to ring in the morning to wake the town... but I'm terribly afraid of ringing loudly. And so I trill ever so softly, and no one hears me."

Skye understood everything in an instant. "So the fishermen didn't wake up in time this morning!"

"Exactly," sighed Trillina, making herself very small. "They got up late and in a hurry. And in the fog, without seeing well, they knotted all the ropes together. It's my fault..." And a little silver tear welled up in her eye.

But just as she was speaking, Milo did a funny somersault and tripped over Poldo. Trillina, without realizing it, let out a jingly little giggle: "Din-din-din!" It was a happy, clear sound, much prettier than her frightened trill.

"Did you hear that?" Ziggy whispered to his friends. "Her real voice comes out when she laughs, not when she's afraid!"

Meanwhile Ziggy looked at the giant knot and scratched his head. He looked, he thought, he looked again. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes lit up like two lanterns.

"Aha! I've got it!" he shouted, jumping up. "We're doing it all wrong! A knot doesn't come loose by pulling... it comes loose by making it dance!"

The others looked at him, confused. "Dance?" asked Dash.

"Yes!" laughed Ziggy, all buzzing with energy. "Let's turn this disaster into a circus act! The cats and I will jump in and out of the loops of the ropes, make them swing, loosen them little by little as we dance. We'll become acrobats!"

"What's an acrobat?" asked Lily, puzzled.

"An acrobat," explained Ziggy, "is someone really clever at the circus who jumps, climbs and does somersaults in the air without ever falling. Just like my cats do!"

"Hooray!" they all cheered. "Let's do the circus of the ropes!"

And so began the funniest show that harbor had ever seen.

Ziggy took off his shoes and hopped lightly onto the first loop, swinging as if on a swing. "Hello there, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Great Circus of the Dancing Knot!" he announced, while Lily, Skye and Dash clapped their hands in time to give the rhythm.

Milo went first. With a very high leap, "whoosh!", he flew over the tangle and landed on the other side, pulling a rope with him that loosened just a little. Dora, the daring one, dashed forward, slipped into one loop, came out of another, and the knot came undone a bit more. Sofia, ever so sweet, passed under the ropes purring and rubbing against them, so they gently came untangled.

Then it was Poldo's turn. The fat cat slowly climbed to the top of the tangle and... sat down. "What's he doing?" laughed Dash. But he was clever: with all his weight, Poldo acted as a counterweight, and one rope after another stretched and slid down, "zzzing!". The fishermen burst out laughing, clapping their hands. Trillina, from the tower, giggled without stopping: "Din-din-din! Din-din-din!"

The giant knot danced and danced, and got smaller and smaller. Ziggy jumped, ran, climbed and swung: his idea had gotten into everyone's body, and they really did seem like true acrobats. It was the most fun moment of all!

But the last loop remained, the most stubborn one, right in the heart of the tangle. To undo it, everyone was needed together: the cats had to jump at the very same instant, and Ziggy had to pull at exactly that moment. They needed a precise signal, a "GO!" shouted at just the right time.

"I'll say it!" said Dash. But in the fog his voice got lost, and you couldn't tell when. "I'll shout it!" tried Lily, but her "Go" came too early, and the cats jumped out of sync. The loop held firm. They tried again, and again. Nothing. The fog swallowed every voice, and the knot wouldn't open. The children were starting to lose heart.

It was then that everyone turned toward the tower.

"Trillina," said Ziggy softly, "the only sound that can cut through this fog at just the right moment is yours. You can feel the timing better than anyone. Will you give us the signal?"

Trillina became very, very small. "But... but I'm afraid. My voice is so thin..."

"It doesn't matter how small it is," said Skye gently. "What matters is that it comes at the right moment. And we'll wait for it, whatever sound you make."

Trillina looked at her friends, looked at the cats ready to jump, looked at Ziggy clinging to the rope. And inside her, among the fear, that happy little giggle popped up again. Because this was funny, it was lovely, it was a game among friends. She found her courage, waited for the exact moment and let out her real voice.

"TRIIIN!"

It was a tiny trill, but clear and perfect, at just the right moment. The cats all jumped together, Ziggy pulled with all his might, and the giant knot came loose all at once, "FLOP!", opening up like a flower.

The ropes fell neatly along the boats. The fishermen shouted with joy and jumped onto their little boats. In that very instant, the sun broke through the fog. The haze opened and turned into sparkling dew: a thousand little drops shone on the grass, on the ropes and on the sails as if someone had scattered diamonds all over the harbor.

The boats set sail, bobbing happily. And Trillina? Trillina hopped about on the tower, "boing, boing," prouder than ever.

"You did it!" the children told her, running up to her. "Without your trill, the act wouldn't have worked!"

"Really?" she asked, her big eyes shining with happiness. "My little voice was good for something?"

"Your little voice, at the right moment and among friends, is worth gold," smiled Ziggy. "And now you've discovered something: you weren't alone. We were with you."

Trillina understood then that true friends are more precious than any treasure. From that day on she was no longer afraid to ring: because she knew that, small or loud as it might be, her voice had friends ready to listen to it.

As the sun warmed the square that smelled of cookies, the usual sound came along: "CHUFF CHUFF!" It was Toby, ready to take them home. The children waved goodbye to Trillina, climbed onto the little train with the four tired and happy cats, and Toby said:

"We're going back home now, my acrobat friends,
with joy in our hearts as our circus day ends.
The tightest of knots can come loose, don't you see,
with good friends beside you, as happy as can be."

And between one heart-shaped little cloud and the next, the magic train carried them home, all laughing together "din-din-din" like a brave little alarm clock.