That morning the sky was a gentle blue. It was not hot and not cold: it was one of those warm days, perfect for playing in the garden. Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash were building a den with old bedsheets and clothes pegs.

"My part is the tallest!" laughed Dash, who had just put on the last peg with a little hop.

"Careful, it's going to fall!" said Lily, holding up one corner with both hands.

Skye, sitting on the grass, was carefully arranging the softest cushions in the middle. She loved to make everything cozy, like a little nest.

Ziggy was already thinking about how to make a roof, when a sound they all knew well came along.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

From behind the hedge popped out Toby the Magic Train, shiny and smiling, with smoke that smelled of cotton candy.

"CHUFF CHUFF! Good morning, come hop on with me,
there's a soft little spot, oh, much sweeter than tea!
We stitch up the dreams with the light of a star,
but a small thing went wrong with the magic so far."

The four children looked at each other with shining eyes. A place where dreams are stitched together? They climbed aboard in a rush and Toby set off, whistling among the clouds.

The little train ran along lightly and, when it stopped, in front of them stood a great red velvet door. Above it, a glowing sign said: The Velvet Dream Factory.

Inside it was wonderful. There were ribbons of moonlight flowing like silver rivers, glass jars where dreams glowed like fireflies, and soft boxes lined with velvet. In the air there was a warm smell of caramel and lavender. Outside the skylights, even though it was still daytime, the first shooting stars were already peeking out, leaving golden trails in the sky.

"How beautiful," whispered Skye, with her hands on her heart.

But something was wrong.

From one ribbon came a half-broken dream: an ice cream with no cone. Then another one came: a kite with no string. Then a merry-go-round missing a horse.

"The dreams are coming out broken," said Lily, frowning. "Why?"

That was when they saw him.

In the middle of the hall, on a shiny platform, there was an octopus. He had eight arms, and with each one he twirled an object: a star, a feather, a little bell, a bow, a seashell, a button, a little cloud and a candy. On his head he wore a golden crown, all sparkly. He kept looking at himself in the jars and gave little kisses to his reflection.

"I am Otto, the Juggling Octopus," he said in a shrill voice. "And I NEVER make mistakes!"

"Wow, eight objects at once!" said Ziggy, open-mouthed.

"Of course. I am flawless," added Otto, lifting his chin.

"Flaw... what?" asked Dash, scratching his head.

"Flawless," Otto repeated. "It means I don't make even one little mistake. Not even half a one."

The children looked at each other. It was a new word, a little funny to say, but now they knew it.

Around Otto there were many keepsake toys: a rag teddy bear, a wooden spinning top, a little toy car, a cloth doll. It was they who jumped into the jars to fill the dreams with lovely memories. But that day they were all upset.

Skye, calm as always, did not speak. She watched. And, watching, she noticed something strange.

Every time the children turned toward the ribbons, one of the eight objects slipped from Otto's arms and fell to the ground. And Otto, quick, pushed it behind the jars with a tentacle, in secret. Then he turned around and said loudly: "See? It was the toys who made the mess! I NEVER make mistakes!"

The rag teddy bear's eyes went wide. "That's not true! I didn't touch anything!"

"Me neither!" peeped the doll.

And that's where the trouble began. The keepsake toys, blamed for nothing, started to bicker.

"Tonight's dream is my turn, because I'm the favorite!" said the spinning top.

"No, it's mine!" said the toy car, pouting.

"It's mine, because I'm the softest!" murmured the teddy bear, with tears in his eyes.

The more they argued over who was the favorite, the more the factory fell into confusion. The ribbons of moonlight began to twist crooked. The velvet boxes opened by themselves. The dreams came out more and more broken: a boat with no sail, a cake with no candles.

"Quick, let's tidy up!" said Lily, who never gave up.

Ziggy had an idea right away. "Let's make a chain! We pass the objects to each other and put them back one at a time!"

Dash ran fast to gather up the scattered little stars, hopping here and there like a cricket. Lily straightened the ribbons. Ziggy built a little ladder of boxes to reach up high.

Dash tripped over a cushion and ended up with his head inside an empty jar. "Hey! It smells of caramel in here!" he said in a funny, booming voice. The others laughed, but the mess kept growing.

But a funny and sad thing was happening at the same time: the more they tidied up, the more everything fell down again. As soon as they finished one corner, another corner tipped over. It seemed like a prank. A wild ribbon tossed a handful of little stars into the air, and they fell back down like sparkling rain. A box popped open with a snap and a crooked dream rolled all the way to Skye's feet. For a moment it seemed like the factory was about to stop completely.

"I don't understand," panted Dash, sitting on the floor. "We do everything, but the mess always comes back."

Then Skye understood. The mess didn't go away because the real cause was still hidden. It wasn't the toys. It was Otto's secret.

But Skye didn't say it out loud. She didn't want to embarrass Otto in front of everyone. She knew how much it hurts to be scolded in front of others.

Skye's heart was beating fast. She had understood the secret, but she knew that shouting it in front of everyone would not fix anything. In fact, it would make Otto feel even worse.

She came up to the octopus, calmly, and sat down beside him. Otto kept looking at himself, but his crown was trembling a little.

"You know, Otto," said Skye in a sweet voice, "sometimes I drop things too. Yesterday I spilled the milk, and this morning a cushion slipped out of my hands. It happens to everybody."

Otto stopped juggling. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "To... to everybody?"

"To everybody," Skye nodded. "And you know what? I still love someone who makes a mistake. In fact, I love them a little bit more, because they're just like me."

The octopus lowered his arms, all eight of them. His shrill voice became a whisper. "But if I say I made a mistake, my crown will fall. No one will think I'm good anymore. No one will love me anymore."

There was the secret. Otto was not mean. He was only afraid. He pretended to be flawless because he was scared that, without that sparkly crown, no one would love him anymore.

Skye brushed one of his tentacles. "I love you right now. And I'll love you afterward too. The crown has nothing to do with it."

Otto's eyes grew shiny. He looked around, at the children, at the toys still arguing sadly. Then he took a deep breath, and he found his courage.

"Everybody stop," he said. His voice was trembling. "It wasn't the toys' fault. It was me. I dropped the objects, and I hid them. I made a mistake, and I was scared to say so."

Silence fell over the factory.

And then the magic happened.

The very moment Otto told the truth, the ribbons of moonlight stopped twisting crooked and started flowing straight again. The velvet boxes closed up. The jars began to shine again. The Dream Factory started up all by itself, because beautiful dreams can only be made with the truth.

A new dream slid down the ribbon: an ice cream with its cone, a kite with its string, all in one piece.

Into the air came back the warm smell of caramel and lavender. The shooting stars came in through the skylights like golden rain, and every jar filled up with light.

The keepsake toys stopped arguing. The teddy bear went up to the spinning top. "Sorry I sulked."

"Sorry to you too," said the spinning top.

Skye smiled. "You see? There's no need to be the favorite. Every memory has its own dream to fill. There's room for everybody."

Otto took the little golden crown off his head. He held it out to Skye with a tentacle. "You keep it. You were better than me."

But Skye shook her head. She took the crown and gently put it back on the octopus's head.

"It's yours," she said. "And you're more beautiful now that you've said it. Much more beautiful than before."

Otto burst into a happy laugh, with his eyes still shiny. All together they tidied up the factory, laughing, while the shooting stars filled the jars with golden light. And that night, from that factory, came the most beautiful dreams ever.

When it was time to go back, Toby the Magic Train was waiting for them outside, under a sky full of stars.

"CHUFF CHUFF! Climb aboard now, it's getting late,
your heart is so light that it feels just great.
When you say you were wrong, you're on your way,
and the dream comes back with a sweet magic sway!"

The children waved goodbye to Otto, as the little train set off. Skye leaned against the window and closed her eyes, with a smile. Even before getting home, she had already drifted off to sleep, rocked by the gentle sway of Toby the Magic Train.