It was a gray afternoon, with clouds covering the sky like a big blanket. But the four friends didn't care about the bad weather, because they were having so much fun.

Lori had brought his toy pots and everyone was playing cooks on the living room carpet. Alex was stirring inside a red pot with a wooden spoon, pretending to make soup. Violet was holding tight a blue pan and shaking it, saying she was cooking eggs for everyone. Ella, with her calm eyes, was arranging the little plates on the floor as if it were a real table.

"I'm the chef!" said Lori, running around his friends with his paper hat on his head. He was super fast, as always, and almost tripped on the carpet.

"Lori, be careful!" said Fred, his dad, who was watching them from the couch. Fred always told Lori to be careful, because he knew how fast his little boy was.

Christine, Lori's mom, smiled and added: "What a lovely kitchen you've built, little cooks!"

Right at that moment, they heard a sound the children knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Everyone's eyes lit up. Through the garden door, a cloud of colorful steam appeared, and then there he was: Toby the Magic Train! He was small, light blue with golden wheels, and puffed happily.

"Good day, little cooks so dear, I'll take you where enchanted sweets appear!" said Toby the Magic Train with his gentle voice.

The children all jumped to their feet together. Lori was the first to run toward the train.

"Can we come?" asked Violet with her blue eyes sparkling.

"Of course you can!" replied Christine. "But stay close together, please!"

The four friends climbed aboard the magic train. The benches were soft like cushions. Toby whistled again and set off, passing through the living room wall as if it were made of mist.

The train flew into the sky, which had now become dark as night. All around, snowflakes danced in the air. But they weren't normal snowflakes: they glowed with a blue light and did little pirouettes before landing, like dancers in a theater.

"How beautiful!" whispered Ella, who had leaned against the edge of the train to see them better.

Toby the Magic Train descended gently and stopped in front of an enormous castle made of gray stones. A door opened by itself and the children went inside.

They found themselves in a huge kitchen. There were enormous pots, almost as tall as Alex, steaming gently. On the tables there were cakes of every color, star-shaped cookies, and mountains of cream. Everything smelled of vanilla and chocolate.

"Wow!" exclaimed Lori, spinning around to see everything. "It's the biggest kitchen in the world!"

But something was wrong. The cooks, who were seven little men with white aprons and mushroom-shaped hats, were sitting on the floor with their heads down. They looked sad, very sad.

Suddenly, a blue light appeared near the fireplace. It was a small creature, with transparent wings that sparkled like stars.

"Who are you?" asked Violet, who wasn't afraid of anything.

The creature smiled sweetly. She was a fairy! Fairies are very small magical beings, with wings, who can fly and do magic. This fairy was all blue, from her dress to her hair, and had eyes that seemed made of moonlight.

"I am Moonette, the Fairy of the Night," she said with a voice soft as a caress. "I bring beautiful dreams to children when they sleep. But tonight I have a big problem."

Moonette flew toward the children and, with a gentle gesture, hugged Ella's hand. She was a cuddly fairy, who loved hugs more than anything. She smelled of lavender, that purple flower that people put in drawers to make clothes smell nice.

"What problem?" asked Alex, who was always curious.

Moonette pointed to the cooks sitting on the floor. "These cooks make the sweets of dreams. Every night, I take their sweets and bring them to sleeping children. But for three nights now, the cooks haven't been able to cook anymore."

"Why?" asked Lori.

"They've forgotten how to have fun," explained the fairy. "Without joy, they cannot create magical sweets. And without magical sweets, children have bad dreams."

One of the cooks raised his head. He had a tear on his cheek. "We used to cook while laughing and joking. Now we can't remember how to play together anymore. We're alone, even though there are seven of us."

Lori looked at his friends. Then he looked at the cooks. He had an idea, but he felt a bit of fear in his chest. What if it didn't work? What if the cooks stayed sad forever?

At that moment, all the candles in the kitchen went out. Darkness wrapped around everything and the children couldn't see anything.

Ella searched for someone's hand and found Violet's. Alex moved closer to Lori. Everyone's heart was beating fast.

"Don't be afraid," said Moonette's voice in the darkness. "This happens when sadness becomes too much. The light will only return when someone has the courage to do something beautiful."

Lori felt his legs trembling. It was dark, so dark. But then he thought about his friends close to him. He thought about his mom Christine waiting for him at home. He thought about how happy he felt when he played with Alex, Violet, and Ella.

He took a deep breath. He filled his tummy with air, like he did when he had to do something difficult.

"I have an idea!" said Lori in the darkness, with a strong voice. "Let's play cooks! We know how to do it, we were playing before!"

"But we can't see anything," said Alex.

"It doesn't matter!" replied Lori. And he started moving his arms as if he were stirring a big pot. "I'm making a huge cake! Chocolate! Do you want to help me?"

At first, nobody moved. Then Violet said: "I'll add the strawberries!" and pretended to throw something into the imaginary pot.

"I'll put the cream!" added Ella with her calm voice.

"And I'll stir with you!" shouted Alex, who loved jumping and moving.

The four friends started laughing while they pretended to cook in the dark. They spun, jumped, made the sounds of things frying: "SSSFRIZZZ!" And those of things boiling: "BLUB BLUB BLUB!"

A small light appeared. Then another. The cooks were smiling! And when they smiled, the candles relit.

One cook stood up. "Can I play too?"

"Of course!" said Lori. "Come stir with us!"

Another cook joined in. Then another. Soon all seven cooks were laughing and playing together with the children. They pretended to throw flour at each other, to taste imaginary cakes, to chase each other between the tables.

The kitchen became bright again. Actually, it was brighter than before!

Moonette the Fairy of the Night flew happily above their heads, leaving trails of blue light. She came close to Lori and gave him a little hug on his cheek, because she adored hugging.

"You did it," said the fairy. "You taught the cooks that playing together is the secret to happiness."

The oldest cook approached the children. He had tears in his eyes, but this time they were tears of joy.

"We had forgotten something important," he said. "We were so busy working alone that we had stopped being friends. You reminded us that being together, laughing together, is the most precious treasure."

The cooks made special cookies for the children. They were train-shaped cookies, warm and smelling of butter. Each child ate one and felt happy inside, like when you receive a big hug from mom.

Outside the window, the snowflakes continued to dance. But now they seemed to dance even more joyfully, as if they too were celebrating.

"It's time to go home," said Moonette. "But I will always remember what you did tonight. And I will bring beautiful dreams to all children, thanks to the cooks' sweets."

Toby the Magic Train whistled outside the window. The children waved goodbye to the cooks and the fairy, then ran toward their friend with wheels.

"Climb aboard, little heroes with hearts so true, your friendship is something wonderful through and through!" said Toby the Magic Train.

The journey home was peaceful. Ella leaned on Violet's shoulder and closed her eyes, tired but happy. Alex watched the snowflakes with a smile. And Lori, the hero of this adventure, felt his heart full of pride.

When they arrived home, the sky was starting to turn pink and orange. Dawn was coming. The parents were waiting for them with hugs ready.

Christine ran toward Lori and held him tight. "How did it go, my darling?"

"We helped some sad cooks!" replied Lori. "And we learned that friends are a treasure!"

Fred smiled and stroked his head. "I'm proud of you, Lori."

The four friends looked at each other. They knew they would live many more adventures together. But they also knew something even more important: their friendship was the greatest magic of all.

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**The moral of this story is:** A friend in need is a friend indeed. Friendship is one of the most beautiful things in life. When we are together with our friends, we can overcome any fear and make even sad people happy. Never forget to play together and to love each other, because true friends are like stars that light up even the darkest nights.

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