It was a gray and slightly chilly morning. The clouds covered the sky like a heavy blanket, but it wasn't raining yet. In the garden of Lori's house, four children were jumping into the puddles left over from the night before.

SPLASH! Lori ran from one puddle to another, splashing water everywhere with his yellow boots.

"Lori, be careful not to slip!" shouted Fred, his dad, from the window. Fred always told Lori to be careful, because Lori was very fast and sometimes didn't watch where he put his feet.

Alex was jumping too, laughing and trying to make the highest splashes of all. Violet, with her blue eyes shining with determination, stomped hard with her little feet to create enormous waves. Ella instead walked calmly, watching how the water formed circles when she put her finger in it.

"I'll make the biggest splash!" said Lori.

"No, I will!" replied Alex, jumping with all the strength he had in his skinny legs.

Christina, Lori's mom, came out with a blanket. "Children, if you get too wet you'll catch a cold!"

But right at that moment, a familiar sound filled the air.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

All the children stopped suddenly. They knew that sound! From behind the big tree in the garden appeared Toby the Magic Train, with his colorful smoke coming out of his chimney.

Toby stopped in front of the children and whistled happily:

"Hello my friends, what a lovely morning,
come take a ride without any warning!
Where the sun kisses flowers of gold,
you'll find a treasure to behold!"

The children jumped for joy. Another adventure was waiting for them!

Fred looked worried, but Christina reassured him. "The magic train always brings them back home safe and sound."

"Be careful!" said Fred anyway, while the four friends climbed into the colorful carriages.

Toby the Magic Train left with another "CHUFF CHUFF" and crossed fields, hills, and woods. The gray sky began to change. Little white clouds appeared, and among them the sun started playing hide and seek, peeking out every now and then.

After a while, the train slowed down and stopped.

In front of the children was something wonderful: an enormous field full of sunflowers. But they weren't normal sunflowers! They were giant sunflowers, tall as houses, with yellow petals as big as umbrellas. And they were all looking toward the sun, as if they were greeting it.

"Ohhhhh!" they all said together.

They got off the train and entered the field. Walking among those enormous flowers was like strolling through a golden forest. The green stems were thick as tree trunks, and the leaves made shade like awnings.

"Let's run to that sunflower at the end!" shouted Lori, pointing to the biggest flower of all, which stood right in the center of the field.

"Yes, let's have a race!" said Alex, already ready to sprint.

"I want to win!" said Lori.

"No, I'll win!" replied Alex.

The two children took off running, pushing each other to be first. They ran and ran, but the field was so big that they never arrived. Actually, the more they ran, the more the sunflower seemed to move away.

Violet put her hands on her hips. "Hey! Wait for us!"

But Lori and Alex weren't listening. They only wanted to beat each other.

FRUSHHH!

A strange wind began to blow. The sunflower leaves rose into the air and started flying in circles, as if someone was making them dance.

"Who's there?" asked Ella, squeezing Violet's hand.

A light voice, like a whisper, came from everywhere:

"I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere in the wind!"

The children looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"Where are you?" asked Violet with a strong and determined voice.

"You can't see me," replied the voice, "because I'm a Wind Spirit!"

Alex stopped running. "What's a Wind Spirit?"

The Spirit laughed, and his laugh sounded like little bells. "I'm a magical creature made of air. I don't have a body like you, I'm invisible! But I can make leaves fly, move flowers, and caress your cheeks with the breeze."

As if to prove it, a gentle gust brushed the children's faces. It smelled of freshly cut grass, fresh and good.

"My name is Breeze!" said the Spirit. "And I love to run and jump among the sunflowers!"

Breeze was truly energetic. He never stayed still! The leaves swirled right, then left, then up and down. It was impossible to tell where he was exactly, because he moved so fast.

"Breeze, we want to reach the biggest sunflower!" said Lori. "But it seems so far away."

"And I want to get there before him!" added Alex.

Breeze sighed, and it sounded like a sad breeze. "That's why you can't reach it."

"Why?" asked Violet.

"This field is magical," explained Breeze. "The more you run to beat each other, the farther the sunflower moves away. The field doesn't like those who race to be first. It loves those who walk together, as friends."

Lori crossed his arms. "But I'm the fastest! I want to prove it!"

Right at that moment, the sky changed. The clouds became dark and it began to rain. But it was a strange rain: the drops were warm and smelled of flowers. And while it rained, the sun kept shining through the clouds.

"Look!" shouted Ella, pointing at the sky.

An enormous rainbow appeared above the sunflower field. Its colors were incredibly bright: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, and violet.

"It's beautiful!" said Violet, with her blue eyes reflecting the colors.

But something was wrong. The rainbow was trembling. Its colors were starting to fade!

"Oh no!" shouted Breeze, and his voice sounded frightened. "The rainbow is falling! I need to hold it up with the wind, but I can't do it alone!"

The Spirit blew hard, but the rainbow kept descending, lower and lower, paler and paler.

"What happens if it falls?" asked Lori, worried.

"If the rainbow touches the ground, it will lose all its colors forever!" said Breeze with a breathless voice. "And this sunflower field will become gray and sad!"

The children looked at each other. They couldn't let that happen!

"How can we help you?" asked Violet.

"You must run toward the big sunflower all together, holding hands!" explained Breeze. "Only true friendship can give strength to the rainbow! But you must take one step at a time, without rushing. Every step taken together will make it shine brighter."

Lori looked at Alex. Alex looked at Lori. For a moment, neither of them wanted to give in.

The rainbow trembled even more. A piece of red color disappeared.

"The red!" shouted Ella. "It's disappearing!"

Lori felt his heart beating hard. He looked at his friends. He looked at the dying rainbow. And he understood something important.

Winning alone was useless if his friends were sad and the rainbow disappeared.

He took a deep breath and reached out his hand toward Alex.

"Shall we go together?" he asked.

Alex smiled and took his hand. "Together!"

Violet took Lori's hand, and Ella took Alex's. The four children formed a chain.

"Now walk," said Breeze. "One step at a time. Slowly."

The children took the first step. And something incredible happened: the big sunflower didn't move away! In fact, it seemed to come a little closer.

They took another step. The rainbow shone brighter.

Another step. The red color came back!

"It's working!" shouted Violet.

The children continued walking, one step after another, holding hands tightly. They weren't running. They weren't racing. They moved forward together, like true friends.

Breeze blew around them, creating swirls of leaves that seemed to celebrate them. With every step, the rainbow became brighter. The colors came back one after another: orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, violet.

Finally, after many steps taken with calm and friendship, the children arrived at the foot of the biggest sunflower.

It was magnificent! Its flower was as huge as a truck wheel, and its petals shone like gold under the rainbow's light.

"You did it!" shouted Breeze happily, and his wind made yellow petals rain all around like confetti.

The rainbow now shone very brightly, more beautiful than before. Its colors reflected on the sunflowers, which seemed made of a thousand different shades.

Lori looked at Alex and smiled. "It was better this way."

"Yes," said Alex. "Together is nicer."

The sun came out completely from the clouds and the rain stopped falling. The sunflower field sparkled like a golden treasure.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train arrived among the flowers, ready to take the children back home.

Breeze said goodbye with a caress of wind on their cheeks. "Come visit me again! And remember: one step at a time, you can get anywhere!"

The children climbed onto the train and waved goodbye to the Spirit. Even though they couldn't see him, they felt the leaves dancing to say goodbye.

Toby the Magic Train whistled and said:

"Today you learned something so true,
that friendship is the best path for you!
No need to race to reach your goal,
just walk together, heart and soul!"

The journey home was peaceful and sweet. The four friends were still holding hands, tired but happy.

When Toby brought them back to Lori's garden, the sun was shining there too. Fred and Christina were waiting for them with cups of hot chocolate.

"How did it go?" asked Christina.

"We saved a rainbow!" said Lori.

"And we understood something important," added Violet.

Ella yawned, tired from the adventure, and leaned on Alex's shoulder.

"What did you understand?" asked Fred, smiling.

Lori thought for a moment, then said: "That you don't have to run to be first. You just need to take one step at a time, together with friends. That way you can get anywhere."

Alex nodded. "And together is much more fun!"

The four children drank their chocolate, looking at the sky where a small rainbow had appeared above the garden too.

Maybe it was Breeze waving from far away.

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**The moral of this story:** One step at a time! Even the longest journey begins with a small step. You don't need to run to arrive first. When we walk together with friends, without racing, we can get anywhere we want to go. And the journey becomes much more beautiful!

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