It was a summer morning and the sun was warming the garden strongly. Lori, Ale, Viola, and Eletta were blowing soap bubbles under the big tree. The bubbles flew high, shining like little colorful moons.

"Look at mine!" shouted Lori, blowing an enormous bubble that swayed in the air. "It's giant!"

Viola looked at him with her blue eyes and said: "I can make three together!" And she blew hard, creating three little bubbles that danced close together.

Ale was hopping around trying to catch the bubbles before they popped. "They're too fast!" he laughed, running from one side to the other.

Eletta, calm as always, blew her bubbles and watched them rise toward the blue sky. "They look like little clouds," she said with a sweet voice.

Frederick, Lori's dad, watched them from the bench. "Lori, be careful not to run too close to the bushes!" he said, a bit worried.

Christine, Lori's mom, smiled. "Let him play, he's having fun."

Right at that moment, a strange sound came from far away.

CHUFF CHUFF!

The soap bubbles stopped flying. The children all stopped together.

"It's him!" exclaimed Lori, with eyes that sparkled.

Between the garden bushes, puffing colorful steam, appeared Toby the Magic Train. He was small, bright red, with golden wheels that turned by themselves.

"Good morning little ones, what a beautiful day, I'll take you to a place where crystal waters play!" said Toby the Magic Train, whistling cheerfully.

"Crystal waters?" asked Viola, curious. "What's that?"

"It's water that's so clean and clear that it seems to shine like a crystal, like those shiny pebbles you saw at the beach," explained Christine.

The four children climbed onto the train, sitting on the soft blue velvet seats.

"Hold the handles tight!" said Frederick, waving his hand.

CHUFF CHUFF!

Toby the Magic Train departed, passing through a cloud of rainbow steam.

When the steam dissolved, the children found themselves in an incredible place. There was a light mist, like when early in the morning everything seems wrapped in a blanket of low clouds. Through that mist, they saw something magnificent: a very tall fountain, spraying water toward the sky like a giant sneezing upward.

"Ooooh!" they all said together.

The water rose, rose, rose, and then fell back down like sparkling rain. It made a beautiful sound, like a thousand little bells ringing together.

"How beautiful!" said Ale, jumping off the train. "Can I run into the water?"

But before anyone could answer, they heard a sad sound. Someone was crying.

Lori approached the edge of the fountain and saw, in the water, a little fish that was sobbing. It was a sardine, silver like a star fallen into the sea. She swam in circles, always looking upward.

"Why are you crying?" asked Lori, leaning over the water.

The sardine looked at him with big, wet eyes. She trembled a little, holding between her fins a small shining air bubble, as if it were her most precious treasure.

"I'm... I'm hesitant," said the sardine with a thin voice.

The children looked at each other confused.

"What does hesitant mean?" asked Eletta, who had approached with calm steps.

The sardine closed her eyes for a moment, as she always did when she felt embarrassed. "Hesitant means I'm not sure, that I'm afraid to do something and so I don't do it. I stay still, undecided."

"Oh, like when I didn't want to go down the tall slide!" said Viola, nodding.

"Yes, exactly like that," said the sardine. "My name is Sparkle, and I'm very hesitant. But today I have a big, very big problem."

"What problem?" asked Lori.

Sparkle pointed upward with her fin. Up there, at the top of the highest jet of the fountain, there was a red balloon. It had gotten stuck in the water, which held it up but wouldn't let it go.

"That balloon belonged to Droplet, a little fish who lives in the fountain," explained Sparkle. "It flew away from his fin and now he's very sad. He's been crying since this morning."

"But why don't you go get it?" asked Ale.

Sparkle trembled all over. "I... I'm scared. The jet is too high, the water goes very fast, and what if I get lost up there? What if I can't get back down?"

Lori looked at the fountain. The water sprayed up with force. It was a bit scary, actually.

"Maybe we can help you," said Viola, with her determined character.

But how? The children couldn't swim inside the water jet.

"My sardine friends are all like me," said Sparkle, and she pointed to a group of silver fish swimming in circles, all with their eyes closed. "We're all too hesitant. None of us has ever tried to climb to the top."

Lori sat on the edge of the fountain, thinking. He was fast. He was fun. But he didn't know how to swim inside a magic fountain.

At that moment, Toby the Magic Train whistled softly.

"Those who want to discover what they can do, must dare to take the first step through!" said the train.

Lori jumped up. "I'll do it!"

"What are you doing?" asked Eletta, a bit worried.

"I don't know yet, but I'll try!"

Lori took off his shoes and put one foot in the fountain water. It was cool and tickled like lemonade bubbles.

"Wait Lori, are you sure?" asked Viola.

Lori felt his tummy tighten. He was a little scared. The water seemed deep, the jet seemed very high. But he looked at Sparkle, who was trembling, and thought of Droplet crying for his balloon.

"If I don't try, I'll never know if I can do it," said Lori.

And he dove in.

But something strange happened. As soon as Lori entered the magic water, he discovered he could breathe! The water was like air, only cooler and shinier.

"Wow!" shouted Lori, and his voice made bubbles.

Sparkle swam close to him, holding her special little bubble. "How did you do it? Weren't you scared?"

"I was scared," said Lori. "But I did it anyway."

Sparkle looked at him for a long time. Then she did something she had never done: she opened her eyes and kept them open.

"I'm coming with you," she said, with a trembling but determined voice.

Together, Lori and Sparkle began to swim toward the water jet. But when they reached the base, the water pushed them hard upward. It was like being inside a very fast elevator!

"Aaaah!" screamed Sparkle, closing her eyes again.

"Keep your eyes open!" said Lori. "Look how beautiful it is!"

Sparkle opened one eye, then the other. Around them, the water sparkled like a thousand diamonds. They rose quickly, surrounded by droplets that looked like stars.

"It's... it's beautiful!" said Sparkle, surprised.

Meanwhile, outside the water, Ale, Viola, and Eletta watched worriedly.

"Where did they go?" asked Ale, hopping nervously.

"Look up there!" said Eletta, pointing.

At the top of the water jet, they saw two little figures: Lori and Sparkle, swimming toward the red balloon.

But there was a problem. The balloon was right at the tip of the jet, where the water ended and the sky began. To grab it, Lori had to leave the magic water.

"If I go out, maybe I won't be able to get back in," said Lori.

"And I can't leave the water," said Sparkle, trembling.

Lori looked at the balloon. It was so close. He looked down, toward the fountain. It was so far away.

"I'm scared," admitted Lori.

"Me too," said Sparkle. "But you taught me something. If we don't try, we'll never know what we can do."

Sparkle did something incredible. She swam as fast as possible upward and, with her fin, pushed Lori out of the water!

Lori flew in the air for a moment. He grabbed the balloon. And then he fell.

"LORIIII!" shouted Ale, Viola, and Eletta.

But Lori fell right into the water jet, which welcomed him like a soft blanket of water. He slid down, down, down, holding the balloon tight, laughing the whole way.

SPLASH!

He arrived in the fountain basin, where all the sardines surrounded him, celebrating.

A tiny little fish, Droplet, swam toward him with tears of joy.

"My balloon! Thank you, thank you!"

Sparkle swam next to Lori, her eyes finally open and bright.

"We did it," she said. "I was so hesitant, so full of fear. But you showed me that trying is the only way to discover what we can do."

The other sardines, seeing Sparkle's courage, began to open their eyes too. And for the first time, they all swam together toward the top, playing in the water jets.

Lori came out of the water, all wet but very happy. Ale, Viola, and Eletta hugged him tight.

"You were brave!" said Viola.

"You made a big jump!" said Ale.

"You were beautiful while you were flying," said Eletta with a sweet smile.

Toby the Magic Train whistled.

"It's time to go back home, little explorers. Those who dare and try, walk the path of glory!" he said, opening the colorful doors.

The children climbed onto the train, waving goodbye to the sardines who now danced happily in the water jets, their eyes open and bright.

CHUFF CHUFF!

When they returned to the garden, the sun was still warm and the soap bubbles were waiting.

Frederick ran toward Lori. "Everything okay? How was it?"

"Dad," said Lori, "today I learned something important. If you don't try new things, you'll never discover what you can do!"

Christine hugged him, even though he was all wet.

"That's true, my treasure. That's very true."

The four children went back to blowing bubbles, but now Lori blew harder, without fear. And his bubbles flew higher than all the others.

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**The moral of this story is:** Dare to grow. When we're afraid to try something new, we'll never discover what we're capable of doing. Sometimes all it takes is one small first step, even if our legs tremble a little. Because only by trying do we learn, and only those who dare can discover how brave they are!

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