It was an afternoon with a gray sky and a cool breeze that made the leaves fly around the garden. Ellie, Alex, Violet, and Laurie were sitting in a circle on the grass, with a big red ball in the middle. But they weren't playing catch: they were making up a story.

"The ball is a planet!" said Laurie, clapping her hands.

"Yes, and we're space explorers!" added Alex, jumping to his feet.

Violet took the ball and rolled it toward Ellie. "You're the commander, Ellie. You decide where we go."

Ellie smiled and hugged the ball. It was so beautiful and shiny, with that bright red color. She liked holding it tight. Just as she was thinking about what to say, a sound came from far away.

"CHOO CHOO!"

The four children all looked up together. They knew that sound!

From behind the rose bushes appeared Toby the Magic Train, with his colorful smoke coming out of his chimney. He was small, light blue, and had two friendly eyes painted on the front. He stopped right next to them and whistled cheerfully.

"Hello children, what a lovely day!" sang Toby with his funny voice. "I'll take you where the rocks are enchanted, hooray!"

Ellie stood up, still holding the red ball. "Can I bring it?" she asked shyly.

"Climb aboard, don't you fear, the ball can come here!" replied Toby. "You'll see colors that will fill you with cheer!"

The children climbed into the little carriages. Laurie sat in front, Alex right behind, Violet next to him, and Ellie last, with her ball in her arms. The little train whistled again and set off, fast as the wind.

The landscape changed quickly. The houses disappeared, then the trees became shorter, and a light fog wrapped around everything. It was a strange fog, though: it had a bluish color, almost glowing.

"I can't see anything!" said Violet, squinting her eyes.

"Wait," murmured Ellie, pointing ahead.

The fog was lifting. It wasn't disappearing, but rising toward the sky, and beneath it something incredible appeared. Rocks. Many rocks. But they weren't normal rocks: they were all colors! Red like strawberries, blue like the summer sky, yellow like lemons, green like fresh grass, purple like lavender flowers.

"The Valley of Colored Rocks!" exclaimed Toby, stopping. "Go ahead and explore, you lucky little tots!"

The children got off the train with their eyes wide open. The valley was beautiful. The colored rocks sparkled under the rays of sunshine that now filtered through the fog that kept rising.

"It looks like a rainbow made of stones!" said Alex, running toward an orange rock.

Laurie followed him, while Violet touched a light blue rock with her fingertips. "It's smooth like glass."

Ellie walked more slowly, looking around. She still held the ball tight. But then she saw something: a path that went down toward a little lake hidden among the rocks. The water was clear and sparkled with colorful reflections.

"Come here!" called Ellie. "There's a lake!"

The four children approached the water's edge. It was so clear they could see every little pebble on the bottom. And it was right at that moment that it happened.

SPLASH!

The red ball slipped from Ellie's hands, bounced on a yellow rock, jumped into the air and... landed right in the middle of the lake, on a pointy rock surrounded by deep water.

"Oh no!" cried Ellie, her eyes becoming teary. "My ball!"

"Let's swim!" said Alex, ready to dive in.

"No!" Violet stopped him, pulling his shirt. "The water might be too deep. And it's cold."

Ellie sat on a purple rock, sad. The ball was far away, unreachable. How would she get it back?

It was then that something moved in the water. A little splash. Then another. And then...

SPLISH! SPLASH! SPLOSH!

A creature jumped out of the water, landed on a rock, bounced onto another, and then onto another! It was a shrimp, but not just any shrimp.

A shrimp is a little animal that lives in water. It has a small, curved body, with many little legs and two long antennae on its head. Usually shrimps swim, but this one jumped! It jumped so high it looked like a flea!

The shrimp had a bright pink shell, two lively little black eyes, and wore a small white pearl hanging around its neck. When it stopped in front of the children, it made a bubble with its mouth and burst out laughing.

"Who are you? Intruders in my valley?" said the shrimp, with a shrill voice. "Are you here to cause some folly?"

Violet stepped forward. "We're not intruders! We're explorers!"

The shrimp jumped in place three times, making more bubbles. It seemed very mischievous. "Explorers? Liars! You're red ball thieves! That one's mine now!"

"No!" said Ellie, standing up. "That's my ball! Please, give it back to me!"

The shrimp tilted its head. "Why should I? Nobody ever asks me things nicely. Everyone just tries to take things from me. I'm Zippy, the jumping shrimp, and this valley is my home!"

Alex was about to say something, but Ellie signaled him to wait. She approached the water and knelt down, to be closer to Zippy.

"Hello Zippy," she said with a sweet voice. "I'm Ellie. That ball is very important to me. I don't want to steal it from you. I would just like to have it back, if you want to give it to me."

Zippy stopped jumping. His antennae lowered a little. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that, with calm and respect.

"And if I didn't want to?" he said, but his voice was less confident.

"Then I would be sad," answered Ellie, honestly. "But I wouldn't hurt you. And I wouldn't force you. Because you're an animal, and animals are our friends."

Zippy made a big bubble and watched it float away. Then he looked at the red ball on the rock, and then he looked at Ellie. His little black eyes became less cunning and more curious.

"Friends?" he repeated. "I don't have friends. The other animals are afraid of me because I play too many pranks."

Laurie came closer. "What kind of pranks?"

Zippy jumped into the air, did three somersaults, and splashed water toward a nearby rock. "Pranks like this! Splashes, jumps, bubbles that pop! Once I made a frog slip into a mud puddle!"

"That's not very nice," said Violet, crossing her arms.

Zippy lowered his head. "I know. But I didn't know how else to play. Nobody ever taught me."

Ellie had an idea. She turned to her friends and called them with her eyes. Alex, Violet, and Laurie came closer.

"We could teach Zippy how to play together!" whispered Ellie.

"How?" asked Laurie.

"Well, with the ball! You throw it, you catch it, and everyone has fun. Without hurting anyone."

Violet nodded. "That's a good idea."

Ellie turned to Zippy. "If you help me get my ball back, I'll teach you a wonderful game. A game where nobody gets hurt and everyone laughs together."

Zippy hopped in place, undecided. His antennae moved nervously. "And what if you leave and I'm left alone?"

"We promise we'll come back to visit you," said Alex, with a big smile. "And we'll always remember you!"

Zippy thought. He thought a lot. Then he made a very high jump, reached the rock where the ball was, pushed it with his little legs and... SPLASH! The ball fell into the water and rolled to the shore, at Ellie's feet.

Ellie picked it up, happy. But instead of just hugging it, she did something unexpected. She threw it to Zippy!

The shrimp was surprised, but he jumped and hit the ball with his tail. The ball flew toward Laurie, who caught it in mid-air. Laurie threw it to Alex, Alex to Violet, Violet back to Zippy!

The shrimp was laughing. He laughed so much he made bubbles everywhere. "This is wonderful!" he shouted. "This is the best game in the world!"

They played like that for a while, throwing the ball to each other among the colored rocks. The sun was now high, the fog had disappeared, and the valley sparkled with a thousand colors.

Then, from far away, came a familiar sound.

"CHOO CHOO!"

Toby the Magic Train appeared among the rocks. He stopped near the children and smiled with his painted eyes.

"It's time to go, my little friends dear!" sang Toby. "You've done beautiful things, spreading warmth and cheer!"

Ellie approached Zippy. "Thank you for giving me back my ball. And thank you for playing with us."

Zippy made a little heart-shaped bubble. "Thank you for teaching me how to really play. I won't play mean pranks anymore. Only nice games!"

The children climbed onto the train. As Toby started moving, Ellie turned and waved goodbye to Zippy. The shrimp was hopping on the water, happier than he had ever been.

The journey back was quick. The colored rocks disappeared, the trees became tall again, and soon the children saw their garden.

When they got off the train, they found Ellie's mom, Elisa, waiting for them with a smile.

"How was the adventure?" she asked kindly.

Ellie ran to hug her, still holding the red ball tight.

"Mom, we met a shrimp that jumped! And we taught him how to play!"

"How wonderful," said Elisa, giving her a compliment. "You were really good."

Toby whistled one last time, ready to leave.

"Where there's respect, true friendship will grow, like the colors of rocks that sincerely glow!" said the little train, and disappeared behind the bushes.

That evening, while her dad Andrew held her in his arms and she was dozing off, Ellie thought about Zippy. She hoped the shrimp was still playing, happy in his colorful valley.

And maybe, one day, they would go back to visit him.

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**The moral of this story is:** Animals are our friends. Even when an animal seems strange or does things we don't like, we must always treat it with love and respect. If we speak kindly and have patience, we can become friends with anyone, even a mischievous shrimp!

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