It was a warm morning, the kind where it isn't too hot or too cold. Ziggy, Lily, Skye, and Dash were lying on the grass behind the house, with their tummies up and their eyes pointed at the sky. The white clouds drifted slowly, and they looked drawn just for them.

"That one looks like a bunny!" said Dash, pointing with his little finger.

"No, it's a cat with a long tail," said Lily, sure of herself.

"To me it's a sleeping elephant," said Skye in her quiet little voice.

Ziggy laughed. "Look at that one over there! It really looks like a unicorn with a long mane!"

And indeed, up in the sky, a soft cloud was shaped just like a unicorn. The mane was made of pink and blue threads, and it seemed to move in the wind. The children watched in wonder, when, all of a sudden, the cloud unicorn disappeared behind something.

"CHOO CHOO!"

It was a sweet, happy whistle they knew very well. They sat up all together, and from behind a big bush popped out the round, colorful shape of Toby the Magic Train. He stopped in front of them whistling, and then said:

"Hello dear children, climb up here,
today we travel to skies so clear!
There's a garden that's been waiting long,
and a missing smile that needs a song!"

The children laughed and clapped their hands.

"A garden without a smile?" asked Ziggy, curious.

"Let's go! Let's go!" shouted Dash, already on his feet.

They climbed onto Toby the Magic Train's soft little car, and in an instant the train set off, gliding gently through the clouds.

CHOO CHOO... CHOO CHOO...

When they opened their eyes, they were standing in front of a golden gate. Behind the gate was a huge, beautiful garden. There were hedges trimmed into the shapes of animals: an elephant all made of green leaves, a leaf bunny with long ears, a leaf cat with its tail standing straight. There were fountains dripping softly and white marble statues with sweet faces. The little paths were covered with pink petals.

But it was all so quiet. Too quiet.

"What a lovely place," whispered Skye. "But you can't even hear a little bird."

"And the flowers look a bit sad," said Lily, looking at a flower bed where the flowers had their heads bowed down.

As they walked along the petal path, they heard a sweet sound: ting-ting-ting. It was a little bell. They turned, and saw something that left them with their mouths wide open.

It was a white unicorn, with a mane made of all the colors of the rainbow. He walked swaying gently, as if dancing to music only he could hear. And with every step he took, a tiny colorful flower sprang up from the grass. Around his neck he wore a silver bell with a blue ribbon.

The unicorn stopped, sniffed the air with his nose pointed up, sighed loudly, and said: "Oh, yes! Now I remember!"

Then he looked at the children and paused.

"Actually... what was I about to say?" he murmured.

Ziggy laughed. "Hi! I'm Ziggy. Who are you?"

"I'm Sparkle," answered the unicorn with a sweet smile. "And you are a real wonder!"

The children looked at each other. "A what... what?" asked Dash.

"A wonder," repeated Sparkle. "Do you know what a wonder is?"

The children shook their heads.

"A wonder is something so beautiful, but so very beautiful, that it leaves your mouth wide open. Like... ooooh!" And he opened his mouth wide to show them.

The children giggled and tried it too: "Oooooh!"

"Wonderful!" said Sparkle. Then he sniffed the air again, sighed, and said: "Oh, yes! Now I remember! The King has lost his smile... or maybe it was the crown? Wait, what was I saying?"

"The crown?" asked Lily.

"The smile?" asked Skye.

"Yes, and also no, and also maybe," answered Sparkle, all confused. His little bell jingled all by itself, and suddenly his face lit up. "Aaaah! Both things! The King has lost his smile, and his crown fell into the well!"

"Into the well?" said Ziggy, squeezing his little hands together.

"Into the garden well. Come, I'll take you."

Sparkle led them, swaying along, and at every step a little flower sprouted up. He smelled like lily-of-the-valley and cotton candy, and the children followed him breathing deeply to fill themselves with that sweet scent.

They reached the center of the garden. There stood an old well, made of gray stone, with a copper bucket hanging from a long rope.

Ziggy stepped close to the edge and looked down. It was dark. Very dark. But far down at the bottom, a tiny golden light was shining: it was the crown.

"It's so deep," he whispered.

Dash leaned over too to look, and Lily quickly grabbed him by his shirt.

"Be careful, Dash! Don't fall!" she said, holding him tight.

Skye placed a little hand on Ziggy's shoulder. "Let's take it slow, okay? There's no rush."

Ziggy nodded. He was a little scared, but he also really wanted to help. "We can try to pull it up with the bucket. Dash, you're nimble, you lean over just a little bit. Lily, you hold the rope tight. Skye, you tell us if everything is okay. I'll guide the bucket."

"Yes, Captain!" laughed Dash.

Sparkle came over swaying. "I can help too! I'll hold the rope with my teeth!"

He put his teeth on the rope, but right at that very moment he sniffed the air, sighed "Oh, yes! Now I remember!" and let go of the rope. The bucket dropped into the well with a SPLASH! and Sparkle made a sorry little face.

"Oh oh... I think I forgot again," he said, and chuckled a little sadly.

Dash burst out laughing, and the others laughed too, but Skye said gently: "It's all right, Sparkle. Let's try again together."

Ziggy pulled up the copper bucket, tied it tight to the rope again, and lowered it slowly into the well. The rope unrolled, and unrolled... Dash leaned over just a tiny bit, held tight by Lily, and said: "Lower, lower... a little more!"

The well was so deep that the rope seemed to never end. The children were holding their breath. Ziggy guided them: "Now stop. Now slow. Now move it to the right."

Skye whispered: "You're doing it, you're doing it..."

"I got it! I got it with the bucket!" shouted Dash at one point. "I can feel it inside!"

"Pull hard!" said Ziggy.

And they pulled. They all pulled together. The crown was heavy, and the rope seemed endless. Sparkle tried to help with his teeth, but every time he got distracted: a butterfly, the smell of a rose, a sunbeam, and he let go. The children laughed and pulled anyway.

Finally, out of the well popped the copper bucket. And inside the bucket, sparkling, was a golden crown with tiny red rubies.

"We did it!" shouted Lily.

The children jumped for joy. But just at that moment, from behind a pavilion covered with roses, they heard a sound.

It was a sigh. Long, long, sad.

They walked slowly toward the pavilion. Under the roses there was a bench, and on the bench sat a man with a red cloak and worn-out slippers. He had a white beard and slightly watery eyes. He was looking at the ground.

"Who... who are you?" asked the man, surprised.

"We are Ziggy, Lily, Skye, and Dash," said Ziggy, giving a little bow. "And we brought you this."

He showed him the crown. The man looked at it, and his eyes filled with tears.

"Are you King Grumbles?" asked Skye gently.

"Yes... it's me," sighed the King. "Thank you for the crown. I thought it was lost forever."

"How did it fall into the well?" asked Dash.

The King lowered his head. "I had leaned over to look at my face in the water. But I sighed so loudly... that the crown slipped and plop! it fell down."

"And why were you sighing?" asked Lily.

King Grumbles looked at the garden. "Because no one comes here anymore. Once upon a time the children used to run between the hedges, laugh near the fountains, eat their snack under the roses. Now... there's only silence. And the flowers... the flowers don't bloom anymore, because no one admires them."

The King's eyes filled with tears again. Skye took his hand.

"But we're here now," said Ziggy.

"And we're happy to be with you," added Lily.

Dash looked up at the sky. "King Grumbles, have you ever watched the clouds? This morning we saw a bunny, a cat, an elephant... and even a unicorn!"

The King raised his eyes. The sky, at that moment, was full of white clouds in funny shapes. One really did look like a cow with its tail straight up.

"That one over there," said Skye pointing, "looks like a bear taking a bath."

The King squinted his eyes. "It's... it's really true..."

Ziggy took a deep breath. "King Grumbles, would you like us to give you a present?"

"What?" asked the King.

"A smile. All together. Ready?"

The children stood in a row in front of him, and made the biggest smile in the whole world. Four open mouths, eight round little cheeks, eyes that laughed. Sparkle tried too, and out came a crooked, super-tender smile.

King Grumbles looked at them. He looked again. And then, slowly, his lips moved. One corner went up. Then the other. Then a sound came from his throat.

"Hee... heehehe... HAHAHAHAHAH!"

The King burst out laughing. His eyes laughed, his belly laughed, his white beard laughed.

And in that very moment something extraordinary happened.

POOF!

The whole garden burst into flowers. The flower beds filled up with red, with yellow, with purple, with blue. The animal hedges stood up tall again: the elephant lifted its trunk, the bunny opened its ears, the cat raised its tail straight. The fountains sprayed sparkling water. The little birds began to sing again.

Sparkle, with eyes full of happy tears, sniffed the air, sighed, and his little bell jingled all by itself, very loudly. Then he raised his nose and said:

"Oh, yes! NOW I really remember! I wanted to tell you... that a smile is a wonder!"

The children laughed and hugged Sparkle, then they hugged the King, and the King hugged all four of them together. The crown was still there, on the copper bucket, but no one seemed to care much about it anymore.

"Promise me one thing," said the King, wiping away a happy tear.

"What?" asked the children.

"That every now and then, you'll come back here. To give me a smile. And to eat your snack under the roses."

"We promise!" they all said together.

At that moment, from behind the animal hedges, came a sweet whistle.

CHOO CHOO!

It was Toby the Magic Train, waiting to take them home. The children waved goodbye to the King and Sparkle, and climbed into the little car.

Toby said, swaying gently:

"You gave a smile to the lonely King,
and now his garden begins to bloom and sing!
A smile is a gift, it's never for sale,
and it lights up hearts that may have grown pale!"

The children sat in silence, smiling. Below them, as the magic train flew home, they could see King Grumbles' garden all colorful. And among the flowers, a little unicorn was bouncing along, swaying, leaving behind a trail of new little flowers.

When they arrived back on the meadow, the clouds were still there, above them. Ziggy looked at Skye, Lily, and Dash, and all together, pointing at the sky, they said: "Oooooh!"

A wonder.