That morning the sky was grey like a woolly blanket. Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash were in the garden building little towns of pebbles, but the wind kept blowing away the leaf roofs and nobody could finish anything.

"Ugh," huffed Dash, "today nothing is working at all."

Then, all of a sudden, the grey opened up like a curtain. From the sky, lots of colorful petals began to fall: pink, yellow, blue, and they smelled of flowers and springtime. It was a rain of petals! The children lifted their hands to catch them, and they laughed because the petals tickled their noses.

And in the middle of that sweet-smelling rain, they heard a sound they knew: "CHOO CHOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, all shiny with petals on his roof. He opened his little door and said:

"Come aboard, dear friends, come quickly, hop up close and ride with me,
there's a golden place that waits for you beside the sparkling sea!
Where the waves bring little shell-bells ringing soft and clear,
and someone's crying, dreaming of a home to hold them near!"

The children looked at each other, curious. "Someone's crying?" asked Lily, and her blue eyes grew very careful. They hopped up quickly and Toby set off, fast as the sweet-smelling wind.

The little train left them on a beautiful beach, curved like a crescent moon, with golden sand that sparkled. "This is Golden Crescent Bay," Skye read on a wooden sign. The waves came in slowly and left shells on the shore that, touching each other, tinkled like little bells. Far off, out in the sea, there were three pointy rocks, one beside the other.

"Those are called the Three Brothers," said Ziggy.

But behind the Three Brothers there was a light little mist, like whipped cream on the water. And from that mist came a soft, soft sound: someone crying.

Lily didn't think twice. She ran to the shore. "There's someone out there!"

Among the waves, rocking back and forth, there was a little wooden boat. Her sail was a bit crooked and she had two sad little eyes painted on the front. She really was crying.

"Hello," said Lily softly. "Why are you crying?"

"My name is Nina," the little boat answered in a tiny voice. "I went out for a ride, but then the fog came and now I can't find the way home. My home is Lantern Harbor, but it's hidden back there, where you can't see anything. I've lost my smile, because a boat with no home doesn't know how to smile anymore."

Skye put a hand on her heart. "Poor thing," she whispered. Even Dash had gone quiet, and Dash was almost always cheerful.

It was right at that moment that, SPLASH, a spray of water soaked everyone from head to toe!

"Heyyy!" cried the children.

Out of the water leaped a dolphin who was laughing, doing flips and spinning around in a spiral, like a spinning top. Strangely, he smelled of watermelon and salt.

"Surpriiise! I'm Splash!" said the dolphin, and with his tail he quickly hid something in the sand. "Looking for a shiny shell? I have a very special one, but... guess where I put it! Hee hee hee!"

Splash jumped, splashed, and played tricks. He hid Dash's bucket under a wave, then tickled Skye with the tip of his tail. At first the children laughed, but Nina, the little boat, was still crying, all alone among the waves.

And then Splash stopped.

The playful dolphin looked at Nina. He saw her real tears. And something, inside his golden heart, told him it was no longer the time to joke. He stopped laughing, swam slowly toward the little boat, and spoke to her in a gentle voice: "Don't cry, little one. I know the sea like my own fins. I'll take you home myself."

Then he swam back and dug in the sand. He pulled out a shiny pink shell. "This is my shell-compass," he explained. "If you hold it just right, it shows you the way to the harbor. I hid it for fun... I'm sorry."

"What does compass mean?" asked Dash, puzzled.

"A compass," said Splash, "is a magic thing that always tells you where to go, even when you're lost. Like a friendly little arrow."

"Oooh," they all said together, and they felt a little bit bigger.

But there was a problem. Splash explained that Nina was stuck in a shallow, a spot where the water is low and the sand holds the boat tight. "To free her, someone has to go into the water and push her out. Then, following the shell-compass, we cross the fog together."

The children looked at the water. Nearby it was deep, dark, and the waves were a little higher. Ziggy took a step back. Skye squeezed her hands together. Dash, who was usually afraid of nothing, said quietly: "I... deep water scares me a little."

There was a silence. Only the tinkling of the shells and Nina's soft crying.

And then Lily looked at the little boat. She looked into her sad little eyes. She felt her heart beating hard, THUMP THUMP THUMP, because she too, just a little, was afraid of that deep water.

But then she thought of Nina, alone in the fog, with no home and no smile.

Lily took a big breath. Then she did the bravest thing of all: she smiled at Nina. A real smile, warm, the kind that says "don't be afraid, I'm here."

"Nina," she said, "now I'm going to take you home. Look what a big smile I'm giving you!"

And the little boat, seeing that smile, stopped crying for a moment.

Lily clenched her fists, counted "one, two, threee!" and dove into the deep water. SPLASH!

Her heart was beating so fast. The water was cold and came up to her shoulders. For a moment she really was scared. But Splash swam right up beside her and did a funny flip right on her nose, so that Lily burst out laughing and her fear melted like sugar in the water.

"Well done!" said the dolphin. "Now let's push together!"

Lily put her hands on Nina's wood and pushed. She pushed with all her might. "Come... out... of there!" Seeing her so brave, the others came forward too. Ziggy went into the water up to his knees and reached out a hand. Skye held him by his shirt so he wouldn't slip. Dash, with a big breath just like Lily's, went in too. "If you can do it, I'll try too!"

All together, one, two, threee, they pushed. And Nina, with a little POP, broke free from the shallow!

"We did it!" they cried.

But the celebration didn't last long, because in front of them was the fog, thick and white, hiding everything. Nina trembled. "I'm still afraid of getting lost," she said.

"Not with this," said Splash, and he gave the shell-compass to Lily. "Hold it to your ear. You'll hear it sing louder toward the way home."

Lily held the shell to her ear. Inside she heard a sweet song, like the sea whispering. She turned to the right: the song grew soft. She turned to the left, toward the fog: the song grew loud, clear, sure. "This way! Home is this way!"

So off they went. Splash in front, pushing Nina with his nose, Lily with the singing shell, and the other three keeping the rhythm. They went into the white fog, where you couldn't see anything. But then, in the middle of the white, a little light came on. Then another. Then another one more.

"The lanterns!" cried Skye, her eyes shining. "The harbor is lighting up for Nina!"

One after another, the lanterns of the little harbor lit up like warm little stars, to show the way for someone coming home. And at the far end of the fog appeared the little harbor, cozy and welcoming, with its wooden dock and golden lights.

Nina glided into her harbor. And then the most beautiful magic of all happened: on her wood, slowly, slowly, the smile came back. A wide, happy, wooden smile. "I'm home! I'm home! Thank you, Lily! Thank you, everyone!"

And Nina's smile was so happy that it spread to everyone. Ziggy laughed, Dash did flips like Splash, Skye had eyes a little shiny with joy, and Lily, all wet and happy, smiled more than anyone.

"You see?" said Splash, giving Lily a gentle tap with his fin. "Your smile changed Nina's whole day. No, her whole life!"

Splash said goodbye with three spiral flips and one last spray of watermelon and salt. And in that moment, among the lanterns, it was heard again: "CHOO CHOO!"

Toby the Magic Train had arrived to take them home. He opened his door and said:

"Well done, dear children, what kind hearts you carry deep and true,
you gave a home to one who cried: what joy for me and you!
A smile you give is like a treasure, tiny, warm and gold,
it turns a sad grey day to sunshine, worth more than can be told!"

The children climbed aboard, waving to Nina and Splash until they couldn't see them anymore. And while Toby raced through the evening, among the petals and the lanterns, Lily looked at the sea and smiled again. Because she had discovered something wonderful: that when you're a little bit afraid, a smile given to someone can give you all the courage in the world.