It was an autumn evening and the wind was blowing through the trees, making the orange and yellow leaves fly like colorful butterflies. Lori, Ale, Viola, and Eletta were inside the house, nice and warm, and they were building a big fort with blankets and sofa cushions.

"Hold this side!" said Lori, who was running quickly from one side to the other to arrange the blankets.

"I'll put the cushions inside!" said Ale, jumping into the fort with a big smile.

Viola, with her blue eyes sparkling, held tight the edge of the big blanket. "Don't let go, friends!" she said with a determined voice.

Eletta, calm as always, was arranging the soft cushions on the floor of their secret fort.

Frederick, Lori's dad, appeared at the door. "Lori, be careful not to trip on the cushions!" he said, a bit worried as always.

"Don't worry dad!" replied Lori laughing.

Right at that moment, from outside came a sound that all the children knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

The four friends looked at each other with eyes wide with happiness. They ran to the window and saw, among the leaves flying in the wind, a colorful locomotive that sparkled under the evening sky.

It was Toby the Magic Train!

The children ran out into the garden, followed by Frederick who was saying: "Slow down, don't run too fast!"

Toby the Magic Train stopped in front of them, puffing little clouds of blue smoke. He was a special train, with carriages painted in a thousand colors and wheels that sparkled.

"Good evening friends, what a lovely evening!" sang Toby with his cheerful voice. "Where the moon shines silver bright, a mountain awaits you, enchanted tonight!"

"A mountain?" asked Lori, already ready to jump onto the first carriage.

Toby gave a cheerful whistle and opened the little doors of the carriages. The children all climbed aboard together, settling into seats as soft as clouds.

"Be careful!" shouted Frederick from the door, while Christina, Lori's mom, joined him and waved her hand.

The little train departed with a big "CHUFF CHUFF!" and flew into the evening sky.

As they traveled higher and higher, the children saw something wonderful: a huge round moon, big as a giant pizza, that lit up everything with its silver light. And around the moon, many shooting stars crossed the sky, leaving luminous trails.

"Look! We can make wishes!" said Viola, pointing at the stars.

Everyone closed their eyes for a moment and thought of a secret wish.

Then, in front of them, something incredible appeared: a mountain that seemed made of colorful candies! But they weren't candies, they were crystals. Red, blue, green, yellow, and purple crystals that sparkled under the moonlight like a thousand Christmas lights.

"How beautiful!" whispered Eletta with eyes full of wonder.

Toby the Magic Train stopped at the foot of Crystal Mountain and opened the doors.

The children got off and their feet touched ground that crunched like fresh snow. But it wasn't cold: it was warm and soft.

As they walked among the colorful crystals, they heard a strange noise: "MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH!"

From behind a large purple crystal appeared a zebra! But it wasn't a normal zebra. She had black and white stripes just like striped pajamas, and she was eating crystal flowers.

"Hello little travelers!" said the zebra with her mouth full. "I'm Zelda! Sorry if I'm eating, but I'm always terribly hungry!"

The zebra was called Zelda, and she smelled like freshly made popcorn! The children looked at her curiously.

"What are those flowers?" asked Ale, always curious.

"They're sugared crystal flowers! They only grow here. Would you like some?" Zelda immediately picked some flowers and offered them to the children with a big generous smile.

But then, Zelda's smile disappeared. Her eyes became sad and she sat down on a light blue crystal rock.

"Why are you sad?" asked Lori, coming closer.

"I feel a great melancholy in my heart," sighed Zelda.

Viola tilted her head. "Melan-what?"

Zelda smiled slightly. "Melancholy means when you're sad inside, even if you don't quite know why. Like when you miss someone, or when you think something beautiful has ended."

"Oh," said Viola, nodding. Now she understood that new word.

"But why do you feel melancholy?" asked Eletta with her sweet voice.

Zelda pointed to the top of the mountain. "Up there was a magic mirror. A special mirror that showed how beautiful the heart of whoever looked into it was. But now... the mirror doesn't show anything anymore. It's turned all black."

The children looked at each other worried.

"What happened?" asked Lori.

"I don't know," said Zelda, and she started counting her stripes, something she always did when she was nervous. "One, two, three, four stripes... Maybe it's my fault. I gave away all my precious crystals to the travelers who passed by here. Now I have nothing left. I've become poor, and maybe that's why the mirror broke."

"But giving is a beautiful thing!" said Ale.

"Yes, but now I have nothing left to offer," said Zelda, lowering her head.

Lori, who was always quick with ideas too, said: "Let's go see this mirror! Maybe we can fix it!"

The four friends and Zelda began climbing Crystal Mountain. The path was steep and the crystals were slippery under the moonlight.

At one point, they heard a frightening noise: "GRRRRRR!"

Everyone stopped. Lori's heart was beating hard.

From behind a black crystal boulder came a strange creature. It was a shadow! A big dark shadow, with two yellow eyes that glowed in the darkness. It seemed made of black smoke, and it moved swaying like a jellyfish.

"WHO DARES APPROACH MY MIRROR?" said the shadow with a deep voice.

Eletta hid behind Viola, who however didn't move a step. Her blue eyes stared at the shadow with courage.

"Who are you?" asked Viola with a firm voice.

"I am Shadowling, the guardian of darkness. I feed on selfish hearts and I covered the mirror because it shows things I don't like: the beauty of good hearts!"

Lori thought quickly. They had to get past, but Shadowling was too big and scary.

"I have an idea!" whispered Lori to his friends. "We have to distract him with a game!"

"A game?" asked Ale.

"Yes! So while he plays, we can reach the mirror!"

Lori took a step forward. "Hey, Shadowling! I bet you can't play the shadow game!"

Shadowling tilted his dark head. "Shadow game? I AM a shadow!"

"Exactly!" said Lori with a big smile. "You have to copy all the shapes we make. If you make a mistake, you lose!"

Shadowling seemed interested. "All right. But nobody beats Shadowling!"

Lori started making funny shapes: he raised his arms like a tree, then bent like a mushroom, then hopped like a rabbit. Ale imitated him, jumping and laughing. Viola made the shape of a star, and Eletta that of a flower.

Shadowling tried to copy all the shapes, but he was confused! He spun and twisted, completely forgetting about the mirror.

"Zelda, go!" whispered Lori.

Zelda ran quickly toward the top of the mountain, with the children following her while Shadowling was still busy making the shape of an elephant.

They arrived in front of the magic mirror. It was as big as a door and had a frame made of rainbow crystals. But the glass was all black, as if someone had poured ink over it.

"What do we do now?" asked Zelda, desperate.

Lori looked at the mirror, then looked at Zelda, and understood something important.

"Zelda," said Lori, "you said you've become poor because you gave everything away. But I think you're wrong."

Zelda looked at him confused.

"You gave us crystal flowers as soon as you met us," continued Lori. "You didn't know us, but you wanted to share what you had. This makes you rich, not poor!"

"It's true!" said Viola. "Whoever gives with their heart is the richest of all!"

"You have a generous heart," added Ale. "And that can never run out!"

Eletta took Zelda's hand and brought her in front of the mirror. "Try looking at yourself."

Zelda took a deep breath and looked into the black mirror.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then, a small golden light appeared in the center of the mirror. The light grew bigger and bigger, and the black began to disappear. The mirror filled with beautiful colors: gold, pink, light blue, silver.

And finally, Zelda saw her image. But she didn't just see her black and white stripes: she saw her heart, which shone like the greatest of crystals, full of golden light.

"My heart..." whispered Zelda with tears in her eyes. "It's so bright!"

"Because you're generous!" said Lori. "And whoever has a generous heart is the richest of all!"

At that moment, Shadowling arrived running. But when he saw the light from the mirror, he took a step back.

"No! The light! I don't like it!" he shouted.

But then, something strange happened. The light from the mirror touched Shadowling too, and the shadow began to change. The black became gray, then white, and finally Shadowling became a soft, fluffy little cloud!

"But... what happened to me?" said Shadowling, looking at himself.

"You had a hidden heart too," said Zelda smiling. "You just had to let it out."

The little cloud Shadowling smiled for the first time and flew away into the starry sky, happy.

From far away they heard: "CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train had arrived to take them home.

The children hugged Zelda, who thanked them a thousand times.

"Come back to visit me!" said Zelda. "And remember: giving makes you rich, not poor!"

They climbed onto the train and departed under the sky full of shooting stars.

Toby sang cheerfully: "You've discovered a great treasure, a generous heart is worth more than any measure!"

When they arrived home, Frederick and Christina were waiting for them at the door.

"How was the adventure?" asked Christina hugging Lori.

"Great, mom!" said Lori. "I learned that when you give something away, you become richer, not poorer!"

Frederick smiled and stroked Lori's head. "That's so true, champion."

That night, while the children slept in their little beds, they dreamed of colorful crystals, zebras in pajamas, and hearts that sparkled like stars.

And the moral of this story is: whoever has a generous heart is the richest of all. When we give something to others, whether it's a toy, a hug, or even just a smile, our heart becomes bigger and brighter. True wealth is not the things we have, but the love we give.

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