It was a cloudy February afternoon, with a mischievous wind making the dry leaves fly in circles, as if they were dancing. But inside Eletta's house it was nice and warm, and there was a colorful commotion.

Eletta, Ale, Viola, and Lori were sitting around the big living room table, surrounded by colored feathers, sticky glitter, satin ribbons, and white glue. They were making masks for the Carnival party.

"My mask will be a butterfly!" said Eletta in a calm voice, gluing a purple feather onto the cardboard.

"I'm making a lion! ROAR!" shouted Ale, jumping on his chair and making the whole table shake.

"Ale, watch out for the glitter!" said Max, his dad, in a gentle but slightly worried tone.

Viola narrowed her blue eyes, concentrating. "Mine is a warrior princess," she announced, with her strong and determined character.

Lori instead was running back and forth, picking up the red feathers first, then the blue ones, then going back to the red ones. "I can't choose!" he laughed.

Andrea, Eletta's dad, so tall he almost looked like a giraffe, approached the table. "Do you know what your masks are missing? A touch of magic!" he said, making one of his funny jokes. "Like... wings that really fly!"

"Dad, wings don't really fly!" laughed Eletta.

Right at that moment, from outside came a sound that everyone knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

The four children looked up suddenly. Ale almost knocked over the glue jar in his rush to get up.

"It's Toby the Magic Train!" shouted Lori, fast as always, already at the door.

The magic train was there, in the garden, wrapped in a little cloud of silver steam. It was small but shining, with carriages painted red and gold, perfect for Carnival.

"Hello children, my friends so dear, I have a surprise for you today, come near!" sang Toby the Magic Train with his cheerful voice. "A carpet in the sky will take you away, where the most beautiful Carnival is held today!"

"A carpet in the sky?" asked Viola, curious.

"Can we go, Mom?" Eletta looked at Elisa with her sweet eyes.

Elisa smiled. "Of course, my treasure, what a wonderful adventure!"

"Remember your masks!" said Andrea, handing them to the children. "You don't go to Carnival without a mask!"

The four friends climbed into the colorful carriages, holding their masks still fresh with glue. The train whistled and departed, lifting off the ground as if by magic, passing through the gray clouds.

And then, suddenly, the clouds opened up.

Before them appeared something incredible: a huge carpet floating in the sky! It was as big as a soccer field, all decorated with drawings of stars and moons. And above them, in the blue sky, two rainbows shone together: one big and majestic, and one smaller, as if it were its baby.

"Look, Eletta! Two rainbows!" exclaimed Ale, bouncing on the carriage.

The train landed gently on the magic carpet. The children got off with their eyes wide open.

The carpet was full of strange and beautiful creatures: there were clouds shaped like confetti, fountains of streamers, and trees made of pink and blue cotton candy. The sun's rays filtered through the sugar branches like golden magic wands.

"Welcome to the Festival of Flying Masks!" shouted a shrill little voice.

The children turned around and saw a very strange creature running toward them at great speed. It was a little man all brown, with chocolate buttons on his tummy and eyes made of white frosting.

"It's a gingerbread man!" explained Eletta to the others. "You know, gingerbread is a spiced cookie, made with ginger which is like a spicy root. My mom makes it for me at Christmas!"

The cookie man arrived in front of them, smelling of cinnamon and sugar. He bowed in a funny way, almost losing a chocolate button.

"I am Biscottino!" he said, hopping on the spot because he couldn't stay still. "And you've arrived just in time for the great merrymaking!"

"Merry... what?" asked Lori, confused.

"Merrymaking!" repeated Biscottino, doing a twirl. "Don't you know what it is? Merrymaking is when you have a big party all together, with music and dancing and laughter! It's the most beautiful word of Carnival!"

"Merrymaking," repeated Eletta, savoring the new word. "I like it!"

Biscottino laughed, and when he laughed he made a sound like crumbs crumbling. He was a mischievous fellow: while talking, he had already stolen a feather from Ale's mask and put it behind his ear.

"Hey! My feather!" protested Ale.

"Sorry, sorry!" Biscottino gave it back, but his frosting eyes sparkled mischievously. "It's just that I like colorful things! Anyway, there's a big problem."

The cookie man led them toward the center of the carpet, where a group of creatures was discussing. There were three talking little clouds, two streamers that moved like snakes, and a balloon with a sad face.

"We want to play the Great Mask Game," explained Biscottino, "but we need to make two teams with the same number of players. And there are seven of us! It doesn't work!"

"Seven can't be divided into two equal parts," said Viola, who had a strong character and wasn't afraid to say things as they were.

"Exactly!" cried the balloon. "Carnival is ruined!"

Eletta looked at her friends. Then she looked at the sad creatures. She felt a strange sensation inside her, like when she saw someone who needed help.

"Wait," she said in her calm voice. "What if we joined in too?"

The creatures looked at her.

"There are four of us," continued Eletta. "If we play together with you, we'll be eleven. But maybe..."

"It still doesn't work!" moaned a little cloud.

Eletta thought and thought. She was tired, and when she was tired she usually dozed off in her dad Andrea's arms. But now she had to stay awake. She had to help everyone.

"I have an idea!" exclaimed Ale, jumping. "If one of us becomes the referee, we'll be ten! Five and five!"

"Perfect!" shouted Lori. "Who'll be the referee?"

Silence. Nobody wanted to give up playing. The creatures looked at each other. The children looked at each other.

The balloon started to deflate from sadness.

Eletta felt her heart tighten. She looked at her friends who wanted so much to play. She looked at the creatures who were waiting. She thought about what her dad Andrea always said: "When you think of others, everything becomes more beautiful."

"I'll do it," said Eletta, with a firm voice.

"You?" asked Viola, surprised. "But you wanted so much to play!"

"Yes," replied Eletta. "But if nobody is the referee, nobody can play. And I want everyone to be happy."

Biscottino looked at her with his frosting eyes, and for the first time stopped hopping. "Would you really do this for us?"

Eletta nodded.

But just when she was about to take the referee's whistle, something incredible happened.

The magic carpet began to glow under Eletta's feet. A golden light wrapped around her, warm and sweet like a hug. And from the carpet, a new creature popped out: a small giant confetti with arms and legs!

"The carpet felt your kind heart!" shouted Biscottino, jumping with joy. "It created a new player!"

"My name is Confettino!" said the confetti, doing a somersault. "I was born from Eletta's kind thought! Now there are twelve of us! Six and six!"

The children stood with their mouths open.

"I can play too!" said Eletta, with her eyes shining.

The Great Mask Game was wonderful. The teams had to fly from one side of the carpet to the other, collecting magic masks that changed color. Ale was jumping everywhere, super fast. Viola played with all her strength. Lori ran like the wind. And Eletta, calm but determined, found the most special mask of all: the one that shone with all the colors of the double rainbow.

In the end, nobody won and nobody lost. Because at Carnival, when you play together with your heart, everyone wins.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train appeared among the cotton candy clouds.

"The sun sets and evening comes near, but in your hearts the memory stays clear!" said the train, inviting them to climb aboard. "A kind gesture made something bloom, a new friend for everyone, chasing away gloom!"

Biscottino ran toward Eletta and, for once without playing tricks, gave her a hug that smelled of warm cookies.

"Thank you," he whispered to her. "You made Carnival special."

The children waved goodbye to everyone, waving their masks as the train rose into the sky, passing through the two rainbows.

When they arrived home, it was almost dinnertime. Eletta ran into her dad Andrea's arms, who lifted her up high.

"How was the adventure?" he asked with a smile.

"I learned a new word," said Eletta, resting her head on his shoulder, already a bit sleepy. "Merrymaking. And I learned that when you think of others, magical things happen."

Andrea hugged her tight. "That's the most beautiful magic of all, my treasure."

And that evening, as Eletta fell asleep in her dad's arms, she dreamed of flying carpets, double rainbows, and a gingerbread man dancing under a rain of confetti, in a great, wonderful merrymaking.

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**The moral of this story is:** When we think of others, and not just ourselves, the world becomes more beautiful. Eletta's kind gesture, being ready to give up the game so everyone could play, made something magical happen. Remember, children: being kind and thinking of others is like planting a little seed that grows into beautiful flowers!

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