It was an autumn afternoon with a milky-white sky. The pale sun peeked out between two lazy clouds, and the air smelled of wet leaves. Ziggy, Lily, Skye, and Dash were playing in the meadow behind the house, where they had built a huge pile of red and golden leaves.

"Ready? Go!" shouted Dash, and he dove into the pile, sending leaves flying everywhere. Ziggy laughed and jumped in too. Skye picked up a little heart-shaped leaf and tucked it carefully into her pocket. Lily, her blue eyes sparkling, clapped her hands: "Now let's make the tallest mountain in the whole world!"

They were piling up leaves when, from far away, a familiar sound came along.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, all colorful, who stopped in front of them, puffing happily. He opened his doors and said:

"CHUFF CHUFF, good day, little explorers, all aboard!
I'll take you to a garden where treasures are stored.
Up there something sleeps and won't stir from its rest,
and only the gentle wind can help with this quest!"

The children looked at each other, excited. A garden with a treasure? Something sleeping? They climbed aboard in a hurry, and Toby set off lightly, through meadows and over hills, until he stopped in front of a great golden gate.

"We're here," whispered Lily.

Beyond the gate was the Royal Garden of Whispers. It was the most beautiful place they had ever seen: fountains that tinkled like little bells, white statues, flowers of every color, and great hedges trimmed into the shapes of animals. There was a hedge shaped like a lion, one shaped like an elephant, and one shaped like a rabbit with long ears. A gentle breeze passed through the leaves and went "shhh…", as if it were telling a secret.

"This is the Whispering Wind," said Skye, enchanted.

But there was something strange. Everything seemed still. The bees hung frozen above the flowers. One fountain had a drop that never fell. And at the far end of the garden rose a very tall tower with a great clock. The hands were motionless, stuck on the same hour.

"It's the Tower of the Sleeping Clock," said Lily. "Let's go and see!"

They climbed a little spiral staircase and entered a room full of dusty books: a small, forgotten library. And there, asleep on top of an open book, was a gray cat with glasses perched on his nose.

The cat opened one eye, then the other, and spoke in a very low voice, almost like a breath: "Sshh… I am Page, the keeper of secrets. I was waiting for you. Come closer, for the wind must not hear everything."

The children came closer on tiptoe.

"The clock has fallen asleep," whispered Page, "and with it the whole garden. Time has gotten stuck in the same moment. That's why the Evening Flower won't open anymore. And it won't open until twilight returns."

"The twi… the what?" asked Dash, scratching his head.

"Twilight," repeated the cat with a mysterious smile. "It's that gentle moment when the day says goodbye and the evening arrives, when the sky turns all pink and orange."

"What a beautiful word," said Skye.

"And how do you wake up the clock?" asked Lily, who was already fidgeting.

Page whispered even more quietly: "Someone must carry a message up there, high up, so high that the Whispering Wind can hear it. Then the wind will turn the hands, and time will start again. But no one here can fly that high."

Just at that moment, from far away, a rumble was heard: "Rrrummble…"

"What was that?" asked Dash, jumping with fright.

"It's just a faraway storm," said Lily. "It grumbles like a hungry tummy!" And everyone laughed, even though their hearts were beating a little faster. Because the storm, slowly, was coming closer.

The children went out into the garden. They had to find something that could fly. That was when Lily saw it: in the middle of the hedges was an enormous peacock made entirely of leaves, with a giant tail and two great green wings. It was beautiful. But it did not move. Its tail brushed the ground, motionless, as if it had been sleeping standing up for a hundred years.

"Hello!" said Lily. "Can you fly?"

The peacock sighed, and his leaves went "frrr". "Me? Fly? But I can't do anything," he said in a sad voice. "I've been here forever, never moving. I'm not a real peacock. I'm just a bush. And a bush is good for nothing."

"That's not true!" said Lily, with her strong little spirit. "Everyone can do something. We just have to find out what!"

The storm grumbled again, closer: "RRRRUMMBLE…"

There was no time to lose. Lily gathered her friends, and each one found a job to do.

"Dash, you're fast: gather the dandelions, the light ones that float!" And Dash zipped around the garden, gathering dandelion puffs as soft as little clouds.

"Ziggy, you're good with your hands: get the message ready!" Ziggy took a little golden leaf, drew a tiny sun on it, and tied it with a blade of grass.

"Skye, you're gentle: stay close to the peacock and give him courage." Skye went up to the trembling peacock and stroked one of his leaves. "Don't be afraid," she told him in a warm voice. "We're all here with you. You're not alone."

And Page? Page walked among the branches and whispered: "This way… no, that way… the wind passes better over here."

When everything was ready, Lily tied the message around the peacock's neck and said: "Now try to fly!"

The peacock closed his eyes, moved his wings… and nothing happened. He tried again, flapping harder, but his feet stayed planted on the ground. After the last try he slumped down, and all his leaves drooped, as if they were crying.

"See?" he said in a tiny voice. "I'm good for nothing."

The sky grew dark. The storm grumbled very loudly: "RRRRUMMBLE!" One drop fell, then another. It really seemed like all was lost.

But Lily did not give up. She knelt down in front of the peacock and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Listen to me," she said. "You mustn't flap your wings like the little birds. You are made of leaves. And the wind loves leaves! You just have to open your wings and let the Whispering Wind lift you up. Trust me!"

The peacock hesitated. Then, slowly, he opened his great green wings.

And in that moment the Whispering Wind arrived. "Shhh…" It slipped into the leaves of his wings, filled them like two sails, and… the peacock lifted off the ground! First just a little, then more and more.

"I'm flying!" cried the peacock, and he laughed for the first time in his life. "I'M FLYING!"

"Go!" everyone shouted together. But the peacock stopped in midair, unsure. "I don't know the way to the clock. And the wind is strong, I'm afraid of getting lost!"

Then Lily did the bravest thing of all. She took a running start, made a leap, and grabbed tightly onto the peacock's neck. "I'm coming with you!" she said. "I'll show you the way. Don't be afraid, because I never give up!"

And together they rose. Up, higher and higher, over the hedges, over the fountains, while the rain began to fall and the thunder grumbled. Lily held on with all her might, her hair in the wind and her heart beating like a drum. Below them the garden grew tiny: the animal-shaped hedges looked like toys and the fountains were little sparkling dots. It was scary and wonderful all at once.

Down below, Ziggy, Skye, and Dash jumped and shouted: "Come on, Lily! Come on, peacock! You can do it!" Their voices reached up there, light, carried by the Whispering Wind itself.

All at once a mischievous gust tugged at the message and almost tore it away! The little golden leaf slipped and began to fall into the emptiness. "Oh no!" cried the peacock. But Lily, quick as lightning, reached out her hand and caught it just in time. "Got you!" she said, laughing despite her fear. "I won't let you go!"

"To the right!" Lily shouted. "Now straight ahead! We're almost there!"

The wind pushed and the tower drew closer. One more gust, one more flap of the wings, and they were at the top, right in front of the sleeping clock.

"Now!" shouted Lily. She raised the message and threw it up, as high as she could, just as the biggest gust arrived.

The Whispering Wind caught the message. "SHHHH!" It carried it up there, among the clouds, and listened to it.

And then… TICK!

The clock went "TICK!". The hands moved. "TICK! TOCK! TICK! TOCK!" Time began to flow again. The bees started buzzing again, the fountain's drop fell with a "plink", and the storm, like a belly that was finally full, stopped grumbling and wandered off among the hills.

The sky turned pink and orange.

"Twilight," whispered Lily, with a big smile.

And down in the garden, slowly, the Evening Flower opened its golden petals, more beautiful than ever.

The peacock glided gently down to the ground, and everyone ran to hug him.

"You flew!" said Skye, her eyes shining with joy.

"We flew together," said the peacock. "I thought I was just a useless bush. But instead I could do the most beautiful thing in the world. I just had to find my wind."

Page appeared among the flowers, smiling in his mysterious way. "Everything," he whispered, "has a talent that is only waiting for its wind. You just need the courage to open your wings."

That was when, from far away, they heard: "CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train had come back to get them. They all climbed aboard, waving goodbye to the garden, the peacock, and Page the cat. And as the sun set, pink in color, Toby said:

"CHUFF CHUFF, time to go home, with a heart full of cheer,
the one who felt like nothing rode the wind up here!
Everyone has a gift, be it big, be it small,
and a little bit of courage is the start for us all!"

The children fell asleep happy, rocked by the little train, dreaming of leaf wings and clocks that go "TICK!".