It was a gray and damp afternoon. The rain had stopped falling not long ago, and on the leaves of the big tree in the garden, many little droplets sparkled like tiny shiny beads. The wind whistled a cheerful melody as it passed through the branches.

Ellie, Alex, Violet, and Larry were sitting under the porch of Ellie's house, with their little legs dangling from the bench. They were blowing hard into colorful straws, making soap bubbles. The bubbles flew into the gray sky and became all colorful when the sun peeked out from between the clouds.

"Look at mine! It's huge!" exclaimed Larry, who was very fast at blowing.

"Mine is smaller, but it flies higher!" said Violet with her strong character, pointing at her bubble rising toward the sky.

Ellie blew calmly, with her big eyes following the colorful bubbles. She was a little tired, as always toward evening, but she was having so much fun.

Alex was hopping in place while blowing, because staying still was just something he couldn't do. He was so lively that he even made three bubbles at once!

Andrew, Ellie's dad, who was very tall, watched the children and laughed. "Be careful, if you blow too hard, you'll fly away too, just like the bubbles!" he said, making one of his funny jokes.

Elisa, Ellie's mom, always kind, added: "What good children you are! Your bubbles are beautiful!"

At that moment, from far away, they heard a sound that the children knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF! CHUFF CHUFF!"

It was him! Toby the Magic Train popped out from behind the hedge, with his colorful smoke making spirals in the gray sky.

"Hello children, what a nice gathering! Today I'll take you where the sky is brand new!" sang Toby the Magic Train with his cheerful voice. "Above the clouds, between wind and silver, you'll live a magical moment!"

"Above the clouds?" asked Ellie with wide eyes.

"How wonderful!" shouted Alex, who was already running toward the train.

All the children climbed aboard, waving goodbye to Andrew and Elisa with their little hands. Toby the Magic Train took off quickly, climbing higher and higher, passing through white clouds as soft as whipped cream.

When they emerged on the other side, the children were left speechless.

In front of them was an enormous silvery balloon, shiny like a mirror, floating in the sky. Below the balloon was attached a large basket made of light wood, with round windows and a little flag fluttering in the wind. It was an airship!

An airship is like a very big hot air balloon, a giant balloon that flies in the sky and carries people above the clouds.

Toby the Magic Train stopped on a little cloud right next to the airship, and the children got off carefully. Their little feet sank into the soft clouds as if they were cushions.

"How beautiful it is here!" said Violet, walking confidently.

But Ellie immediately noticed something strange. "Look!" she said, pointing with her little finger. "What's that?"

Among the white clouds there were things that shouldn't be there. Plastic bags flying in the wind, empty bottles stuck between the fluffy puffs, little pieces of colored paper scattered everywhere.

"But it's all dirty!" exclaimed Larry, upset.

"Who threw all these things up here?" asked Alex, stopping his hopping for a moment.

At that moment, they heard a sound. It was a sad whinny, like that of a horse, but more delicate.

From behind the silvery airship appeared a wonderful creature. It was a white horse, as white as snow, with a very long mane that sparkled with silver. But the most incredible thing was its wings! Two large feathered wings, soft and shiny, that opened at its sides.

"It's a Pegasus!" whispered Ellie, remembering the drawings in her books.

A Pegasus is a magical horse with wings that flies in the sky. In ancient stories, Pegasus was a friend of heroes and traveled among the clouds.

But this Pegasus seemed frightened. It was hiding behind a big cloud, showing only its muzzle and shiny eyes. It was trembling a little.

"Don't be afraid," said the Pegasus with a sweet but timid voice. "I'm the one who's afraid of you. I don't know if I can trust you."

Ellie, who was always calm, took a step forward slowly. "Hello. I'm Ellie. What's your name?"

The Pegasus blinked. "My name is Snowy. This sky used to be clear and beautiful. Now look..."

"What does clear mean?" asked Violet, curious about that strange word.

Snowy explained kindly: "Clear means clean and transparent, so bright that you can see through it. Like the water in a fountain when it's nice and clean!"

"Ah, I understand!" said Violet, satisfied.

Snowy came out from behind the cloud. The children noticed that he kept one of his wings a bit closed, as if it hurt him.

"Did you hurt yourself?" asked Ellie, worried.

Snowy lowered his head. "Yes. Something bad happened. My friends and I, the other Pegasi, were having a race. We wanted to see who could reach the silvery airship first."

The Pegasus paused. He seemed very sad.

"While I was flying very fast, I saw a plastic bag that was about to get into the airship's engine. If it got in there, the airship would have broken and fallen down! So I stopped to remove it."

"And the race?" asked Larry.

"I lost," said Snowy. "The others arrived before me. And while I was removing the bag, the strong wind pushed me against the airship and I hurt my wing."

Ellie moved even closer to the Pegasus and stroked his soft muzzle. Snowy smelled of fresh rain and clouds.

"But you did the right thing," said Ellie gently. "You saved the airship!"

"Yes, but now the other Pegasi don't talk to me anymore. They think I'm foolish because I lost the race."

Right at that moment, the wind became stronger. The clouds started moving quickly, and the children had to hold on to the airship's basket so they wouldn't slip!

"Hold on tight!" shouted Violet, grabbing Ellie's hand.

Alex and Larry grabbed onto a rope, while the wind whistled louder and louder. The plastic bags were flying everywhere, and one hit Snowy right on his injured wing!

"Ouch!" whinnied the Pegasus, making a grimace of pain.

The wind was so strong that Ellie felt her little feet slipping on the cloud. For one terrible moment, she thought she was going to fly away!

But Snowy, even though he was scared and his wing hurt, opened his other big wing and placed it in front of the children, protecting them from the wind like a shield.

"Stay behind me!" said the brave Pegasus.

After a few minutes that seemed very long, the wind calmed down. The children breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Snowy!" said Ellie, hugging the Pegasus's neck.

"We have to clean everything up," said Alex, looking at the garbage scattered among the clouds. "Otherwise the wind will keep carrying it around and hurt someone else!"

The four children got to work. Ellie collected the bags calmly and carefully. Violet grabbed the bottles decisively and put them in a sack. Larry ran very fast from one cloud to another picking up the small pieces. And Alex jumped high to catch the things that were flying.

Snowy helped them as much as he could, using his muzzle to push the garbage toward the children.

"All this stuff comes from Earth," explained Snowy. "When people throw things on the ground instead of in the bin, the wind carries them all the way up here. And the sky becomes dirty."

"How awful!" said Larry. "I will never throw things on the ground!"

"Neither will I!" said Violet and Alex together.

Meanwhile, Ellie had found some very large leaves wet with dew. "Snowy, can I put these fresh leaves on your wing? My mom always puts something cool on me when I hurt myself."

Snowy nodded, and Ellie, with her delicate little hands, placed the damp leaves on the injured wing. The Pegasus closed his eyes and sighed with relief.

"Thank you, little Ellie. I feel better already."

When the whole sky was clean and clear, something beautiful happened. From behind the clouds came three other Pegasi! One was gray with blue wings, one was golden, and one was all black with white wings.

"Snowy!" called the gray Pegasus. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

Snowy lowered his head. "I thought you were angry with me because I lost the race."

The golden Pegasus shook its mane. "Angry? But you're a hero! You saved the airship! And besides, losing a race doesn't mean losing a friend!"

"Really?" asked Snowy with eyes shining with happiness.

"Of course!" said the black Pegasus. "Races are just games. Friendship is forever!"

The four Pegasi came close together and intertwined their long necks in a big hug. The children smiled happily.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train had returned, ready to take the children back home.

"It's time to go," said Ellie, a little sad.

Snowy approached the children. "Thank you for helping me. And thank you for cleaning the sky. Remember: Earth is your home, and the sky is part of it too. Always keep it clean!"

"We promise!" said the four children together.

They climbed aboard Toby the Magic Train, and Snowy waved goodbye with his wings.

Toby the Magic Train whistled and said in rhyme: "You cleaned the sky with love and care, and healed a Pegasus beyond compare! Remember children every day: Earth is beautiful, treat it the right way!"

As they descended through the clouds, the children looked up. The sky had become clear and blue again, and the four Pegasi were flying together, happy and free.

When they arrived home, Andrew and Elisa were waiting for them under the porch.

"So, how did it go?" asked Andrew with a smile.

Ellie, who was a little tired after the adventure, leaned against her tall dad and yawned. "It was wonderful, Dad. We helped a Pegasus and cleaned the sky!"

"And we learned that losing a race doesn't mean losing a friend!" added Violet.

"And that we have to keep Earth clean!" said Alex, still full of energy.

"Because it's our home!" concluded Larry.

Elisa smiled and gave them lots of compliments: "What wonderful children you are!"

Ellie, now very tired, snuggled up in her dad Andrew's arms and closed her eyes, dreaming of white horses with wings flying in a clear and clean sky.

And from that day on, every time they saw a piece of paper on the ground, the four friends always picked it up. Because they knew that every little piece of garbage could fly all the way up to the clouds and hurt some magical creature.

**The moral of this story is:** Earth is our home and we must keep it clean. Everything we throw on the ground can hurt animals and nature, even those that live very far away. And remember: losing a race is not important. What matters is helping others and always staying friends!

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