That morning it was raining, and the four friends had stayed inside to build a big tower of colorful blocks. Ziggy put in the red blocks, Dash the yellow ones, Skye the blue ones, and Lily, on top, placed the prettiest green block of all. When the tower was very tall, they lay down on the rug and looked out the window.

"Look at the sea," said Lily, her blue eyes wide open. "It's all gray. Even the fish look dull."

It was true. Usually the sea in front of the house sparkled with a thousand colors: blue, green, coral pink, and golden yellow. But that day it looked like a puddle of mud, without even a flash of light.

"Maybe the colors went to sleep," said Skye quietly, resting her little nose on the glass.

"Or maybe someone took them away!" said Dash, and he stuck out his tongue at his reflection.

Lily didn't say a word. But inside she was thinking: "I want to find out." And when Lily wanted to find something out, no rain could stop her.

That was exactly when they heard it.

"CHOO CHOO!"

Into the garden came Toby the Magic Train, all shiny with raindrops, his smoke drawing funny little circles in the air. He opened his doors and said:

"All aboard, little friends, there's no need to wait,
up to the sky, come along, don't be late!
Where the clouds make a soft little bed,
and the rain paints the fishes gold and red!"

The four children looked at each other with shining eyes. They climbed aboard in a hurry and... CHOO! The little train set off, not on tracks, but up through the air: high up, past the rooftops, past the birds, past the gray clouds.

Then it stopped.

They had arrived in a wonderful place: a wide land made all of clouds, like a meadow floating at the top of the sky. There were cloud hills as soft as cream, and above shone a golden sky warmed by the sun. Under their feet the clouds were fluffy, and a little farther on there was a deep drop of soft mist, like a huge white mattress.

"What is this place?" whispered Ziggy, his nose pointing up.

"It's the Sky Above," said a little voice.

The children turned around. In front of them floated a little firefly, with a tiny light in her tummy that glowed softly, like a little heart. "I'm Lucy! But who are you? And why are you up here? And do you like flying? And have you ever touched a cloud with your hands?"

"So many questions!" laughed Dash.

"I like to know everything!" said Lucy, and her tiny light sparkled with joy.

Lily took a step forward. "Lucy, our sea has lost its colors. Do you know why?"

The firefly flew to the edge of a cloud hill and pointed far away. There, in the distance, was a gray, puffy cloud, sitting like a heavy sack. "That is the Treasure-Cloud," said Lucy. "Inside it holds all the colors of the rain. But it has grown so full and tired that it can't rain anymore. And without its colored rain, the sea down there stays gray."

"Then let's go wake it up!" said Lily.

"But to get all the way there," said Lucy, "you have to cross the bridge of clouds. Only some clouds are solid. The others are empty, and whoever steps on them slips down. I'll light the way and show you the path. But... there's a secret about my little light."

"What secret?" asked Skye.

"My light shines bright only if you stay calm," Lucy explained. "If someone runs or gets upset, my little light shrinks as small as a dot, and then you can't see where to put your feet."

"Easy!" said Lily. "Let's go!"

The bridge of clouds was narrow and swayed a little. Lucy flew ahead, and her light lit up the solid clouds, one after another, like shining stones in a stream. The safe clouds were soft as pillows; the empty ones, instead, were a lighter color, almost see-through. Ziggy tested each cloud with his foot before stepping on it. "This one holds!" he said. Skye held Lucy close to her heart and talked to her softly. Dash made everyone laugh by holding his nose, as if he were about to jump into a pool.

But Lily was in a hurry. She looked at the far-away Treasure-Cloud and her heart beat fast. "Quick, we have to get there!" And without waiting for the others, she started to run across the bridge.

And then Lucy's little light shrank, and then almost went out.

The path disappeared into the dark. Lily couldn't see where to put her feet anymore. She stepped on an empty cloud and... whoop! She slipped sideways, toward the deep misty drop.

"LILY!" they all shouted together.

Ziggy jumped and grabbed her by the hand. Dash grabbed her by the dress. Skye and Lucy pulled with all their might. And gently, little by little, they brought her back up, safe on the solid cloud.

Lily was trembling a little. "I... I was scared," she said in a tiny voice.

"You ran too fast," Skye said softly. "And so the light went out."

Lucy landed on her shoulder. "When you run, I can't see anything either," she said. "But if we go calmly, my little light grows big again."

Lily took a long breath. And truly, as soon as she calmed down, Lucy's light shone bright again, golden and sure. The path came back, cloud after cloud.

Walking without hurry, one step at a time, the children finally reached the Treasure-Cloud. Up close it was enormous. "What does enormous mean?" asked Ziggy, his eyes wide open. "It means big, bigger than a house, bigger than a mountain," Lucy explained. The Treasure-Cloud was gray and grumpy, and every now and then it made a little rumble of thunder, like a big tummy grumbling.

"Now we'll get those colors out of you!" said Lily.

She climbed onto the cloud and began to push, to squeeze, to shake with all her might. "Come out, colors! Come out now!"

The Treasure-Cloud got angry. It made a frightening boom: BROOOM! It turned even darker, puffed up, shook all over, and seemed about to break into a thousand pieces. A flash of lightning ran through it like a shiver, and a gust of wind made the cloud sway under the children's feet.

But the colors did not come out. Not even one.

Lily stopped, out of breath. "It's not working," she said. "Why isn't it working?"

That was when Lucy, curious as always, asked her funniest and most important question: "But... can you scold the rain to make it come?"

Everyone stayed quiet and thought about it. And in that silence, Lily understood.

"No," she said quietly. "You can't. The rain comes when it is ready. Not when we want it to."

She sat down on the soft cloud. "Maybe we just have to... wait."

Waiting was the hardest thing in the world for Lily. She never gave up: she always wanted to do, to run, to succeed right away. But this time the bravest thing of all was to stay still.

So they all sat close together, with their legs crossed on the soft cloud. Skye hummed a sweet lullaby. Dash told a joke about fish that made even the firefly laugh. Ziggy counted the clouds slowly. And Lily, who usually never sat still, kept her hands in her lap and breathed calmly, listening to the silence of the sky. And Lucy, calm and happy, shone brighter than ever: her little light was as warm as a tiny star.

And something happened.

With all those calm children around, the Treasure-Cloud stopped grumbling. The golden sun warmed it from above, like a big warm hug. And inside the cloud the drops began to gather, one at a time: one drop, then two, then many. The cloud grew heavier and heavier, but a good kind of heavy, the heavy of someone about to do something wonderful.

"It's coming!" whispered Lily, her eyes sparkling. And this time she was not in a hurry. She waited, and she smiled.

Then the Treasure-Cloud let out a long, happy sigh... and opened.

Out came the most beautiful rain ever seen: blue drops, pink drops, green, yellow, and golden drops. A rainbow-rain falling all the way down to the sea. The children raised their hands and let the colored drops dance on them, laughing with joy. And the sea, as soon as it felt the rain, began to shine again: first a little bit of blue, then the green of the seaweed, then the pink of the corals, then all the colors together.

The bottom of the sea shone again like a chest full of treasure.

"We did it!" the children shouted, hugging each other. And Lucy flew in circles, happy, shining like a little sun.

"Thank you, friends," said Lucy. "You brought the colors back to the sea. And you know what, Lily? You did it right when you stopped running."

Lily smiled. She had learned the hardest thing of all.

When it was time to go back, they heard it again:

"CHOO CHOO!"

Toby the Magic Train was waiting for them on the golden edge of the sky. Everyone climbed aboard and waved goodbye to Lucy, until her little light was just a faraway star. Then Toby, softly, said:

"Whoever's too hasty comes tumbling low,
but whoever can wait, up and up they go!
Calm swung the treasure chest open so wide,
that now the whole sea has its colors inside!"

And CHOO, the little train came down from the clouds without hurry, and brought the children home.

Outside, the rain had stopped. And in front of the window the sea sparkled with a thousand colors, like it never had before.

"Tomorrow," said Lily, with a little yawn, "I'll wait calmly for the next adventure."

And for the very first time, waiting felt like a wonderful thing.