That morning the sun shone warm over Lily's garden. The sky was blue like a mint candy, without even one cloud. Lily, Ziggy, Skye and Dash were playing at making soap bubbles. Ziggy blew with all his breath and out came a giant bubble; Dash chased after them and every time tripped on the grass, laughing; Skye, calm as always, watched one float up high with her eyes wide open.

"Look at that one!" said Lily, pointing at a bubble as big as a balloon. "It looks like it wants to touch the sky!"

"I'll catch it!" shouted Dash, diving with his arms wide open. But the bubble popped right on his nose, POP, and everyone started to laugh. Even Skye, who rarely laughed, covered her mouth with her hand from laughing.

It was just then that a familiar sound was heard. CHUFFF CHUFFF. From behind the rose hedge popped out Toby the Magic Train, all shiny and colorful, with smoke that made curls in the air. He opened his doors and said:

"All aboard now, friends of mine,
a meadow of mint that looks so fine!
Up at the top, something's not right:
who looks for the why will find the light!"

The children looked at each other, with shining eyes. Climbing aboard Toby meant only one thing: a new adventure! They ran inside laughing and the little train set off, rocking happily among the hills. Inside it felt just right: the seats were soft like pillows and from the windows you could see meadows, streams and cows that waved with their tails.

After a while Toby stopped. The children got off and stood with their mouths open. They were in a meadow going uphill, at the foot of a little mountain. There were waves of yellow and purple flowers, butterflies as blue as Lily's eyes, and a sweet smell of honey. The bees buzzed among the petals.

"How wonderful!" whispered Skye.

But far away, behind the mountain, the sky rumbled. BRRRUM. It was a storm, still far off, grumbling like a hungry tummy.

"Who are you? Where do you come from? Have you seen the sky? Do you know why it doesn't sing anymore? And are you thirsty too?" A quick little voice came from behind a bush. Out popped a fox with a bushy tail, who scampered in zig-zags sniffing everything. She smelled of wild mint.

"I'm Filù!" said the fox without even stopping to breathe. "And I have a huge problem!"

"What problem?" asked Lily.

"The spring has dried up!" said Filù, waving her tail. "The spring is the place where water is born, up at the top of the path. Since this morning not one drop comes out! The little deer is thirsty, the rabbits are thirsty, the hedgehog is thirsty, and even the bees! Look!"

Under a tree there were a little deer with thin legs, two rabbits with droopy ears, and a curled-up hedgehog. Their little tongues were out and they seemed so tired.

Lily clenched her fists. That's just how she was: when something was wrong, she wanted to understand why.

"We have to find out what happened to the water," she said firmly. "Filù, where is the stream?"

Filù led them along a groove dug into the earth. "The stream used to flow here!" she explained, hopping. "It sang all day long, gurgle gurgle. But now it is silent." The groove was as dry as a cookie.

Lily walked ahead of everyone, following the groove upward. They climbed among the stones and flowers, higher and higher. And up there they saw the culprit.

A huge boulder, as big as a refrigerator, had rolled down the mountain and stopped right on top of the spring's hole. It plugged the water like a cork closes a bottle.

"There's the water thief!" shouted Dash.

"He is not a thief," said Lily. "He's just a rock that ended up in the wrong place. We have to move him!"

Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash put their hands on the boulder and pushed. "One, two, threee!" They pushed with all the strength they had, cheeks puffed and little feet slipping on the grass. The boulder did not move.

They tried again. They dug their feet into the earth, gritted their teeth and pushed again, all in a row like a little train. "One, two, threee!" The boulder did not move one bit.

They tried a third time, with the help of Filù pushing with her little snout and the bees buzzing loudly. They pushed until they turned as red as ripe tomatoes. But that stubborn boulder stayed there, still.

BRRRUM. The storm rumbled closer, and behind the mountain the first grey clouds appeared.

Dash dropped onto the grass, out of breath. "It's too big. We're too small!"

Skye looked at the sky with a little fear. Ziggy sighed too. "Maybe we can't do it..."

But not Lily. Lily never gives up. She looked at the boulder, then looked at her friends, then looked around. And she began to think hard.

She saw a long, strong branch fallen on the ground. She saw the shiny little stones that Filù kept hidden in her bushy tail. And all at once, inside her head, a little light turned on.

"AHA!" shouted Lily, jumping to her feet. "I have an idea! Filù, your little stones! Ziggy, that branch! We'll use a lever!"

"A... what?" asked Ziggy.

"A lever!" said Lily, with shining eyes. "It's a clever trick. You put a long stick under something heavy, you slide a rock underneath as a rest, then you push on the other side... and ZAP, the heavy thing lifts up! Dad Mike taught it to me with a spoon and the jam jar!"

Filù clapped her paws. "What a magnificent idea! But will it work? Are you sure? And what if the branch breaks? And what if..."

"It will work," said Lily. "But only if we all do it together."

Filù emptied her tail and piled her shiny little stones right under the edge of the boulder. Ziggy slid the long branch over the little stones, balanced like a scale: one end went under the rock, the other stayed up in the air.

"Now!" said Lily. "Everyone on the other side! Let's push the branch down!"

Lily, Ziggy, Skye and Dash grabbed the branch with all their weight. But it still wasn't enough.

"Rabbits!" called Lily. "We need your jump!"

The two rabbits, even though tired, took a running start and JUMPED onto the branch. The little deer put his front legs on it. The hedgehog climbed on top. And even the bees landed on the wood, buzzing loudly to give everyone courage.

"One... two... THREEE!" shouted Lily.

Everyone pushed the branch down. The wood creaked. Filù's little stones held firm. And the boulder... moved! First just a little. Then more. Then, with a dull sound, THUMP, it rolled to the side and freed the spring's hole.

For a moment there was silence. Then a gurgle was heard. GLUG GLUG GLUG. And out of the hole the water splashed, silvery and fresh, flowing back into the groove and singing like it used to!

"WE DID IT!" they all shouted together.

Right at that moment, the first drops of rain fell from the sky. But it was not a mean storm: it was a soft, warm rain, which the now-friendly storm gave to the thirsty meadow.

The animals ran to the spring. The little deer dipped his nose in the water and drank for a long time. The rabbits licked the fresh drops from their paws. Skye kneeled beside the hedgehog, cupped her hands and offered him a little water. "Here you go, little one," she whispered softly. The hedgehog drank from her hand, and Skye's eyes grew shiny with happiness. Meanwhile Filù was doing somersaults on the wet grass. "Did you see? My questions really were useful, and so were my little stones!"

Lily laughed. She was very tired, but inside she felt a beautiful warmth.

Slowly the rain stopped. The clouds went away and the sky became clean and dark like velvet. Evening was falling. And then something magical happened.

A golden streak crossed the sky. Then another. And another one more. They were shooting stars! The sky filled with glowing streaks, like many threads of gold.

"A shooting star!" murmured Skye, with shining eyes. "You can make a wish!"

Everyone closed their eyes and thought of their own. The little deer wished that the water would never run out again. Filù wished for a thousand more questions to ask. And Skye wished that this sweet evening would never end. And Lily? Lily wished for many more adventures, always to be lived together with her friends.

CHUFFF CHUFFF. Toby the Magic Train arrived under the rain of stars, with his tail leaving a trail of sparkles. The children said goodbye to Filù and the animals with a big hug and climbed aboard.

As the meadow drifted away, Toby said:

"Well done, dear children, head home tonight:
little ones together are strong and bright!
You saw it clearly beneath the stars above,
that little hands can do big things with love."

Lily smiled, looking out of the window. It was really true. They were small. But when they had joined their strength, with a little head and a lot of heart, they had moved a boulder as big as a refrigerator and had given water back to all the animals of the little mountain.

You don't have to be big to do big things. You just have to never give up, have a good idea, and stay all together.

And as Toby carried them back home, a few stars still shone in the sky, as if to say: "Well done. You did something important."