That morning the sky was blue and a few white clouds raced by fast. In Ziggy's garden, the four friends were playing around a bowl full of water, where lots of colorful paper boats were floating.

"My boat will win for sure!" shouted Dash, hopping about happily.

"Then let's have a race!" said Ziggy, with eyes that sparkled.

Lily blew very hard to push her little boat. Skye stroked the water with one finger and smiled sweetly. Around them were Ziggy's four cats: Sofia, the little black cat who purred; Dora, the brave tabby; Poldo, fat and soft, who was dozing in the sun; and Milo, tall and nimble, who tried to touch a boat with his paw.

All of a sudden they heard a happy sound: "CHOO CHOO!"

From behind the hedge came Toby the Magic Train, with his smoke making round little clouds. Toby greeted the children in rhyme:

"Hello, little ones, come climb up with me,
today we'll fly over the big blue sea!
I'll take you to an island far away,
where secrets are whispered and heard every day."

The children laughed and jumped on board. The cats climbed up too, even Poldo, all out of breath. The little train set off lightly, flew over the fields and then over the sea that sparkled like a thousand little coins.

They came down on a strip of golden sand, with palm trees bending this way and that. It was the Island of Whispers. A playful little wind arrived right away to ruffle everyone's hair, and it made Dash's hat fly off.

"Hey, give me back my hat!" laughed Dash, running after the playful wind, which kept running away.

The island seemed to whisper. Among the waves you could hear a gentle echo, as if the sea were telling secrets.

Skye stopped to listen. "Do you hear that? The island is whispering," she said in her sweet voice. "It's as if the waves want to tell us something." The cats pricked up their ears, and even Poldo stopped yawning to point his little nose toward the sea.

On the shore, something was going back and forth, back and forth. It was a little wooden boat, and it seemed scared.

"Poor thing," said Skye, coming closer. "Why won't it stay still?"

"I think it's lost," said Lily, seriously. "It has lost the way to its harbor and doesn't know where to go anymore."

A harbor is the place where boats go back to sleep in the evening, safe and sound. And that little boat couldn't find it.

Just then, a curious little snout popped out of the waves. It was a seahorse, with a little bag made of seaweed hanging from his tail. His name was Fili, and he was a mail-carrier seahorse, one of those who deliver messages all around the sea.

"I have lost my course," whispered Fili, very softly, as if he were telling a secret. "I have to bring it back home."

The children looked at each other. He spoke so softly that you could barely understand him.

"What is a course?" asked Dash, scratching his head.

"A course is the right path that a boat follows on the sea to get where it wants to go," explained Lily. "Like a trail, but made of water."

"But why does he talk like that?" whispered Dash, taking a little step back. "It's strange."

"It's a bit scary," said Lily.

Fili lowered his little eyes and hid behind a wave. He spoke in whispers only because he was shy about his tiny voice, not because he was hiding anything bad. But the others didn't know that, and they moved away.

Ziggy, instead, stayed. He knelt down on the wet sand and brought his ear close to the seahorse.

"Hello Fili," he said kindly. "I'm listening to you. Tell me everything."

Fili lifted his little snout, surprised and happy. No one had ever stopped to really listen to him. Everyone ran away before he finished speaking, and he was left alone with his little seaweed bag. But not Ziggy: Ziggy had stayed. And so, very softly, the seahorse told his secret.

"I know where the little boat's harbor is," he whispered. "But it's a hidden harbor. It's underwater, behind a big coral arch. Coral is like a colorful rock that grows at the bottom of the sea. And that harbor can only be seen from below, never from above. That's why no one can find it."

Ziggy's mouth fell open. A harbor that could only be seen from below! That's why the little boat kept going in circles.

"But we can't breathe underwater," said Skye, who had come back closer quietly.

That was when a light bulb lit up in Ziggy's head. "Aha!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands. "I have an idea!"

He ran to gather some big empty shells on the beach. He chose two round and smooth ones, tied them together with strong seaweed and made two little holes in front.

"Look!" he said. "These are shell-goggles! If we put them on, we can see really well underwater. And if we close everything around with seaweed, a little air bubble forms so we can breathe, like a magic helmet!"

Lily helped him tighten the seaweed. Skye blew into them to make the air bubble. The playful wind, instead of making mischief, this time lent a hand: it blew into the shells and filled them with fresh air.

"It works!" shouted Ziggy, trying on the goggles. Inside the bubble he could breathe just fine.

But right at that moment the sea grew choppy. The wind blew harder and a wave pushed the little boat far from the shore.

"Oh no, it's running away again!" shouted Lily. "We have to hurry, or we'll lose it forever!"

Everyone's heart was beating fast. There wasn't a minute to lose.

"I'll go down below with Fili," said Ziggy, determined. "You stay here and keep an eye on the little boat. Milo, Dora, help them!"

Ziggy took a deep breath, put on the shell-goggles and dove in. Splash! The water was warm and blue like the sky. Inside his air bubble he breathed calmly, and with the goggles he saw a wonderful world.

Underwater there was a garden of pink, yellow and orange corals. Silvery little fish swam around him like confetti. Some were yellow like the sun, others striped like little sea zebras, and one round and funny one tickled his nose. Ziggy would have loved to stop and look at them one by one, but the little boat was waiting for him and there was no time to lose. And in front of him, small and quick, was Fili guiding him.

"Follow me," whispered the seahorse. "This way."

Ziggy swam with all his might. He moved his legs like a frog, slid between the corals, went around the rocks. He did a somersault to pass under a branch of coral, then gave himself a push to go up. His body was working, and his idea was guiding him.

But at one point the passage became narrow, and a curtain of seaweed blocked his way. Ziggy stopped. His heart was beating hard.

"I can't get through!" he thought.

Then he looked at Milo, who from the surface was making big jumps into the water to cheer him on. And Ziggy remembered how his cat jumped. He crouched down, took a running start and with one determined push broke through the curtain of seaweed, sliding to the other side.

And there, before his eyes, appeared the big coral arch. It was tall and colorful, like the door of an underwater castle. Ziggy went through it.

On the other side was the hidden harbor: little shell houses, sandy piers and many unlit lanterns waiting for someone.

"We found it!" whispered Fili, his little eyes shining with joy.

Ziggy quickly swam back up to the surface. "Found it! The harbor is down here, behind the coral arch! We have to guide the little boat through the arch!"

But how could they, if the little boat didn't know where to go? It was Fili who knew. He placed himself in front of the bow and whispered the course, word after word. And this time everyone listened to the seahorse. Lily pushed, Skye stroked the little boat to give it courage, and the playful wind, now a friend, blew gently on the sail.

The little boat followed Fili's whispers. It passed over the corals, slid toward the arch and then, with a little dive, went down under the waves to the hidden harbor.

As soon as it arrived, a magic happened. All the lanterns of the harbor lit up one after another, like little stars underwater. The harbor glowed with a thousand little lights, and the little boat settled at its pier, home at last.

"Hooray!" everyone shouted together, jumping onto the shore.

The little boat rocked happily, safe and sound. And Fili, the little mail carrier, was no longer alone: now he had four friends and four cats who understood him.

"Thank you for listening to me," whispered Fili to Ziggy.

"Thank you," replied Ziggy. "Without your whispers we would never have found the harbor."

Dash and Lily came a little closer, a bit ashamed. "Sorry we thought you were strange before," said Dash. "You're actually amazing."

So Fili became the friends' official mail carrier. And from that day on, when one of his little letters arrived, everyone leaned their ear close to hear every whisper well.

In the evening Toby the Magic Train came back, with his "CHOO CHOO!". The children and the cats climbed up, tired and happy. Before leaving, Toby said in rhyme:

"The one who seems odd, who speaks very low,
can become the best friend you'll ever know.
So go home with a heart that's happy and true,
and friendship won't ever blow away from you."

The little train flew over the whispering sea, and brought everyone home, while the first stars were lighting up in the sky, just like the lanterns of the hidden harbor.

And that night, in their little beds, the children understood something important: sometimes the one who seems different to us, or talks in a strange way, hides a wonderful heart inside. You just have to stop, bring your ear close and really listen. Because the one who seems different can become the very best of friends.