It was an afternoon of mischievous wind. The leaves did somersaults in the air and the sun played hide-and-seek behind the clouds. In the garden, Dash, Ziggy, Lily and Skye sat on the grass having a snack with a plate of cookies.

Dash, who never sat still, was trying to build a tower of cookies. He put one, then another, then another one. But as soon as the tower got tall, a puff of wind made it tumble down.

"Oops!" laughed Dash, as the cookies rolled on the grass. "This tower is almost as naughty as me!"

Lily burst out laughing. Skye picked up the cookies with her kind hands. Ziggy pretended to be a giant crane and put them back on the plate one by one.

Then, from far away, came a familiar sound.

"CHOOO CHOOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, all colorful, puffing in happily. The children jumped to their feet and clapped their hands, because Toby always brought wonderful adventures.

Toby opened his doors and said:

"Choo choo, dear children, it's time to go, / to a meadow of clouds where soft breezes blow! / Up there a little ball goes bouncing all day, / and a very funny game is waiting to play!"

The children ran aboard. The train whistled, the wheels turned, and in a flash it flew up high, over the rooftops, over the little birds, all the way to the sky.

When the doors opened again, the children stood open-mouthed.

They had arrived in an incredible place: Fluffy's Garden, a garden that floated among the clouds. There were flower beds that drifted in the air, meadows made of cloud where you bounced like on a big mattress, and little bell-shaped flowers that rang "ding ding" when the wind blew by. In one corner there was even a well that, instead of water, fished up tiny twinkling stars.

All around, big white clouds had the shapes of animals: a rabbit, a cat, an elephant, a very long crocodile, a kangaroo and a giraffe. They looked like an audience ready to have fun.

"Look!" shouted Dash, and with one leap he landed on a cloud-meadow. BOING! He bounced up high and did three somersaults before falling back down. "This place is fantastic!"

All of a sudden a strange noise was heard: "Pffffft!"

It sounded like a raspberry. The children looked around. And down from the sky, zigzagging, came a red balloon, round and shiny, that smelled of strawberry bubblegum.

"Hi hi!" said the balloon, spinning around. "I'm Bouncy! Welcome to the funniest playground in the sky!"

"A talking balloon!" said Lily, her eyes wide open.

"And one that never pops!" added Bouncy, proudly. Then he went "Pffffft!" again and ran away laughing.

Bouncy explained the game. It was called cloud volleyball. You played with him, the balloon, instead of a ball. The net was the cloud crocodile, long and smiling, stretched out in the middle of the field. You had to hit Bouncy and make him go over the crocodile, without letting him fall.

"But be careful," said Bouncy with a sly smile, "I'm very touchy!"

"Tou... touchy?" asked Lily. "What does that mean?"

"It means I get offended easily, even over little things," laughed Bouncy. "But today no offenses: today we laugh!"

The children split into two teams and the game began. And right away it was pure fun.

Dash, fast as the wind, ran back and forth on the cloud-meadow to hit Bouncy. But Bouncy was a real rascal. When Dash was about to touch him, he went "Pffffft!" and darted to the side. Then Dash tripped, slipped and did a very long tumble. BOING, BOING, BOING!

"I'll get you! I'll get you!" shouted Dash, laughing.

"You won't catch me! You won't catch me!" sang Bouncy, blowing raspberries.

Bouncy came up with jokes one after another. Once he blew himself up so big he became as large as a watermelon, and then WHIZZ, he shrank back small and flew off like a rocket. Another time he hid inside the rabbit-shaped cloud and popped out when no one expected it, shouting: "Peekaboo!" Dash laughed so hard he couldn't even run.

At one point Bouncy pretended to be deflated. He flopped on the ground like a sock. Dash ran up to him, worried, and, POOF, Bouncy puffed back up and jumped on his nose. Dash fell backward on the soft meadow and rolled like a ball.

Ziggy laughed so much his tummy hurt. Even Skye, usually the calmest, giggled with delight when Bouncy blew a gentle "Pffffft!" on her nose. Lily tried to jump, but she bounced too high and ended up inside the elephant-shaped cloud, which tickled her.

The animal-clouds cheered: the rabbit clapped its paws, the giraffe stretched its neck to see better, the kangaroo jumped up and down. It was the most fun game in the world.

But at a certain point something strange happened. The sky began to grow dark. First a little, then more and more. The light was going away and the field was growing dark.

"What's happening?" asked Skye.

"It's the Moon," said a tiny voice. It was a bell-flower. "The Moon doesn't want to come out anymore. Without her, it turns to dark night here and we can't play."

The children looked up. Where the Moon usually shone, big and round like a lamppost, now there was only darkness.

And then they noticed something: Bouncy was giggling, but in a strange way. A nervous little giggle. And he was hiding behind the cloud crocodile.

Dash came closer. "Bouncy, do you know something?"

Bouncy turned even redder. "Me? Noooo... I mean... maybe... a little bit."

He made himself small and confessed in a half voice: "Earlier, to play a joke, I told the Moon a lie. I said: the children say you're all crooked and lopsided! But it wasn't true, I made it up for a laugh. The Moon got terribly offended and hid behind the elephant-shaped cloud. And now she doesn't want to come out anymore."

Everyone stayed silent. Without the Moon, Fluffy's Garden was sad and dark. No more bounces, no more laughter.

"Then you have to tell her the truth," said Dash.

"No!" said Bouncy, trembling. "I'm scared. If I tell her I lied, the Moon will get even angrier. And besides... I'm ashamed."

Dash thought about it. Then he smiled and said something that sounded just like a champion: "You know, Bouncy, in a game there's a special shot that makes everyone win together. It's the truth shot. If you tell the truth, the Moon will understand and come back. Hiding the lie will never make us win. In fact, we'll all stay in the dark."

"Do you really think it'll work?" asked Bouncy in a thread of a voice.

"I'm sure of it," said Dash. "And we're all with you."

Skye gave him a little kiss on his red cheek. Lily cheered him on. Ziggy said to him: "Come on, we'll go with you."

So Bouncy took a deep breath. Then, trembling, he floated up high, to the elephant-shaped cloud where the Moon was hiding.

"Moon?" he said in his tiny voice. "I have to tell you something. Earlier I told you a lie. The children never said you're crooked and lopsided. I made it up myself, to play a silly joke. I'm so sorry. You are the most beautiful and roundest Moon in the sky. Forgive me."

There was a moment of silence. The children held their breath.

And then, little by little, from behind the elephant-cloud, a soft silvery light peeked out. The Moon came out, big and round, and lit up all of Fluffy's Garden.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," said the Moon in a warm voice. "I was sad because I thought the children were laughing at me. But now I know that's not so. And whoever tells the truth always deserves a smile."

The Garden filled with light again. The bell-flowers all rang together, the little stars in the well twinkled and the animal-clouds cheered.

"And now," said the Moon, "play! I'll be the lamppost for you."

The game started again, this time all together, for the pure joy of laughing. And something wonderful happened: Dash and Bouncy, who were so different, became the strongest pair on the field. Dash ran fast on the meadow, Bouncy floated light in the air. Dash hit him from below, Bouncy flew over the crocodile. BOING! Pffffft! Point!

"We're unbeatable!" shouted Dash.

"Because we're different!" laughed Bouncy. "You run, I float. Together we're perfect!"

They played until the Moon grew a little sleepy. Then, from far away, the familiar sound came again.

"CHOOO CHOOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, back to pick them up. The children said goodbye to Bouncy with a big hug and climbed aboard.

As the train gently went down toward home, Toby said:

"Choo choo, dear friends, what a wonderful ride, / telling the truth is nothing to hide! / Who tells the truth brings back the light, / and friends come back, and all shines bright!"

The children smiled, tired and happy. Outside it was almost evening and, high in the sky, the real Moon shone round and bright. It really seemed like she was winking at Dash.

And Dash, before falling asleep, thought that the most beautiful shot in the whole game had been exactly that one: the truth shot.