It was a cloudy afternoon and the wind was blowing hard outside the window. Ale, Viola, Eletta, and Lori were all together at Eletta's house. They were playing a very fun game: they had taken pots from the kitchen and were banging them with wooden spoons, like real musicians.

"Boom boom boom!" went Ale, hopping around while beating on a red pot.

"I'm keeping the rhythm!" said Viola with her determined voice, hitting a lid.

Lori ran from one pot to another, super fast as always, making different sounds.

Eletta instead had found a metal bowl and was tapping it with her fingers. It made a sweet sound, like a little bell.

Andrew, Eletta's dad, came into the room laughing: "There's an orchestra in here! Can I be the audience?" And he started clapping his hands, applauding.

Right at that moment, everyone heard a sound they knew well.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

The children stopped playing and ran to the window. Through the gray clouds, a colorful little train was coming down from the sky, leaving behind a trail of shiny little stars.

"It's Toby the Magic Train!" shouted Ale, jumping with joy.

Toby the Magic Train stopped right in Eletta's garden. His wheels sparkled and from his chimney came little clouds shaped like musical notes.

Toby whistled and said in his cheerful voice:
"Hello children, what lovely noise! Today I'll take you where music brings joys!"

"Where are we going?" asked Viola, with her blue eyes full of curiosity.

Toby answered in rhyme:
"A special place where sounds are treasure, but someone needs helpers beyond measure!"

The four children climbed onto the little train. Andrew waved: "Have fun! And Eletta, if you get tired, the train will bring you right back!"

Eletta smiled calmly. She was happy to leave for a new adventure.

Toby the Magic Train departed. He flew through the clouds, higher and higher, until the sky changed color. It became purple, then dark blue, and then... an incredible place appeared.

It was an enormous room, but it didn't have normal walls. The walls were made of rain! Water drops fell all around, but they didn't wet anyone. And each drop, when it touched something, made a different sound. Some went "plink," others "plonk," still others "tinkle."

In the center of the room were musical instruments of every kind: a big white piano, many colorful drums, golden trumpets, and silver flutes.

"How beautiful!" whispered Eletta, looking around with wide eyes.

Lori immediately ran toward the drums. "Can I play them?"

But before he could touch them, they heard a strange sound.

"Oooooh... yaaaawn..."

It was a yawn. But a giant yawn!

The children looked at each other. Where was it coming from?

Ale pointed to a corner of the room, where there was shadow. "There! There's something!"

In the dark corner there was a big, round shape. It looked like an enormous rock, but it was moving.

Viola clenched her fists, brave as always. "Who's there?"

The shape moved again and came out of the shadow. It was an animal the children had never seen. It was big, with gray wrinkled skin, two long white tusks hanging down from its mouth, and enormous whiskers, long and messy.

"What is that?" asked Lori, hiding a bit behind Ale.

Eletta looked at it carefully. "It looks like... a sea animal?"

The animal yawned again, opening its wide mouth. Then it spoke with a slow, tired voice:

"I'm Bartholomew. I'm a walrus."

"A walrus?" asked Ale, curious.

"Yes, little one. A walrus is an animal that lives in the cold sea, near the ice. We have long tusks and big whiskers. We usually like to sleep a lot on the rocks."

"So you're like a seal, but with big teeth!" said Viola.

Bartholomew laughed softly: "Yes, a bit like that."

But then his face became sad and he let out another enormous yawn.

"Why do you yawn so much?" asked Eletta with her sweet voice.

Bartholomew lowered his head. "Because I'm so very tired. But I can't sleep."

"How long has it been since you slept?" asked Ale.

"Three days."

"Three days?!" they all exclaimed together.

Bartholomew nodded, and his whiskers trembled. "I have too many bad thoughts in my head. I always think about things that scare me."

Eletta approached the big walrus. She wasn't afraid of him. Actually, he just seemed very sad to her.

"What bad thoughts do you have?" she asked him.

Bartholomew pointed to the room around them. "Do you see all those dark corners? I'm afraid of what's inside them. I don't know what's hidden there. What if there's something bad? What if there's a monster? What if..."

"But haven't you looked?" asked Viola, with her hands on her hips.

"No!" said Bartholomew, scared. "I don't want to look! What if I find something terrible?"

The children looked at each other. They understood that fear. Sometimes they were afraid of the dark too.

Eletta thought about when she, in the evening, fell asleep in her dad Andrew's arms. She always felt safe. But if she had been alone, in the dark, maybe she would have been afraid too.

"We'll help you," said Eletta.

Bartholomew's eyes went wide. "Really? But... what if there's something bad?"

"We don't know," said Ale, bouncing in place. "But let's go see together!"

"I'm not afraid!" said Viola, even though she was squeezing her hands a bit.

Lori instead was looking at the dark corners and didn't seem so sure. "Um... maybe I'll wait here?"

Eletta took his hand. "Come with us, Lori. We're stronger together."

The four children walked toward the first dark corner. Bartholomew followed them slowly, sliding on his flippers. Walruses don't have legs, but big fins they use to move.

The corner was dark. Nothing could be seen.

Ale felt his heart beating hard. What if there really was something bad?

Viola took a step forward. "Come on," she said. "We can do it."

Eletta repeated: "We can do it."

Ale and Lori also repeated: "We can do it."

They entered the shadow... and found a wonderful surprise!

There were fireflies! So many fireflies sleeping on a cushion of soft moss. When the children got close, the fireflies woke up and started flying. Their lights lit up the whole corner!

"Ohhhh!" went Bartholomew, amazed. "They're... they're beautiful!"

The fireflies flew like little glowing fairies. Some landed on Bartholomew's whiskers, making him look decorated with little stars.

"See?" said Eletta, smiling. "There was nothing bad. There was something beautiful!"

But there were other dark corners in the room. Bartholomew looked toward another one and trembled again.

"And that one? That one is the darkest of all!"

This time Bartholomew seemed truly terrified. The children saw that that corner was really dark. No light reached it.

Ale swallowed. He was a bit scared now too.

But Eletta said something no one expected: "I'll go first."

"You?" asked Lori, surprised. Eletta was always so calm, never the one who did risky things.

"Yes," said Eletta. "Bartholomew needs to sleep. And I know how it feels to be tired. In the evening, when I'm tired, my dad holds me and I feel safe. I want Bartholomew to feel safe too."

She walked toward the dark corner. Her heart was beating hard, but she kept repeating in her head: "I can do it. I can do it."

She entered the darkness.

For a moment, no one heard anything. Ale, Viola, and Lori held their breath.

Then they heard Eletta's voice: "Come! Quick!"

They all ran toward the corner, even Bartholomew who slid as fast as he could.

And what they found left them speechless.

In the corner there was a secret little window. And through the window they could see... the sea! A calm sea, with small waves, and on the waves there were many rocks.

"My rocks!" shouted Bartholomew. "Those are the rocks where I used to sleep when I was little!"

The waves made a sweet sound: "Shooosh... shooosh..." It was like a lullaby.

Bartholomew approached the little window. His eyes filled with tears of happiness. "I didn't know they were here. I was so afraid of this corner... and instead there was the most beautiful thing of all."

The walrus yawned one more time, but this time it was a yawn of relief.

"Now I feel... calm," he said. "I can finally sleep."

He lay down right there, in front of the little window, listening to the sound of the waves. The fireflies flew toward him and settled around him, lighting him with a soft glow.

In a few seconds, Bartholomew closed his eyes. His whiskers relaxed. And he began to snore softly.

"He made it," whispered Viola.

"We made it," Eletta corrected her, smiling.

Right at that moment, they heard the familiar whistle.

"CHUFF CHUFF!"

Toby the Magic Train had returned.

The children quietly said goodbye to Bartholomew, so as not to wake him, and climbed onto the little train.

Toby said softly:
"The dark is scary, this is true, but often hides a mystery for you. Those with courage who go and see, find beautiful things that set them free!"

The little train departed, flying away from the Music Room. The raindrops sang a farewell song as the children left.

When they arrived at Eletta's house, it was evening. Andrew and Elisa were waiting for them at the door.

"How did it go?" asked Andrew, smiling.

Eletta ran toward her dad and he picked her up. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"We helped a walrus fall asleep," said Eletta softly, with her eyes already closing.

"A walrus? Fantastic!" said Andrew.

Elisa stroked Eletta's hair. "What a good girl you are."

Eletta smiled, already almost asleep. Before closing her eyes completely, she whispered: "The dark isn't scary... sometimes it hides beautiful surprises."

And she fell asleep, just as she always did, in her daddy's arms.

---

**The moral of the story:**

Sometimes we're afraid of what we don't know. A dark corner, a new place, something we've never seen. But this story teaches us that behind the unknown corner there might be a lovely surprise! Like the fireflies and the little window with the sea. When we're afraid, we can tell ourselves "I can do it" and go discover what's really there. Often we'll find something wonderful!

---