Speaker 1: That afternoon, Dash, Ziggy, Lily and Sky were in the
garden playing at being frogs. They hopped from one cushion
to another, puffed out their cheeks, and went croak croak,
laughing till their tummies hurt. Dash was the fastest of all.
He made super long jumps, but every now and then
he landed on his bottom by mistake and rolled on
the grass like a ball. I'm the frog champion of
the world, he shouted, and the others burst out laughing.
The sky was gray and a little lazy, with slow
clouds that seemed to be yawning. Then all of a sudden,
a cheerful whistle rang out. Chuff, chuff. It was Toby,
the magic train, puffing his way in among the flowers.
He stopped beside the children, rang his little bell and said, hello,
little friends, with your hearts light as air, climb up
beside me. I'll take you right there to a big
round square where the day feels so bright, where one
little smile is a treasure of light. The children clapped
their hands and jumped aboard. Toby whistled happily and set
off among the clouds. The wind ruffled everyone's hair, and
Dash held his arms wide open, as if he were flying.
When the little train stopped, the children climbed down and
stood open mouthed. They had arrived in a huge square
all round, with a fountain in the middle that went
bloop bloop. On a sign above it was written Ring Square,
and the fountain was called Gurgily Fountain. The sky, meanwhile,
was painting itself orange, pink and purple, like a picture
just finished. A gentle wind whispered among the leaves, as
if telling a secret. But something was wrong. The people
were walking round and round with long faces, grumbling. A
lady with a shopping bag walked back and forth. Where's
my house? It was here just a moment ago, she said.
A man with a hat scratched his head. A little
boy was crying because he couldn't find his door. What's
going on, asked Lily, who was brave and wanted to
understand right away. Just then, from behind a sign, a
sparrow came fluttering out, but he didn't fly straight. He
went zigzag, crooked like a leaf gone wild. Watch out,
watch out, he chirped and crash. He smacked into a
lamp post and fell flat on his tummy. Right in
front of sky. He smelled wonderful, like freshly baked bread.
What a lovely smell, said Ziggy, sniffing. I sleep on
top of the baker's oven, explained the sparrow, getting up
all ruffled. I'm Pepe, the chattiest sparrow in the square.
I know everything about everyone. I'm a most well informed
little bird, Dash tilted his head. Well in what well
informed means? I know lots of news, said Peppe, puffing
out his chest. Who eats what? Who sneezes? Who lost
their hat? But then Peppe lowered his wings ashamed. But
to day, I made a big mess. While I was
flying and gossiping, I wasn't looking where I was going,
and I bumped into all the street signs. I made
them spin, fall, mix up, and now Sun Street is
where Moon Street used to be, and nobody can find
their house any more. Every One looked at the signs.
They were a tangle, crooked and jumbled, some upside down.
Let's put them back, said Lily, determined. But when they tried,
they realized it was impossible. Nobody remembered which sign went
where any more. The more they moved them, the more
mixed up they got. The people grumbled louder and louder.
The air had become heavy, like a wet blanket. Dash
scratched his head. Then his eyes lit up. I've got
a silly idea, he shouted. What if instead of fightin
with this square, we played inside it. Let's do the
great smile obstacle race? The race to what, asked Sky quietly,
A circus race, said Dash, already hopping about. You jump
over the fountain, you roll under the benches, you walk
balancing on the edge. Whoever laughs and joins in, we
walk them all the way to their right street. Because
there's one thing I know, when you laugh, your head
goes back in place. Ziggy clapped an, I'll build the course.
Lily grabbed an imaginary whistle. Sky ever so sweetly began
inviting the sad people one by one with a smile.
Dash went first to set the example. He ran toward
gurgily fountain, took a huge leap and splash. Instead of
jumping over it, he landed right inside bottom first. He
came out, dripping with a leaf on his nose. Number
one complete, he said, very seriously. A little boy giggled
just a tiny bit, but he giggled. Then it was
time to roll under the benches. Dash threw himself down
and rolled super fast, but Pepe wanted to copy him.
The sparrow took a run up, went crooked as always,
and Thump glided straight on to Dash's tummy just as
he was coming out. They both ended up with their
legs in the air, paws and wings up like two
flipped over pancakes. At that point, a little old lady
with a shawl burst out laughing, ha ha ha. She
laughed so hard her shawl trembled, and suddenly she stopped,
looked up and said, but that's my balcony with the
red geraniums. My house is right there, and she ran
happily toward her door. Dash jumped up in a flash.
Did you see? She laughed and found her house. It works,
and so the race went on funnier and funnier. Lily
played the tight rope walker on the edge of the fountain,
arms wide open, and every time she was about to fall,
she made the silliest face. Ziggy had built a bridge
with two planks and walked across it, wiggling his bottom
like a penguin. Sky led the shyest people by the hand,
and with her gentle voice she said, come you try too,
we'll laugh together. But half way through the race it
seemed a total disaster. The more the people ran, the
more they mixed up and bumped into each other. A
gentleman tripped over peppe. Two children crashed into each other, laughing,
but ended up far from home. The good mood began
to wobble, and someone started grumbling again. It's not working
any more, said Lily, worried. Dash stopped out of breath
for a moment. He was afraid he'd got it all wrong.
Then he looked at the happy old lady on her
balcony and understood. We mustn't run around randomly, he said,
we have to laugh together. When we all laugh at
the same time, we see each other better. So Dash
invented the silliest jump of all, the wet frog super jump.
He took a run up, jumped up high, did a
somersault in the air, and landed sitting in the fountain again,
splashing water everywhere, with his tongue out and his eyes crossed.
It was too much. The whole square burst out laughing together.
Ha ha ha. The grown ups laughed, the little ones laughed.
Even the wind laughed as it whispered among the leaves,
and in that magical moment laughing, the people stopped running
and looked around with new eyes. Hey, I know you.
You're my neighbor. So my house is near yours, said one.
And that's the bench where I sit every evening. My
house is right behind it, said another. Laughing, Everyone began
swapping clues and remembering one after another. The townsfolk found
their doors. The lady with the shopping bag hugged her
door handle. The boy who'd been crying was now jumping
for joy on his door mat. The gentle wind, happy,
blew a little harder and spun the sign, which, as
if by magic, went back to the right place. Sun
Street went back to the sun. Moon Street went back
to the moon. Pepe flew above the square, proud from
to day, I'll fly straight as an arrow, I promise,
he chirped, And right after crash, he smacked into the
ring Square sign and fell flat on his tummy. But
this time he laughed too, and the whole square laughed
with him. Sky came up to dash with eyes shining
with happiness. Did you see one smile changed the whole day,
Dash smiled, all wet and messy haired. Yes, when your
head is confused, a laughing heart always finds the way home.
The sun had almost set now, and the sky was
a thousand colors. That was when the friendly whistle sounded again,
Chaff chaff. Toby the magic train had come back to
fetch them. He opened his doors and said, what a bright,
laughing square, What a wonderful day. One smile chased the
muddle and sadness away. Climb up, little ones, for the
joy that it brings. Whoever laughs finds their way home,
and it sings. The children waved goodbye to Pepe and
all the smiling townsfolk, and climbed aboard the train. As
Toby puffed among the colorful clouds. Dash looked out the window,
still laughing, and he thought that the next day, maybe
he'd invent an even sillier race.