Speaker 1: That morning, the sky was a clean, clear blue, without
a single cloud. Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Sky were in
the meadow playing chase between the trees. Dash ran so
fast he looked like lightning wearin shoes. You can't catch me.
You can't catch me, he laughed, jumping over a bush.
Ziggy hopped, Lily chased with a determined face, and Sky
giggled softly watching the little leaves fall. It was a
perfect morning. And then they heard a funny sound, choo choo,
choo choo. From behind the trees came Toby the magic train,
all colorful with his smoke curling in little swirls. The
children shouted with joy and ran to meet him. Toby
rang his bell and said, good morning, children. Climb up high,
we'll hop aboard, and off we'll fly. A magic forest
waits for you, where all day long you jump up too.
The four friends climbed on, laughing. A forest where you jump,
asked Dash, his eyes shining. I'm the best at jumping.
And he jumped right there on the train, car bonking
his head on the roof. Ouch, but he laughed anyway.
The little train set off with puffs and whistles, and
in a flash. It carried them into a forest full
of tall, tall trees and green clearings. It was a
special place. It was called the hopping forest. On the grass,
there were lots of little dewdrops sparkling in the sun
like tiny diamonds. But something was wrong, how strange said,
looking around, the forest seems a little dim. She was right.
The dew didn't sparkle as much as before, and the
fireflies resting on the leaves had a weak, weak, little light,
almost like a tiny candle about to go out. That's
when they heard a little voice, talking, talking, talking, never stopping.
Oh finally somebody. You know, I've been waiting for company
for so long. I always say hello to everyone, but
hardly anybody comes by here. So I talked to myself,
and it's really not fun talking to yourself. Better with company,
don't you think? It was a snail, a little snail
with a spiral house on his back, who moved ever
so slowly, but talked a mile a minute. I'm gastone
said the snail. And you've arrived at just the right time,
because our forest has a little problem. You see, the
light is going out, and I'm very worried. In fact,
I'd say I'm quite fretful. Fretful asked Dash, scratching his head.
What does that mean. It means I have a thought
spinning in my head that won't go away, explained Gastone,
like when you have a tickle in your nose, but
the sneeze never comes. The children laughed. That new word, fretful.
Everybody liked it. But why is the light going out?
Asked Sky in her gentle voice. Gaston let out a
long sigh, Because in this forest nobody plays any more.
Nobody laughs, nobody runs, nobody jumps, and the light of
the forest only turns on with joy. It needs the
most beautiful energy of all, the energy of laughter. Dash
jumped to his feet. Then it's easy. Let's have the
forest many Olympics races, jumps, throws. We'll laugh so much
the light will shine again. What a great idea, said Ziggy.
Lily clapped her hands and Sky smile. All right, then
I'll be the referee, said Gastone. I'm slow at walking,
but at talking, I'm the fastest in the forest. Ready
for the first race, the running race, the children lined
up on the dewy grass. Gastone slowly raised a tiny
flag made of a leaf. Ready, he said, ever so softly, Go,
but the children had already s off ages ago. Gastone's
go was so slow that nobody could wait for it.
And here's where the funniest thing happened. The dewy grass
was super slippery. Dash shot off like a rocket, but whoops,
he slipped and did three whole spins, landing right on
his bottom. Ziggy landed on top of him. Lily slid
sideways and sky rolled across the grass like a little ball,
laughing her head off. What a mess, Dash cried, But
he laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.
And like magic, the moment everyone laughed, a nearby firefly
lit up, bling a bright little light. It works, said Gastone. Laughter,
turns on the light, keep going. But right at that moment,
a mischievous guest arrived the playful wind. You couldn't see him,
but you could hear him giggling. Whoosh, whoosh. The cheeky
wind blew and made all the leaves fly right into
Dash's face. There I've got a leaf in my mouth,
Dash sputtered, and everyone burst out laughing, pling pling. Two
more fireflies lit up, then came the log jump. There
was a fallen log and they had to jump over it.
Lily took a running start, jumped beautifully and landed with
her arms up high. But the playful wind blew again
and tickled her under the arms. Ha ha. Lily laughed
without meaning to, wriggling around pling another little light. Ziggy
jumped his own way. He did a summer so the air,
landed and got tangled in a bush. With his legs
up in the air, he looked like an upside down
little spider. Everyone laughed so much, and more fireflies lit up,
one after another. The forest was beginning to shine again,
The dew sparkled, the fireflies were having a party, and
the air was full of laughter. Only the last race
was left, the most important one of all. To turn
on the last light, the biggest one, said Gaston in
a serious voice. You have to hang the little golden
light at the top of the tallest tree in the forest.
But it's so so tall, none of you can reach it.
The children looked up. The tree was gigantic, with branches
that brushed the clouds. It was too tall to jump,
and who can get up there? Asked Dash. That's when
they noticed a little bird perched on the lowest branch,
trembling a bit. His name was Peepo. I I can't,
said Pepo in a tiny voice. I'm afraid of flying.
I'm always afraid. I always stay here on the low branch,
where I feel safe. Right beside him was his mommy,
a little bird with soft feathers, staying close to him. Peepo,
you can try, said Dash softly. We'll help you. Peepo
took the little golden light in his tiny feet. He
looked up, he opened his wings. He was trembling all over.
Then he took a tiny, tiny flight. But the playful
wind at that very moment blew hard, just for fun,
and Peepo lost his balance. Oh no, the little golden
light slipped from his feet and fell to the ground,
going dark PLoP. Peepo went back to the low branch
and hid his little head under a wing. I did
everything wrong, he whimpered. I ruined the little light. I'm
a disaster. I want to run away. Everyone stayed silent,
but only for a moment, because then Dash did something funny.
He grabbed a pine cone and tossed it toward a
little branch for an easy easy basket and missed it completely.
The pine cone came right back and landed on his head.
Bonk ouch see. Dash laughed, I got it wrong too,
everybody gets it wrong. It's really no big deal. And
Peepo's mummy flew down and settled right under her little
one's branch. Peepo's sweetheart, She said, I'm here. I'm always here,
even when you make a mistake, even if you fall
a thousand times, I'll stay right below you. That's what
family is, it never goes away. Then all the friends Dash, Ziggie,
Lily and Sky made a circle under the tree, side
by side with their arms open wide. We're here too,
they said, we're your net. If you fall, we'll catch you.
Peepo poked his little head out from under his wing.
He looked at his mummy, He looked at his new
friends all ready below him, and he felt something warm,
so warm, in his tummy. He wasn't alone anymore. Even
if he made a mistake, someone was there for him.
He picked up the little golden light again. Ah, I'll
try again, he whispered. He opened his wings. He took
a breath, and this time, knowing that everyone was below him,
he wasn't so afraid any more. He flew. He flew
for the very first time, up up through the branches,
as high as he could go, trembling, but flying all
the way to the top of the tallest tree in
the forest. And there on the very top branch he
hung the little golden light. It shone. It was as
if the whole forest lit up all at once once.
The dew burst with light like a thousand diamonds. All
the fireflies glowed at the same moment, and the hopping
forest shone brighter and more beautiful than before. I did it.
Pepo shouted from up high. I flew, I flew. Everyone
clapped and jumped for joy, and at the far end
of the meadow, ever so slowly came Gastone, crossing the
finish line half an hour late. I made it. I
won the slowness race. And you know what I say
to you, That you were tenacious, which means you never
gave up. And that's the most beautiful thing of all.
There was a big celebration, with hugs, laughter, and the
light of the forest shining down on everyone. Then in
the distance they heard the sound again. Chew chew, chew, chew, Toby,
the Magic train had come back to get them. The
children waved good bye to Gastone, Peepo and his mummy
with their little hands, and climbed aboard. Toby puffed out
his festive smoke and said, when you miss a jump,
you're not lost at all, for a friend is there
to catch your fall. The light comes back when we're
side by side and families near to be your guide.
And as the little train headed home under a sky
full of stars, the children smiled, happily carrying in their
hearts Peepo's little golden light shining forever