Speaker 1: That morning in the garden, Ziggy and his friends had
made up a brand new game. They had picked lots
of dandelions, those white flowers as light as clouds, and
they had a contest to see who could blow them
the farthest. Ziggy puffed up his cheeks blue, and the
little seeds flew away like tiny parachutes. Mine went all
the way to the bush, shouted Ziggy, jumping for joy.
Mine went over the little wall, said Lily, her blue
eyes full of pride. Sky laughed softly, while Dash ran
to gather more dandelions quick as ever. All around them
scampered Ziggy's four cats, Sophia the cuddly little black cat,
Dora the brave tabby, and the two brothers Poldo, fat
and lazy, and Milo, tall and nimble, who caught a
dandelion's seed in midair with one big leap. All of
a sudden, from far away came a familiar sound, cheof, choof.
It was Toby the Magic Train, who stopped beside the meadow,
puffing happily. The children ran over to him, and Toby
greeted them the way he always did, speaking in rhyme. Hello,
dear friends, come, climb aboard. A mystery waits to be explored.
A meadow lost its happy grin, with a thousand sweet
scents shut within. The children looked at each other, curious
a meadow that had lost its smile. They all climbed up,
Cats included, and Toby set off happily through the field,
puffing little white clouds. After a bumpy ride, the train
stopped in front of them. Was the Meadow of a
thousand Scents, a place where every flower smelled different. There
was the flower that smelled of strawberry, the one that
smelled of mint, the one that smelled of freshly baked cake.
Usually it was the happiest meadow in the world, with
butterflies dancing and scents that made you hungry. But today
something was wrong. All the flowers were shut tight, squeezed
together like little fists. They didn't smell of anything anymore,
and around them the bees flew sadly with a thin,
gloomy buzz. What's happening, asked Sky, coming closer softly. The
bees seemed so sad. A little bee landed on her
finger and buzzed quietly, as if it wanted to explain.
Sky understood right away. The flowers are closed. The bees
can't find the nectar anymore, and without flowers they can't
make honey. Just then, from behind a rock out popped
a funny groundhog. She walked stiffly, with her nose in
the air and around her neck. She wore a dangling
pine cone. She smelled of freshly cut grass. Step aside, children,
said the groundhog in an important voice. I am the
weather ground hog, and I sniff out the weather with
this big nose of mine. I am never wrong. Ziggy
was confused. Excuse me, what does never wrong mean? The
groundhog puffed out her chest. Never wrong means I never
make a mistake, never ever ever look at my pine
cone barometer when it closes. The rain is coming, and
I sniff the air and always tell you what the
weather will be. She sniffed the air with great drama,
turning her big nose this way and that to day.
There will be beautiful sunshine all day long. I am
never wrong. But just as she said it, far away,
a deep grumble was heard, broom. It was a thunder storm,
far far away, grumbling like a hungry tummy. And right
away a light wind passed through the grass whispering as
if it were telling a secret. And at that very moment,
Ziggy noticed something. Every time the thunder grumbled and the
wind whispered, the flowers squeezed themselves even tighter, trembling like
little leaves in the cold. Wait, said Ziggy, sitting down
in the grass to watch. Ziggy was like that. First
he looked carefully, and then his mind lit up with ideas.
He stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes going from
the flowers to the sky, and from the sky to
the flowers. The flowers aren't sick, they're scared. They close
up when they feel a storm coming. They think it's
going to rain hard, so they hide, just like when
we pull the blankets over ourselves. The weather groundhog blushed.
The truth was her big nose had gotten muddled that day,
and she couldn't tell what the weather was anymore. But
she was too proud to admit it. No, no, she muttered,
looking away. Everything's perfectly fine. I am never wrong. Lily
crossed her arms, stubborn. But the flowers are still closed,
and the bees are getting hungrier and hungrier. We have
to do something. That's when the idea lit up inside Ziggy.
His eyes sparkled and he jumped to his feet.
Speaker 2: I've got it. If the flowers close because they're afraid
of the storm, we have to bring back the calm.
We have to make the flowers believe the sunshine is back.
Let's build big, colorful sun umbrellas so the flowers will
feel safe and open up again, sun umbrellas, asked Dash,
already ready to run. Yes, said Ziggy. Let's take branches
and colorful sheets and build cheerful little roofs over the flowers,
yellow like the sun, red blue. That way the wind
won't scare them any more, and they'll think it's a
beautiful day. Everyone got to work, and it was a
wonderful mess. Dash ran fast to gather long, straight branches. Lily,
stubborn as ever, pushed the branches into the ground with
all her strength. Sky, sweet and patient, laid the colorful
sheets on top that they had found in the train's basket,
and Ziggy. Ziggy climbed the highest branches to tie the
sheets at the top, jumped from one umbrella to another,
and set everything in place with his own hands. The
cats helped too. Dora pulled a sheet with her teeth.
Poldo acted as a weight, sitting on a corner of
cloth so the wind wouldn't carry it away. Sophia purred
beside the most frightened flowers to comfort them, and Milo,
nimble and light, jumped from flower to flower, brushing them
with his tail as if to say, be brave, don't
be afraid. But all at once the wind blew harder.
One son umbrella began to bend, It shook, and it
was about to fly away. Look Out, cried Ziggy. Lily
grabbed the branch with all her might, her feet slipping
on the grass. I won't let you go, she panted.
Ziggy ran climbed up quickly and tied the sheet with
a strong knot. Together they made it, and the umbrella
stayed in place. The children looked at each other and
burst out laughing, their hearts pounding slowly under those cheerful,
colorful sun umbrellas. The flowers felt that the wind wasn't
touching them anymore. They felt safe, and that's when the
magic happened. One flower opened, then another, then ten, then
a hundred, one after another. The flowers opened like hands
opening to the sun, and the thousand scents came back
to fill the air. Strawberry mint cake honey. The bees
went wild with joy. They arrived in a buzzing, happy cloud,
diving into the flowers, and right away they started gathering
ring nectar to make honey again. We did it, shouted Ziggy,
jumping into the air. The weather groundhog watched it all
with shining eyes. She had seen those little children solve
the mystery that she, with all her pride, had not understood.
Her heart filled with something new, she took a step forward.
Speaker 1: Shy children, I I have to tell you something, she murmured.
To day, my big nose got muddled. I couldn't tell
what the weather was anymore, but I was too proud
to say so. I was ashamed. But you you taught
me something important. She lowered her head and said the
hardest words of all. Will you help me make my
forecast right again? I can't do it on my own.
Sky came over and hugged her. Of course, we'll help you.
Asking for help doesn't mean you're weak, you know, it
means you're wise. Whoever asks for help, added Ziggy, with
a smile, is twice as strong because they have so
many friends beside them. Together, the groundhog and the children
sniffed the air, looked at the clouds, and studied the
pine cone barometer. And this time the forecast was right.
The storm would stay far away and the meadow would
have sunshine until evening. But the children had prepared a surprise.
While the groundhog looked at the sky, Lily and Dash
had gathered the first little spoonful of new honey, freshly
made by the bees. They put it on a big
shiny leaf, decorated it with colorful petals, and all together
they shouted surprise, A party for you, groundhog. The groundhog's
mouth fell open for for me, Yes, said Sky, because
even though you got muddled to day, you're still our
special weather groundhog. And now you're even more special because
you've learned to ask for help. It was the sweetest
party in the world. They all tasted the first new honey,
which smelled of flowers and sunshine. The bees buzzed happily,
the cats purred, and the groundhog laughed with tears in
her eyes, happier than ever. As the sun began to set,
the familiar sound was heard again, cheuf cheof Toby. The
magic train had come back to fetch them. The children
said good bye, to the groundhog with a big hug,
and climbed aboard. Toby happy, said his rhyme. The meadow
found its smile once more, with flowers and sweet honey galore.
Who asks for help is wise. You'll see together every
fear will flee. And so among the scent of the
thousand flowers and the sweet taste of the new honey,
Toby carried the children back home, tired, happy, and a
little bit wiser than before.