Speaker 1: It was early morning, and the sun stretched slowly behind
the hills. On the garden grass, tiny drops of dew
had appeared, and they sparkled like little diamonds when the
light touched them. Sky was kneeling on the lawn, her
nose close to a blade of grass, watching one little
drop that looked like a whole world inside a tiny pearl. Look.
She said softly, every drop has a little sun inside it.
Ziggy came hopping over like a spring, with his four
cats trotting behind him. I can see a rainbow in there,
he shouted, and he tried to blow on it to
make it fly away. Lily, with her bright blue and
determined eyes, gathered the on the tip of her finger.
They're cold and light, she said, I won't break them.
See you have to be gentle. Dash, on the other hand,
was running in zigzags on the wet grass, leaving slippery footprints.
I'm a dew skater, he laughed, and he almost landed
on his bottom. That was when from far away, a
happy and familiar sound came along, Chew chew. Out of
the morning mist appeared Toby the Magic Train, with his
shiny wheels and soft white smoke, like cotton candy. He
stopped beside the children and said, as always in rhyme,
good morning, children, the dawn is bright. Climb aboard quickly.
We're off in fly light. I'll take you far where
the blue sea sighs, where a little light in the
darkness cries. The children looked at each other with big eyes.
A light that sighs in the dark, what did that mean?
But with Toby, you never knew where you were going,
and that was the fun of it. They all climbed aboard,
and Ziggy's cats curled up by the window, chew chew,
and off they went, the little train rolling away lightly.
Toby ran through the fields, then through the sand dunes
until the air smelled of salt. But when they reached
the seashore, the sun had already gone to sleep. It
was evening, and a light fog was settling over the water,
soft like a black It made everything a little mysterious.
The sea seemed to vanish inside a gray cloud. How strange,
said Lily. You can't see anything out there anymore. Sky
pointed with her finger. On top of a rock stood
a lighthouse, tall and silent, but it was dark, not
one little light, not a single beam, only darkness. The
lighthouse isn't shining, whispered Sky, And without its light, the
fishermen's boats can't find their way home in the fog.
It was true. Far away you could hear the worried
voices of the fishermen rowing slowly, without knowing which way
to go. The children's hearts squeezed a little. We have
to help them, said Sky, and the others nodded. Toby
whistled sweetly and opened his little doors right at the
edge of the water chew, and as if by magic,
the children found themselves sliding down down under the sea,
without getting wet, and breathing like little fish. They floated
gently all the way down, where a beautiful place was
waiting for them, the Whispering coral garden. It was a
place full of corals of every color, and tall seaweed
that swayed like light curtains. The current made a sweet sound,
like a whisper that seemed to speak to those who
listened with their hearts. But here too, just like up above,
everything was in the dark. How sad, said Ziggy. It
looks like it's sleeping. Once upon a time, said a slow,
warm voice. This garden shone like a thousand lanterns. The
children turned around. From behind a coral came an old
crab with a slightly worn shell and two big claws
that moved slowly. He walked sideways, the way crabs do,
and looked at them with kind little eyes. Hello, my
little ones, he said. It's been so long since I've
seen any children down here. Why is everything dark, asked Lily.
Grandpa Crab sighed, because the light from the lighthouse up
there used to reach all the way down here and
make the corals shine. With these claws, I used to
build little coral lights to brighten the sea bed. But
now the lighthouse is dark, and I I've been left
in the dark and all alone, he said. A strange word.
I've become a hermit, he said. Ziggy tilted his head
er her a what, Grandpa Crab smiled softly. A hermit,
my little one, is someone who lives all alone, far
away from everyone else, like me down here, with no
one to talk to. Sky looked at him. For a
long time. While the others were thinking about the dark lighthouse,
she was thinking about those words all alone. She came
close to the crab and gently touched one of his claws.
Grandpa Crab, she said, in her sweet little voice, you
didn't just lose the light, You lost someone to turn
it on with. The old Crab stayed quiet. His little
eyes grew a bit shiny. It's been so long, he murmured,
since I forgot how nice it is to build something
together with someone. For a moment, nobody spoke. Then Sky smiled,
and in her smile was all the warmth in the world.
Then let's build a new light together, she said, one
that brings the fishermen home. Grandpa Crab straightened up on
his little legs. Of course, if we go back up
to the beach, with what the sea washes ashore, we
can make a little boat, a boat that carries a flame,
like a floating lighthouse. The children clapped their hands. What
a lovely idea. They all went back up together to
the beach, where the fog kept on dancing. They started
searching in the sand. It was a little adventure. The
night was dark, and it wasn't easy to find the
right things. Lily as stubborn as ever, moved a heavy
pile of seaweed, and underneath found two stoney sticks. These
won't snap, she said, pleased, they'll be the hue Dash
zoomed back and forth on the sand collecting seashells. Look
how many I've got, he shouted, But he tripped over
a little crab and rolled down a dune, laughing, with
the shells flying everywhere. Oops, I've planted them all. And
everyone laughed, even Grandpa Crab Ziggy meanwhile, had stopped to think.
Then something sparked in his eyes. Wait, he said, we
need something to keep the flame lit even in the wind.
He ran toward the rocks, climbed up with his hands
and feet to an old, rusty lantern stuck between the stones.
He jumped down with a big leap and showed it
to everyone here. Inside this, the flame won't blow out.
Grandpa Crab nodded proudly, Well done, my little one. The
mind and the hands together. Calmly and patiently, the old
crab joined the sticks with his skillful claws, tied them
with the strongest seaweed, and set the shells all around
so they would sparkle. On top, he placed the lantern.
The children helped him, one held, one pushed, one blew
the sand away, and while they worked, the crab was
no longer alone. He laughed, He told stories, he taught
Here's the secret, my little ones, he said at one point,
looking at Sky. The strongest light isn't the light of
the lighthouse. It's the light of those who wait for
you at home. That's why the little boats want to
come back, not for the dock, but for those who
hug them when they arrive. Sky nodded and felt her
eyes grow a little shiny, but the good kind, the
kind that comes when something is right. At last, the
little boat was ready. They lit the tiny flame inside
the lantern, and the shells began to shine like little
stars on the water. Gently they placed it in the sea.
The lighthouse boat floated softly, pushing its little light into
the fog. And then it happened. In the dark of
the sea. One by one, the fisherman's boats saw that light.
Over there, there's a light. They heard some one shout,
and they began to row toward it, following it the
way you follow a star. One after another, the boats
found their way back to the harbor, and the fishermen
came home, where their loved ones were waiting for them,
with lanterns lit and arms wide open. Down in the
coral garden. A wonderful thing happened. The light from the
little boat reached all the way down to the bottom
of the sea, and the corals one by one began
to shine again. The garden glowed once more with a
thousand colors, and the whispers of the current seemed almost
to sing. But the most beautiful thing wasn't the light.
It was that Grandpa Crab, for the first time in
such a long while, was not alone. We'll come back
to visit you, Sky told him, hugging one of his claws.
We promise, we promise, said Ziggy Lily, and Dash too.
The Crab's little eyes shone brighter than the corals. Then
he said, his voice trembling a little with happiness. This
is no longer an empty burrow. It's home because now
I have friends who love me. Toby's soft whistle rang out, Chew, chew.
It was time to go back. The children waved good
bye to Grandpa Crab until the glowing garden disappeared behind them,
and they climbed onto the magic train, tired and happy.
As soon as they were seated, Toby said, as always
in rhyme, you've lit a light that is warm and bright.
Not the lighthouse beam, but the heart's own light. The
finest home is not built of walls, but of those
who love you and hear your calls. And as the
little train carried them home through the parting fog and
the first stars, Sky looked out the window and smiled.
She had understood something important. Home is not a place
made of walls. It's made of those who wait for you,
those who hug you, those who light a little light
for you. And that night, falling asleep in the arms
of her Daddy Andrea, with Mammy Elisa tucking her in,
Sky felt that she right there was home. The children
dive to the bottom of the sea to the Whispering
Coral Garden, where they help lonely Grandpa Crab build a
lighthouse boat that guides fishermen home through the fog. The
little boat that carried the light home