Speaker 1: That afternoon, the sky was gray like a pigeon's tummy,
and a light rain tapped on the windows. Sky Ziggy, Lily,
and Dash were in the living room playing at being cooks.
They had lined up cups and wooden spoons, and Dash
was stirring inside an empty pot, pretending to make a
soup of stars. My soup is ready, shouted Dash, turning
the spoon so hard that a cup flew to the
floor with a funny thud. Lily laughed and tasted from
the empty spoon. M M, it needs salt, she said, seriously,
like a real cook. Sky, though, was looking out the window.
The drops slid down the glass, and she followed them
with her eyes calm as she always did. She was
the first to hear it. Woo cheo, A cheerful whistle
crossed the room. Outside in the rain, a little train
had appeared with shiny wheels and a chimney puffing little
white clouds. It was Toby the magic train, and the
four friends ran to the door with their hearts beating fast.
Toby opened his doors and said, in his sing song voice, Hello,
dear children, so jolly and bright. I'll take you to
a place where nothing goes right, an old friend lives
there who has lost his smile, and a shy little
hero alone. For a while, the children looked at each other,
a small hero, who could it be, asked Ziggy, who
loved riddles. But Toby, who always spoke in rhyme and
always very little, just gave another chew and invited them
to climb aboard. The little train raced through the clouds
and the rain, then slowed down in front of a
funny house with a crooked roof. Above the door, there
was a wooden sign mister Cuckoo's shop, and next to
the shop, very tall, stood a tower with a great
big clock. When they went in, the children's mouths fell open.
The shop was full of things from floor to ceiling,
round clocks, tall clocks, silver music boxes, wooden dolls, and
tin trains on every shelf. But there was something strange.
All the clocks had stopped, no tick, no talk, only
a heavy silence. Behind the counter, an old gentleman with
a white mustache held his head in his hands. He
was mister Cuckoo, and his eyes were sad. Good morning,
said Sky in her sweet voice. Why are you so sad?
The old man sighed, ah, my little ones. Do you
see that tower out there? Its clock stopped a long
long time ago. And since that day I have forgotten
something important, the recipe for the soup that made the
whole town happy. I cooked it every evening, and people
came from far away just for its smell. Now I
remember nothing, and no one comes to visit me any more.
The children looked at each other, feeling sad. But right
at that moment, from a high shelf, a little bright
voice piped up. Look at me, Look how I shine?
On a shelf there was a little tin train, no
bigger than a hand. His name was Bombetta. He looked
at himself in a silver spoon, polished his lamp with
the tip of his wheel, and showed off all the time.
I am the shiniest one in the whole shop, chirped Bombetta.
Look what a shiny lamp. Look at that paint. Ziggy
Lily and Dash looked at him for a moment, then
went back to mister Cuckoo. No one paid him any attention.
Bombetta raised his voice again, but it was as if
he were invisible sky. Though noticed him. She noticed that
while he was bred begging, his little voice trembled a
tiny bit. She came close to the shelf and said softly, Hello, Bombetta,
your lamp is really beautiful. The little train gave a start,
surprised it was the first time any one had listened
to him. Really you like it, he asked, and for
a moment he stopped showing off very much. Sky replied
with a smile. Tell me something. You've lived here a
long time, haven't you. Maybe you remember something about mister
Cuckoo's soup. Bombetta thought about it. Then his lamp lit
up with joy. The soup. Of course, I remember it.
I used to whistle it all the time while I
ran back and forth on the cupboard. I know it
by heart, note by note, ingredient, by ingredient. Sky's eyes
went wide. Then you can save the recipe me. Bombetta
stood still, But no one has ever asked me anything.
I thought nobody cared. Sky picked him up gently and
carried him to mister Cuckoo. Sir Bombetta remembers the recipe.
He'll whistle it and we'll cook it. The old shopkeeper
opened his eyes wide, amazed. But I don't have the
recipe written down. How will we do it without the paper?
We'll make it up as we go, said Lily, who
was never afraid of anything. To make it up as
you go means to do something without preparing it first,
inventing while you do it. Bombetta whistle, and we follow.
They all ran into the back room, where there was
a kitchen with a big cooking pot. Bombetta sat on
the edge of the table, took a breath and began
to whistle. O O first, three orange carrots. I'll get them,
shouted Dash, who was super fast. He dashed off toward
the pantry, but he tripped on a music box, did
a somersault in the air, and landed inside a basket
of onions. Found the onions, he said, with an onion
on his head, and everyone laughed. Then he came back
with the carrots, running so fast that he slipped on
the shiny floor and crashed right into the wall, with
the carrots raining down on him one by one, PLoP, PLoP, PLoP.
Mister Cuckoo laughed for the first time in a long,
long while. Oe Oe, now a handful of beans and
a leaf of basil, whistled Bombetta. Happier and happier. Dash
was off again. He climbed a ladder grabbed the beans,
but got the wrong jar and almost poured sugar into
the pot. No, no, not that one, they all shouted together, laughing,
and he managed to stop just in time, balancing on
one foot like a flamingo. But there was a problem.
The pot was big and deep, and no spoon was
long enough to stir all the way to the bottom.
The soup might stick. That was when Ziggy had an idea. Aha,
I've got it. He looked at the shelves full of
broken clocks, took a long stick, attached a toothed gear
from an old clock, and fixed it on tight. Here's
a special spoon. The gear turns and stirs by itself,
even at the bottom. Ziggy dipped his magic spoon into
the pot and began to turn. The gear spun, the
soup moved in circles, and a warm smell began to
rise into the air. Now some one had to taste
it to see if it was right, but the soup
was bubbling, and nobody wanted to burn their tongue. I'll
do it, said Lily. Bravely. She blew on the spoon,
waited a moment, and tasted. She made a funny face
it's missing something o Oe. A pinch of salt and
a spoonful of honey, whistled Bombetta, who remembered every single
thing lily tasted again. This time her face lit up.
It's delicious, it's perfect, and something wonderful happened with every
happy whistle from Bombetta. Through the window, you could see
the tower. The hands of the clock still for so long,
took a step forward tick, then another talk time was
starting again. The smell of the soup filled the whole shop,
but Bombetta, in a corner, had gone quiet. Sky noticed
right away and came over to him. What's wrong, Bombetta?
The little train lowered his lamp. Do you know why
I always bragged? Because a little train that no one
ever listens to ends up believing he is no use
at all. I thought that if I shone very brightly,
maybe someone would notice me. Sky felt her eyes grow wet,
but she smiled. She took him in her hands gently. Bombetta,
look at the tower, look at mister cuckoo, laughing. You
were the one who saved the recipe. You never lost
your place here, not even for a moment. You were small,
but inside you there was something precious that no one
else had. Bombetta looked at her, and his lamp lit
up with a warm, new light, different from the shiny
one before. It was no longer the light of someone
who wants to be admired. It was the light of
someone who feels loved. At that moment, the big hand
of the tower clock jumped all the way to the
top dong. The bell rang loud and happy, and all
the clocks in the shop began to beat together again.
Tick talk, tick talk. Time was back outside. The rain
had stopped, but there was no sun in the sky.
There was something even more beautiful. Long colored lights danced
up high, ribbons of green and purple silk, moving as
gently as waves. It was the Northern Lights, and they
filled the whole shop with magic sparkles. Mister Cuckoo took
Bombetta in his hands and held him to his chest,
his eyes bright with joy. Thank you, little friend. Without you,
I would have lost everything. I will never leave you
alone on that shelf again. The four children hugged each other, happy,
and when it was time to go home, Toby the
Magic train was waiting outside for them under the Northern lights. Chew, chew,
and then he said, the smallest of all can have
the biggest heart. Just stop, give a listen, and they'll
play their part with a whistle and smile. Time started
once more. Now homeward, dear children, we're back at your door.
The children climbed aboard, waving good bye to Bombetta and
mister Cuckoo, who stood at the door waving a spoonful
of warm soup. And as the little train raced home
through the green and purple lights, Sky looked out the
window and smiled, happy that she had listened to the
smallest little voice of all.