Speaker 1: That morning, a mischievous wind was blowing. It wasn't a
mean wind, it was a joking wind. It snatched up
hats and made them fly like crazy balloons. Ziggy, Lily,
Sky and Dash were in the garden having a jumping
contest in the puddles, trying to make the biggest splashes
in the whole world. Look at my frog, jump, shouted Dash,
and he leaped up high. But right as he was
up in the air, the wind pulled off his little
wooly hat and tossed it into the sky. Dash landed
in the puddle with a giant splash, all wet from
head to toe, while his little hat fluttered far away.
My hat is running away, Dash giggled, chasing after it
in zigzags. The other three burst out, laughing so hard
they had to hold their tummies, And that was when
they heard it. From far away. Came a familiar sound. Chew, cheo, cheo.
It was Toby the magic train. He popped out from
behind the hedge, all shiny and colorful, and stopped with
a happy whistle. He opened his door and said, as
he always did, speaking in rhyme, Hello little ones, What
a windy day to a wonderful workshop. I'll whisk you
away a little mouse in vents behind its doors, with
a thousand drawers and squeaky floors. The children jumped for joy.
The wind blew Lily's hat away too, but nobody noticed.
They were all already on board. Chew cheo, and off
they went. The little train set off along the tracks
that sparkled. After a journey full of laughter, Toby stopped
in front of a crooked little house. Above the door
was a sign painted by hand, the workshop of a
thousand drawers. The children tiptoed inside. How wonderful there were
curious things from floor to ceiling, Drawers that jingled, little
balls that rolled all by themselves, springs that popped out
with a boying, and a strange smell in the air,
a smell of slightly burnt cookies. Who could it be,
whispered Sky. From behind a pile of gears, popped a
teeny tiny little mouse with two round little glasses that
kept sliding down to the tip of his nose. He
tried to push them back up, tripped over a spool
of thread, and fell head over heels into a box
of buttons. Ahem, Welcome, he said, pulling himself up with
buttons raining down from his ears. I am Otto, the inventor,
and this is my most beautiful invention. Otto proudly lifted
up a gadget full of colorful tubes and funnels. It's
called the color Sprayer. It makes everything prettier and brighter.
But while he was showing it off, his glasses slid
down his nose again. Otto squinted to see better, took
a step, and oops, he tripped over his own tail.
The color Sprayer flew into the air, spun around three times,
and opened up right toward the window, where near by
there was a little circus. pH A gray cloud came
out of the gadget and covered the whole big tent.
The children ran to the window, and they stood there
with their mouths wide open. The circus, which before was
full of colors, had now turned pale, pale, faded like
an old photograph. The cloth animals were gray, the little
flags were white. Even the clown's noses had turned the
color of fog. Oh no, squeaked Otto, putting his little
paws over his mouth. I've faded the pale circus. Dash
crossed his arms, angry, really, Otto, you've ruined everything. What
a clutz, said Lily, with her hands on her hips.
Otto lowered his ears and his little face grew sad.
I I didn't do it on purpose, he whispered. A
clown came out of the tent, all gray and glum
without colors. We can't do the show, he said in
a tiny voice. The children will cry, wait, squeaked Otto,
perking up his ears. There's a way. If I make
a magic perfume and spray it, all the colors come back.
But I need three special smells, and they're scattered inside
the circus, hidden among the gymnastics equipment. Gymnastics equipment. Dash's
eyes went wide and he smiled from ear to ear.
You mean an obstacle race. This is my moment. I'm
the fastest of every one. And off he raced. But
he went so fast that he didn't see the pile
of sawdust on the floor. Whoosh. He slid like he
was on a slide, arms whirling in the air, and
only stopped when he ended up with his bottom inside
a drum boom. He got stuck with his little legs
poking out like two breadsticks. The others laughed so much
that Sky had to sit down on the floor. The
first smell is up there, Otto pointed on top of
the trampoline. It's the smell of fresh mint. Dash freed
himself from the drum and ran to the trampoline. He
jumped once, hop, twice hop Hop, but on the third
he bounced too hard, flew up high high, did a
somersault in the air, and landed upside down in a
bucket of popcorn march unch. He went without meaning to
his mouth full of popcorn Mum yummy. Though Ziggy and
Lily dove in to gather the mint smell, which sparkled
like a little green cloud. Got it, shouted Lily, stubborn
as always, popping it into a jar. But Otto, who
wanted to help, tried to run too and tripped again,
this time over a bowling pin. He fell and knocked
over a whole row of pins, which rolled on too Dash,
who rolled onto a tower of cushions, which all came
crashing down together. Crash. From under the mountain of cushions
came Dash's voice, is everyone still here? Otto pulled himself
up with tears in his eyes. I'm a disaster. I
only make messes. Maybe it's better if I give up
and hide forever. And he curled up, all tiny behind
a cushion, ashamed. There was a moment of silence, then Sky,
sweet and Calm went up to the little mouse and
sat down beside him. She put a hand on his
little shoulder. Otto, she said, in a kind voice, you
made a mistake, but you didn't do it to be mean.
Don't you know that everyone makes mistakes, us too. Look
at Dash. He ended up in a drum. It's true,
giggled Dash, popping out of the cushions with a flake
of popcorn still in his hair and in a bucket
of popcorn. You're not the only kluts, you know, Otto sniffled.
But you're not angry with me anymore. Forgive you, said Lily,
and Ziggy nodded too with a big smile. And now
come join our team, added Dash, pulling him up by
a little paw with those funny inventions. We really need
you together, we're stronger. Otto's little face lit up like
a light bulb. His glasses slid down his nose again,
but this time he could see perfectly. He saw four
friends smiling at him, and that's when the team really worked.
Otto pulled a spring out of his pocket and stuck
it on too Dash's shoes. Try now, Dash jumped and
the spring made him fly all the way up to
the top of the tent, where he grabbed the strawberry smell,
sweet and pink like a candy yip be, he shouted happily.
There was one last smell to find. Otto wrinkled his nose.
This one is the smell of aged cheese. It stinks
a little, What a stink, laughed Ziggy, holding his nose.
It smells like feet, cackled Dash and everyone burst out
laughing again, making silly faces. The cheese smell was hidden
at the bottom of a cloth tunnel. Dash dove into it,
crawling like a caterpillar. Came out the other side with
the jar in his hand and a super funny look
on his face. I got it, but what a stink.
Otto mixed the three smells in his gadget, mint, strawberry
and cheese. Then, with his little paws trembling just a bit,
he added his newest invention, a tiny spinning fan made
from a teaspoon and a button. This one makes the
perfume come out all at once, he explained. I invented
it just for this, they pointed the color sprayer at
the circus. One, two, three, they counted together sh a
perfumed cloud, sparkling with a thousand little dots spread over
the whole tent. And then, as if by magic, the
colors came back. The red of the little flags, the
yellow of the clown's noses, the blue of the tent,
the green of the cloth animals. Everything burst into color
like a rainbow. Waking up, the clown did a cartwheel
of joy, our colors, Thank you, thank you. Outside the
sky was turning orange, pink, and purple. A beautiful sunset
had arrived, and up there among the clouds, funny shapes
were forming. A cloud shaped like a rabbit, one shaped
like a cat, one shaped like an elephant with a long,
long trunk. Look at the clouds, whispered Sky, her eyes
shining with happiness. Otto was the happiest little mouse in
the world. I made a mistake, he said, but you
forgave me, and together we put everything right. Thank you, friends,
Dash gave him a pat on the shoulder, and your
fans saved the day. You're a clever inventor, Otto. And
that's when from outside came the familiar sound, chew cheo, Toby,
the magic train was waiting for them. They all climbed aboard,
waving good bye to Otto with their hands, until he
was as small as a little dot. As the little
train glided home under the colorful sunset, Toby said in rime,
a friend made a mistake and felt terribly sad, But
you hugged him and showed it was not so bad.
When you forgive a friend, the colors come right, and
the whole world glows with a warm, happy light. The
children fell asleep happy, rocked by the chew chew, with
still a little bit of cheese smell in their noses
and lots of colors in their eyes.