Speaker 2: That morning.
Speaker 1: The sky was blue like a mint candy, with a
Speaker 1: few white clouds that looked like they were made of
Speaker 1: whipped cream. Dash, Ziggy, Lily, and Sky were in the
Speaker 1: garden having fun, tossing a little ball into an old
Speaker 1: upside down bucket basket, shouted Dash, jumping in the air.
Speaker 1: The ball dropped into the bucket with a thud, then
Speaker 1: bounced out and landed right on Ziggy's nose. Ouch, laughed Ziggy,
Speaker 1: his eyes going wide. You made a basket on my nose.
Speaker 1: Every one burst out laughing. Dash was the fastest and
Speaker 1: the silliest of the group. When he ran, he looked
Speaker 1: like a lightning bolt wearing shoes, and when he fell
Speaker 1: he always did such clumsy somersaults that the others held
Speaker 1: their tummies from laughing. Just at that moment, from far
Speaker 1: away away, came a familiar.
Speaker 2: Sound, chew, chew.
Speaker 1: It was Toby, the magic train, all colorful, who stopped
Speaker 1: beside the garden, puffing happily. Hop aboard. Little friends, climb
Speaker 1: up close beside me. I'll carry you somewhere as sweet
Speaker 1: as can be. The air smells of pastries, of bread,
Speaker 1: fresh and fine, and a game to warm hearts will
Speaker 1: be yours and mine. The children clapped their hands and
Speaker 1: jumped aboard. Toby whistled happily and set off the wheels
Speaker 1: went chugger, chugger, chugger, and in a flash, as if
Speaker 1: by magic, they found themselves in a big round square.
Speaker 1: In front of them was the round square bakery with
Speaker 1: a huge oven called Grandpa Oven. From the chimney came
Speaker 1: smoke that smelled of warm bread. All around the square
Speaker 1: there were many market stalls, but what a disaster. The
Speaker 1: stalls were all topsy turvy. The loaves of bread were
Speaker 1: mixed in with the apples. The balls of wool had
Speaker 1: ended up inside the bread crates, and a basket of
Speaker 1: apples had rolled onto a pile of wool. What a mess,
Speaker 1: said Lily, with her hands on her hips. Nobody can
Speaker 1: find anything here, and today there was supposed to be
Speaker 1: the big Square festival, sighed a little voice. The children
Speaker 1: turned around. From behind a crate popped a tiny little
Speaker 1: man all made of sugar. He was white and shiny,
Speaker 1: he smelled of vanilla and cookies, and he had a
Speaker 1: smile this big hello, I'm the little sugar man, he said.
Speaker 1: Then he looked around and added in a serious tone.
Speaker 1: What a deplorable situation? The children looked at each other
Speaker 1: without understanding. Deplore what, asked Sky softly? Deplorable, explained the
Speaker 1: sugar man. It means something really unfortunate, something that makes
Speaker 1: you very sad, like this square all in a mess Ah,
Speaker 1: they all said together. They had learned a new word.
Speaker 1: The little sugar Man wanted to help tidy up, but
Speaker 1: he had a tiny problem. He was always hungry. He
Speaker 1: picked up a loaf to put it in the right
Speaker 1: crate and chomp. He ate it in one bite. Oops,
Speaker 1: he said, with crumbs on his mouth. It's slipped into
Speaker 1: my mouth all by itself. He picked up an apple
Speaker 1: to move it and chomp. That one disappeared too. Oops,
Speaker 1: this one too, Dash laughed until he had tears in
Speaker 1: his eyes. But at this rate, we'll never finish. But
Speaker 1: right then, from far far away, a rumble was heard. Rumble, rumble,
Speaker 1: What was that, asked Ziggy, looking at the sky. It's
Speaker 1: the storm, said Lily. It's coming from far away. It
Speaker 1: rumbles like a hungry tummy. The little sugar Man went
Speaker 1: all trembly.
Speaker 2: Oh no, oh no, if it starts to rain, I'll melt.
Speaker 2: I'm made of sugar and sugar with water melts like
Speaker 2: snow in the sun. Sky took his little sugar hand.
Speaker 2: Don't worry, we'll hurry and put you somewhere safe. Meanwhile,
Speaker 2: Dash looked at the stalls, then looked at the empty crates,
Speaker 2: then at the stalls again. Suddenly his eyes lit up.
Speaker 2: I have a sporty idea, he shouted, jumping to his feet.
Speaker 2: Every empty crate becomes a basket. We have to score
Speaker 2: by throwing each thing into the right crate. The bread
Speaker 2: in this crate, the apples in that one, the wool
Speaker 2: in that other one. Whoever makes a basket scores a point.
Speaker 1: That way. We tidy up while playing, and we finish
Speaker 1: before the rain. Hooray, everyone shouted, And so the funniest
Speaker 1: game in the world began. Dash grabbed a loaf, ran fast,
Speaker 1: jumped and threw it in the air. The loaf flew,
Speaker 1: spun around, and plath it scored right in the bread
Speaker 1: crate basket. Everyone shouted, raising their arms like at a stadium.
Speaker 1: Lily was determined and aimed beautifully. She took an apple,
Speaker 1: closed one eye and threw it straight into the fruit crate.
Speaker 1: Point Ziggy picked up a ball of wool. But when
Speaker 1: he threw it, the thread unrolled all through the air,
Speaker 1: and Ziggy found himself wrapped in the wool like a
Speaker 1: gift package. Help, I've turned into a ball of wool too,
Speaker 1: he laughed, while the others helped unwrap him. Sky, calm
Speaker 1: and precise picked up the little things and placed them
Speaker 1: gently in the right crates, never missing a shot. The
Speaker 1: little sugar man tried to help, but he kept causing trouble.
Speaker 1: He had to protect the cookies, and to protect them,
Speaker 1: he ate them. No one touched these cookies. They are
Speaker 1: under my protection, he said, and chomp, chomp, chomp he
Speaker 1: made them all disappear. Then he ran here and there
Speaker 1: and tripped over a crate, rolling in the flower and
Speaker 1: turning all white like a giggling little ghost. Now I'm
Speaker 1: a cookie too, he laughed. Covered in flour. The square
Speaker 1: was starting to get tidy. A crateful of bread, a
Speaker 1: crateful of apples, a crateful of colorful balls of wool.
Speaker 1: The children ran, jumped through and made basket after basket,
Speaker 1: but the sky was getting darker and darker. Rumble, rumble,
Speaker 1: the storm was getting closer. Quick, shouted Lily. Almost there
Speaker 1: the little sugar Man touched his tummy. I feel a
Speaker 1: little bit sticky. I hope it doesn't rain. There was
Speaker 1: only one thing left to sort out, A big, round
Speaker 1: loaf in the middle of the square, and the bread
Speaker 1: crate was far away on the other side, behind a
Speaker 1: pile of crates. It was the hardest shot of all Dash.
Speaker 1: It's your turn, said Ziggy. You're the best at making baskets.
Speaker 1: Dash took the big loaf in his hands. He looked
Speaker 1: at it. He looked at the far away crate, and
Speaker 1: for the first time, he felt his heart beating hard.
Speaker 1: What if I miss he murmured. It's too far, I'll
Speaker 1: never make it. A first drop fell from the sky, plink,
Speaker 1: then another plink. Quick Dash squeaked, the little sugar Man, trembling.
Speaker 2: It's starting to rain.
Speaker 1: Dash looked at the crate and it seemed so very
Speaker 1: far away. His legs trembled a little. But then he
Speaker 1: remembered something his heart always told him when he was scared.
Speaker 1: If I believe I can do it, he whispered to himself,
Speaker 1: I'm already half way there, he breathed. He closed his
Speaker 1: eyes for a moment and imagined the loaf flying straight
Speaker 1: into the crate. He saw himself already winning, and in
Speaker 1: that moment the fear disappeared. I can do it, he shouted.
Speaker 1: He took a running start, fast as lightning. He leapt
Speaker 1: into the air as high as he could and threw
Speaker 1: the loaf with all his might. The loaf flew up
Speaker 1: into the sky. It spun and spun, and passed over
Speaker 1: the pile of crates. Everyone held their breath. The little
Speaker 1: sugar man covered his eyes with his little hands, and
Speaker 1: then plough. The loaf landed straight in the bread crate,
Speaker 1: a perfect basket basket. They all burst out together, jumping
Speaker 1: and hugging.
Speaker 2: We did it.
Speaker 1: The square was finally all tidy, and at that very instant,
Speaker 1: the storm, rumbling with a full belly, turned around and
Speaker 1: went off the other way without dropping a single drop more.
Speaker 1: The sky opened up, the sun came back to shine,
Speaker 1: and above the round square appeared a big rainbow with
Speaker 1: all the most beautiful colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue
Speaker 1: and purple. Look said sky, with her eyes shining with joy.
Speaker 1: It's beautiful. The little sugar man was safe, all in
Speaker 1: one piece and still giggling. I didn't melt. Thank you, friends,
Speaker 1: you were amazing. Grandpa Oven, the big oven baked cakes,
Speaker 1: cookies and fragrant focatchas. And in the square the big
Speaker 1: festival began. Music was playing, everyone was dancing, and the
Speaker 1: tidy stalls sparkled in the sun. And now said dash, laughing,
Speaker 1: let's name the Little Sugarman, the official taster of the festival.
Speaker 1: Me official taster. The Sugarman opened his mouth happily. It's
Speaker 1: the best job in the world. And he dove right
Speaker 1: in with great joy, into a soft vanilla cake, coming
Speaker 1: out with his face all smeared and a smile this big.
Speaker 1: Everyone laughed until their tummy's hurt. When the sun began
Speaker 1: to go down, the familiar whistle was heard again. Chew chew. Toby,
Speaker 1: the magic train had come back to get them. The
Speaker 1: children said goodbye to the Little Sugarman and the festive square,
Speaker 1: and climbed aboard. Toby puffed gently and said, a basket
Speaker 1: straight from the heart made you shine so bright, and
Speaker 1: believing in yourselves, set your hearts to flight. When you
Speaker 1: think you can do it, you're half way, It's true,
Speaker 1: and courage will carry the rest of you through. The
Speaker 1: children leaned their heads back, tired and happy as the
Speaker 1: little train carried them home, chugga, chugga, chugger. Each of
Speaker 1: them was thinking the same thing, that when something seems
Speaker 1: too hard, you just have to believe a little and
Speaker 1: the rod quickly becomes shorter