Speaker 1: That morning, the sky was full of gray, chubby clouds,
the kind that looked like pillows blown up too big. Lily,
Ziggy Sky and Dash were in the garden bouncing a
ball into a bucket. If I score from here, I win,
said Dash, and he threw the ball, but it landed
in a bush instead. Lily laughed, then stopped all at once.
She had heard something, a sound she knew very well. Chew, chew, chew, chew.
From behind the hedge popped out Toby, the magic train,
shiny and happy with smoke, curling into the air. Good morning, children,
Come along with me to day. We're leaving one, two three?
Where we go? I will not say, but courage is
our friend to day. The children clapped their hands and
climbed aboard in a rush. The little train whistled, spun
around the garden, and then, as always happens in magic adventures,
the world around them changed. The gray clouds vanished, the
sun appeared, the sea appeared, A beach of golden sand appeared. Look,
said Lily, jumping down first. It's beautiful. Toby, before leaving again,
said one more thing. Here, every shell hums a little song.
Find out the secret it won't take long, but careful
when the sun sinks in the sea before the dark.
Back here you must be. Then he went cheo choo
and disappeared among the dunes. The children looked around with
open mouths. This was singing shell Bay. Every shell, if
you blew into it made a different note. Some made
a high sound like a whistle, others a big sound
like a trumpet. Try it, said Sky in her sweet voice.
She blew into a pink shell, and out came a
gentle fee. Everyone laughed. Ziggy took a big one and
blew into it hard. Out came a proo as big
as a trumpet, and the children burst out laughing even harder.
It sounds like a raspberry, said Dash, And he tried too.
But right at that moment they heard a huge noise
boom boom, baba boom. On the sand. Hopping about clumb
plaugh plath, came a shiny gray seal. She was slapping
her flippers on a big drum made of shells and
making an incredible racket. Hello, children shouted the seal very loud.
I am boomba, I am the noisiest seal in the
whole sea. Ziggy covered his ears, laughing, you are so noisy.
That's not true. I talk normally, shouted Boomba even louder,
and she banged the drum boom boom, baba boom. Lily
came closer, she noticed that near the shore there was
a little blue boat bobbing sadly, a bit crooked, spinning
in circles without knowing where to go. Who is that
little boat, asked Lily. Boomba stopped drumming for a moment.
That's Peepo. He got lost. Usually I beat the right
rhythm with my drum and the little boats follow it
all the way to the harbor. But today today the
rhythm comes out all crooked, and Peepo can't find the way.
And why does it come out crooked, asked Lily. Boomba
banged the drum right away, very loud. It's the sea.
The sea is too noisy. It's not my fault. Boom boom,
baba boom. Sky looked at Lily. Why is she shouting
so much? Lily didn't answer, but inside she thought something
is strange. Then she looked at the shell drum and
saw a long crack right in the middle. The drum
is broken, she said, that's why the rhythm is crooked.
We have to fix it. We need the right shells
to close the crack, and quickly added Dash, pointing at
the sky. The sun had already dropped a little towards
the sea. Toby's words came back to everyone before the dark.
They had to hurry, so the hunt began. Boomba pointed
with her flipper. There those white shells, those are the
right ones. The children ran to gather them. They made
a little pile on the sand, but just then the
playful wind arrived, cheeky and mischievous. Whoosh, it blew hard
and scattered all the freshly gathered shells, rolling them away. Hey,
come back here, shouted Dash, running after a shell that
was rolling away. He tripped, did a somersault in the sand,
and ended up sitting in a puddle of water. Splash.
Everyone laughed, even him. Let's not give up, said Lily firmly.
Let's make the pile again, but this time we'll cover
it with our hands. They all set to work together,
each with a job. Dash zoomed fast as the wind
and brought back the shells that rolled far away. Ziggy
had an idea. Aha, let's dig a little hole. That
way the wind can't carry them off, and he started
digging in the sand with his hands. Sky calm and
kind placed the shells into the hole, one by one,
gently counting them in a low voice, and Lily directed
every one, never losing her calm. Slowly the pile grew,
but Boomba hopping excitedly Plath. Plath didn't notice the pile
and landed right on it with her belly plough. The
shells shot everywhere. Oops. Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose,
she shouted, embarrassed. Meanwhile, the sun kept sinking lower and
lower towards the sea, and the water was rising, wave
after wave, closer and closer to the children's feet. A
cheeky wave rushed in fast and wiped away half the pile,
dragging some shells away. Oh no, the wave is taking
them away, shouted Sky. Quick Altogether, said Lily. They held
hands and made a little dam to stop the water
while Dash rescued the runaway shells. They laughed, they puffed,
and they didn't give up. We're almost there, said Lily.
Three more shells and we closed the crack. They all
ran together, grabbed the last shells and fitted them into
the crack in the drum. The crack closed, The drum
looked bran new again. Try it, Boomba said Lily, out
of breath, but with happy eyes. Boomba slapped her flippers
boom boom bam, but the sound still came out crooked
off key wrong Peepo out at sea kept spinning in circles. Lost.
But how, said Ziggy. We put in the right shells.
Why isn't it working? Sky was almost about to cry,
and the sun is nearly touching the sea. Lily did
not give up. She sat down next to Boomba, who
had started banging very loud again, boom boom, baba boom,
as if to cover everything up. But Lily calmly looked
the seal straight in the eyes, and she saw something
the others hadn't seen. Boomba wasn't angry. Boomba was sad.
Her eyes were shiny. Boomba said Lily in a sweet voice.
You're not angry, You're sad, and you make so much
noise because you're hiding something, aren't you. Boomba stopped drumming,
the drum went silent. The seal lowered her gaze. You
can tell me Lily went on, we won't tell you off.
We're your friends. Boomba took a long breath. Then, for
the first time, she spoke softly, very softly. The drum
didn't break on its own. She whispered, I broke it yesterday.
I wanted to be daring, to jump higher than every one,
to show off. I hit the drum too hard with
all my strength, and it cracked. And then then I
was too ashamed to say it, so I shouted that
it was the sea's fault. But it wasn't true. Her
eyes filled with tears. I'm sorry, I told a lie.
Lily put a hand on her flipper. Thank you for
telling the truth. That takes courage. And here's the magic thing.
As soon as Boomba told the truth, it seemed as
if a great weight slid off her back. She felt lighter.
She smiled, with tears still on her cheeks. Now try drumming,
said Lily, but not with strength. Drum with your heart.
Boomba closed her eyes. She rested her flippers on the
drum gently and beat, and this time boom boom ba boom,
a clean rhythm, clear, beautiful, bouncing over the water like
a song out at sea. Peepo, the little boat stopped
spinning in circles. He straightened his sail. He followed the rhythm,
followed the sound, and began to glide straight towards the harbor.
Just at that moment, the sky lit up. The sun
touched the sea and painted it all orange, pink, and purple,
like a huge picture. Under those colors, Peepo reached the
little harbor, safe and sound. Just in time. We did it,
shouted the children, jumping and hugging each other. Boomba jumped too, plaugh, plath,
but this time for joy. Thank you, Lily said the seal.
Thank you all. I was afraid that by telling the
truth I would feel worse. Instead, I feel much better.
That's because the truth always wins, said Lily, smiling, even
when it's hard to say. Right. Then, among the colors
of the sunset, a familiar whistle was heard. Chew, chew, Toby.
The magic train arrived, gleaming under the pink sky. Well done, children,
what a brave quest. The truth's a light that shines
its best. A broken drum can play once more when
honest words unlock the door. The children laughed and climbed
aboard Boomba beat her drum to say goodbye, a sweet
and cheerful rhythm that went with them as the train
moved away, the sun waves goodbye in a golden gleam.
You head back home with a happier dream. Whoever tells
the truth this much, I know, keeps a light little
heart wherever they go. And as Toby went chew chew,
the sea, the bee, each and the drumming seal slowly
faded away, and the home garden came back, with the
gray clouds now making room for a ray of sunshine.
That evening, before falling asleep, Lily thought about Boomba and
she understood something important. Telling the truth sometimes is a
little scary, but afterwards always it makes you feel lighter,
just like a seal who goes back to playing her drum.