Frania and Leon find a magical chest in the Heart Forest, and each object inside wakes up a different feeling. Then a strange sound drifts through the trees and calls them deeper inside.
In the Heart Forest, the trees wore heart-shaped leaves, and butterflies drifted lazily from bloom to bloom. Frania and her best friend Leon knew every path between the mossy stones and bright red flowers. Or so they thought.
One morning, while dew still glittered on the grass, Frania stopped beside a big oak tree. Something colourful was tucked beneath its roots. She crouched down and brushed away the leaves.
"Leon! Come and look!"
Leon hurried over, panting a little, his eyes wide with wonder. Together they stared at an old trunk painted in bright stripes. It had a golden lock shaped like a smiling mouth.
Frania touched the lock. It clicked open at once.
Inside the trunk lay the strangest things: a soft little cloud, a tiny mirror, a green feather, and a glass pebble that glowed blue, as if it had swallowed a piece of the sky.
Frania picked up the cloud. Her shoulders felt light, and a happy laugh bubbled out of her. Leon lifted the feather, and a fizzy tickle danced in his tummy, making him grin. The mirror flashed silver, and the glowing pebble hummed softly in his hand.
Then, from deep in the forest, came a delicate sound.
Ting-ting. Ting.
It was faint, but clear, like bells far away.
Frania and Leon froze and listened. The trunk gave a tiny shiver between them.
"Did you hear that?" Frania whispered.
Leon nodded. The sound came again, a little closer this time, and the shadows under the trees seemed to lean toward it.
They looked at each other, then at the trunk, and at the narrow path slipping into the thicket.
And just ahead, between the heart-shaped leaves, something moved.