Nela and her dog Fikster discover a magical balloon behind the cottage and drift into a glowing sky full of stars, planets, and a mysterious silver gate.
Nela loved watching the sky through her big window. Every evening, she and her dog, Fikster, counted the stars together. Fikster always wagged his tail at the brightest ones, as if he knew their secrets.
One evening, just as the sun slipped behind the hills, Nela saw something strange behind the cottage. A huge, colourful balloon stood in the grass. Silver stars were painted on its sides, and a little moon horn shimmered at the top.
Fikster gave an excited bark and jumped into the basket. Nela looked around. No grown-ups were nearby. The balloon gave a soft, sleepy sigh, and before Nela could think twice, she climbed in beside Fikster. At once, the basket lifted from the ground.
They rose above the cottage roofs, then above the dark trees, then higher and higher until the clouds floated far below them. The sky turned deep blue and wide and quiet. Stars drifted all around, bright as candy and shiny as buttons. Fikster stared with his mouth open, and Nela held onto the basket edge, hardly daring to blink.
Soon the balloon glided past a spinning planet with rings around it. Three green creatures with wiggly feelers stood on its surface and waved cheerfully. One of them held up a banner that said, "Hello, newcomers!"
Then the balloon sailed on and stopped in front of a giant silver gate hanging in the dark sky. On both sides of it stood two smiling purple cats in space helmets. Nela squeezed Fikster’s paw. Her heart thumped fast.
The gate looked enormous and very, very important. Nela reached toward the handle, and just then, from inside the gate, they heard a sound...