That had been the strangest morning ever. The whole town seemed to be overflowing with strangers. Even soldiers were helping to direct the traffic because the police were overwhelmed. Helicopters continuously flew overhead. And of course, there were camera drones in the airspace above the city. Sophie, Paula, Isabella, Elena, Emma and Jules had been waiting for Romy at kindergarten. The girls eagerly discussed what might have happened in Tumbawunda Valley. Well, they also played through some possible scenarios because this helped them to understand the whole thing. It was also a hot topic in Oskar’s primary school, but in more detail than in kindergarten.

This is a reading sample. If you like the story, the butterflies would be happy if you bought the book!

In an area well-protected from adult eyes, Oskar had gathered his friends, the brothers Noah and Nick, Thomas and Olivia, Jonathan, Dominic, the brothers Steven and Kevin and Freddie as well during the break. World affairs were being discussed here. Top secret! „My father says it could be some kind of communication beam from a faraway civilisation,“ said Noah. They were crouched in a circle. Everyone nodded. While not everyone here knew what a civilisation was, others didn’t know what a communication beam was. Some didn’t understand any of it, but nobody let their lack of knowledge show. Of course, everyone agreed very seriously. Yes, that could be the case! „They’re going to search the entire Tumbawunda Valley.“ Everyone agreed with that, too. Oskar told them about the horrible things he’d observed with the wild bees. They had disappeared! And again, the others agreed. Yes, they had noticed that too. It was terrible.

Olivia added that she had the impression that there were also fewer birds. And yes, the group had noticed that too. „For some reason, the other animals are also absent,“ said Dominic. In this secret group, everyone frowned. Yes, that was also true. Was there perhaps a connection with the colourful beam of light? Oskar was just wondering what it was he had wanted to say. What was it that he had prayed for last night? Hmm, his brain was busy working, but here in the Tumbawunda Valley there had been so much going on all morning. „No, it couldn’t be true, the beam of light only appeared later,“ mumbled someone in the group, tearing Oskar away from his thoughts. „That’s right,“ confirmed Nick. That beam of light didn’t appear until later on. It couldn’t have had an impact on the wild bees, the birds and the animals. The others nodded in agreement. One thing they definitely all agreed on was that they had only one hour of lessons left after this break! It was clear that they were all going to meet up to investigate for themselves.

After all, this was their home. And no-one knew their way around it better than they did. No one! That was obvious. After all, they had already climbed through every hedge, into every bush and up every tree. They knew hiding places which grown-ups would never think of! They knew secret tunnels and caves. Yes, this special force, which had just been formed here and now, was definitely way ahead of all the grown-ups. Everybody knew that for sure. Likewise, the grown-ups didn’t have any little electric blue fireflies like the one that just crawled out of Oskar’s breast pocket, sat in the middle of the circle and dreamily continued to listen to the plans here, until it realised that it was as quiet as an afternoon nap. Too quiet. Uh oh. Oskar and all his friends had spotted him! Gosh! He had been daydreaming! „Oh, my goodness. Oh dear. I have to get out of here!“ And ‚plop‘ he had disappeared with a rainbow-coloured mini starburst.

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He had just dissolved into thin air! The rainbow-coloured star disintegrated into thin air and small rainbow-coloured sparkles of glitter drifted onto the ground. The concrete of the playground cracked where the glitter landed. It crunched and crackled slightly, then a mini sunflower pushed up through the concrete and seconds later it looked as if this beautiful plant had always been there. Nick raised his hand, and everyone looked at him. He took a deep breath, but then he lowered his hand again without saying anything. Then Jonathan raised his hand. Everyone looked at him too, he wanted to say something. „Um.“ He couldn’t think of anything to say. He just lowered his hand again. No one in this group had any explanation for what had just happened. They were simply stunned. In Romy’s kindergarten, however, something else had happened which hadn’t gone unnoticed, but nobody there had an explanation for it either. In the middle of the outdoor playground, a golden bee statue now towered up into the air. On its shoulders were all the animals of the forest and the front gardens, plus butterflies, ladybirds and many, many more insects.

Seven times the size of the mini sunflower in the playground. Seven times as high because there were seven children – Sophie, Paula, Isabella, Elena, Emma, Jules and Romy. They had been playing in the sandpit of a large mud kitchen. Their secret ingredient was one electric blue firefly each. When the two companions in Romy’s sheep rucksack had noticed that things were quite peaceful here in the kindergarten and that the teachers were watching the children but didn’t see everything in detail, they had easily thrown their caution to the wind and started playing with Romy and her friends. Romy had told her friends about the missing bees and they had also noticed that there were fewer other animals and some were missing altogether. Emma had even seen a dead hare in the dried-up grass along the bicycle path; Jules had noticed dead bumblebees and bees in a front garden of stones and concrete. The only logical step would be to create some of their own.

While they were playing, the electric blue fireflies had been delighted that the girls were adding them into every sand cake as a ‚treat‘. From their point of view, this wasn’t quite so bad. They were still able to fulfil their original task. And because they enjoyed it so much, they had put a little present into each ‚cake‘. Three, two, one … their gifts had also grown in a matter of seconds, then melted together and now formed the golden statue in the middle of the kindergarten playground. At first the girls had enjoyed this, but now the first camera teams were already descending on the kindergarten.

Was that an extra-terrestrial phenomenon? People from the city council were buzzing around everywhere, the head kindergarten teacher was already in tears because of the many interviews she was having to give. Only somehow, none of the grown-ups had thought to ask the seven little friends. It wouldn’t have helped anyway, because they had promised each other that they would all keep the secret and protect their new friends! Besides, they had also arranged to meet up after kindergarten to get to the bottom of the secret of the mysterious rainbow-coloured ray from outer space. This was now a matter of honour, just like with Oskar and his buddies. And besides, they all had the feeling they’d find out more than all the grown-ups put together. And luck was on their side as they heard the ‚gong‘ of the school bell from the primary school. Hundreds of children streamed out enthusiastically. The holidays had started!