THE FLYING TOWN

In the vastness of the universe, there was a town called Ficulle. It looked normal, but it was flying.

Continuously circling along with Earth in the Milky Way, it always paused for half an hour on the weekends. All the residents took this time to sit quietly and relax while sipping a nice frothy cappuccino. And then off they went again!

After their break at the space bar, the town continued its journey. The residents resumed flying, and although it may seem a bit strange to you, the birds went back to walking, and to drink from the fountains, they had to hop two or three times.

This town was truly enchanting and magical. The flowers in the gardens lit up with moonlight (even during the day!), the river was made up of trails of shooting stars, and the trees changed the color of their leaves depending on the wind... and the mood.

When you think about it, life in a flying town is quite interesting.

All the houses were colorful, but the paint changed, and the houses continuously shifted colors, just like the leaves do. Each had a clock on the facade, but they chimed at different times because the hands flew left and right.

For meals, residents glued plates, glasses, and cutlery to the floating tables. If a piece of bread fell, someone below would catch it in flight. Dogs always had their noses up to take advantage of a flying snack, naturally.

Grandparents took to the sky on their straw brooms for errands but yelled continuously to avoid collisions: "Make way, make way, we're a bit blind!" Kids on their flying bikes laughed their hearts out, while butterflies, bees, and even hornets grumbled because there was too much aerial activity. They urgently requested designated paths!

Besides, the town's only traffic light had a single blue light, giving the go-ahead for the sky. There was indeed a bit too much movement, and occasionally the space police took action. Those who didn't follow the rules were sentenced to walk on the ground!

Only after sunset did the residents stop flying and sleep deeply until dawn. Fireflies with their little night wings could fly peacefully alongside bats with their cloak-like wings.

One early morning, an intergalactic circus landed in a large field near the library. What a surprise, what magic! Clowns, acrobats, trapeze artists, and jugglers put their noses out of the tent and began to walk upside down. The mayor had an idea: "Maybe they can fix the erratic clock hands." And so they did.

The head trapeze artist had noticed that the only clock keeping accurate time was the one on the tower of the astronomical observatory. Without hesitation, he grabbed a rope and his trapeze, and swinging back and forth like a pendulum, he managed to magically connect all the hands of the erratic clocks to those of the tower. From that moment on, all the clocks chimed in unison.

What incredible joy! The circus artists were welcomed in the flying town, and as if in a fairy tale, the performances started precisely at 19:36. The circus shows attracted the whole town, and as the audience entered the tent, magically and astonishingly, they stopped flying and the popcorn stayed still in their bags, ready to be munched.

The performers gave their best, and the clowns handed out colorful balloons to all the children to release into the sky upon exit. The children were happy, and so were the circus performers.

Even the Big Dipper and her niece, the Little Dipper, hearing applause and laughter from the colorful tent, decided to interrupt their perpetual journey through the Milky Way for an hour. They got themselves a nice frothy cappuccino and saw what was happening.

They had heard about this flying town where everything was topsy-turvy and chaotic. But as they approached the circus, they saw a welcome banner that read: "Here, there's entertainment, flying, playing, fun, and it's all free." The Big Dipper turned to her niece and said, "What's all this gossip the universe is spreading? This seems like a nice, peaceful place to live and visit! There's even a traveling circus... maybe that's flying too!

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