THE STORY BEGINS IN GERMANY …
Once upon a time there was a little village, called Swabedo, where were living some very happy dwarves. Their favorite thing was to offer slush toys to each other, saying “I like you!” Every time they met, they were changing slush toys between them. Their life was full of love and happiness.
In the same time, away from the village, in a dark and cold cavern, a big and green elf was living. He didn’t like to live alone and he would have liked to stay with the dwarves, but he had nothing to offer to them, so he decided that the exchange of the slush toys was a stupid thing to do. One day, he met a dwarf, but instead of talking to him, the elf ran in his cavern.
One evening, the green elf met a friendly dwarf. He gave the elf a toy, saying: ”Take this toy, it is for you!” But the elf didn’t want it and, looking in the dwarf’s bag, answered: “Stop offering these toys! If you keep doing it, you will remain without them in your bag!” The dwarf has never thought about it, because when he offered, he received one in return, so it cannot be over …. But the doubt began … what is the elf was right? The elf knew exactly what he did and he stayed in front of the cave and waited to see how the dwarves began to doubt their habit of bringing happiness …
The dwarves stopped offering the toys and, in time, they became ill. The elf was very happy about his lie and wanted the dwarves to feel like he did. He wanted to show them that this was real life. But things went further and the dwarves even died of sadness and illness. The elf felt guilty, he only wanted to show the dwarves the real life.
So, he decided to do something to make things right for them ….
END OF THE GERMAN STORY

ROMANIA CONTINUES …
The elf decided to look for the tailor who did the plush toys, in order to bring back the happiness back to Swabedo village. He passed through the wood, overcoming different obstacles and trials.
In the end, he arrived to the tailor’s house and asked him to do some plush toys for him, so that the dwarves had enough to offer to each other and the plush toys never to be over. The tailor accepted the offer, but asked something in return ….
Passing through the forest, our elf overcame many obstacles and trials.
He first met a squirrel with huge teeth and a bushy tail, which said:
– Hey, you, where are you heading so fast?
– Hello! I am looking for a plush toys tailor. Can you, sir, help me find him?
– No, but if you can solve my riddle, I can let you pass by me unbitten!
– Tell me your riddle, then!
– “They are short and playful
Also nice and friendly
Snow White they have sheltered
Tell me: who are they?
– I know, I know, they are friendly dwarves.
Grumpy, he couldn’t bite him, the squirrel let the elf go.
The elf continued his journey. He traveled and traveled and, when he expected less, a huge, hungry, bear appeared in his way:
– Good day to you, traveller! Can you help me with some honey? That branch is too thin for me to climb and I am very hungry.
– I’m sorry, but I have got my own problems! I don’t have time for yours!
– If you don’t have time for my small problem, then you won’t have any time at all! I will eat you!
– OK, OK, then I have all the time in the world for you!
– Thank you, thank you! I knew you could be nice!
– After getting some honey for the bear, the elf continued on his way.
He walked and walked and, after a while he got to a deep, fast-flowing river. He realises that to get on the other side, he must cross over an old wooden bridge, with some missing planks.
He is getting more and more scared. Just when he was about to lose all hope of crossing it, a beautiful fairy appears and says:
– I can help you cross the river!
– Thank you! If you help me, I will return the favour!
– I don’t need anything in return. I just want you to succeed in your mission of bringing back the happiness to the Swabedo dwarves village.
– That I will gladly do!
Happy and relieved, our elf continued his travel until he got to the plush toys tailor. He knocks and the old door opens with noise:
– Hello, traveller! Happy to see a new face around here! How can I help you?
– Hello, dear toy tailor! I traveled a long way to here to plead with you to help me bring back happiness to the dwarves village by swinging some toys for them.
– I will gladly help such a nice elf as you, for a small favor!
– Anything you want!

AND THE GREEK TEAM CONTINUES ….

The tailor told them that he would be happy to make them new plush toys. However, he explained to them that these toys should not be the same as the previous ones because they had brought sadness in the end. He said that the new toys should be different, have nice designs and shapes, be colorful and unique so as to bring them joy and happiness again! So, he asked the elf in return to bring him new designs to start sewing them.
The green elf was upset as soon as he heard what the tailor was asking for. Where would he find the new unique designs? He wanted so much to give joy and happiness to the little dwarves! He went for a walk in the woods and sat on a glade to think. And then an amazing idea came to him: He would ask his friends, the elves from other distant countries, from Italy, Romania, Greece and Germany to help him and bring him new designs.
He ran to the heart of the forest and called the elves to come and help him. He told them what to do. The elves were excited and promised to bring him in a week nice designs with pictures, shapes and colors. And so, it happened. They brought many artistic images from Italy, images from the beautiful nature of Germany, decorative ribbons and shapes from the Romanian tradition, ancient Greek meanders and designs from Greece.
The elf got all the designs and took them directly to the tailor. The tailor said they were fantastic and he used all of them to sew the new beautiful toys. When they were ready, the elf prepared for his return to the dwarf village.
He loaded all the toys in a suck and get started to Swabedo. He was so happy that he was not careful on the way back. He realized that something has happened all of a sudden, something unexpected….

AND THE ITALIAN TEAM CONTINUES ….
The elf was peacefully walking towards the village of Swabedo, happy to bring back joy to the dwarves. Thoughtful he didn’t realize he had ended up in an area of the wood completely surrounded with a blanket of smoke. Step by step he started to perceive a burning smell, but he didn’t have the time to feel the danger, that was surrounded by flames and screamed in fear. Trying to do anything to save himself, he strumbled in a stem of an old tree and fell down, overturning the toys bag.
His shoutings got the attention of an eagle which was twirling in the sky looking for food. The rapacious noticed the bag and mistook one of the puppet for an eagle cub. Without hesitation it glided quickly on the little cub to save it. Thinking that the eagle was about to attack him, the elf picked up the toys and hid behind the bag. At that point the eagle took the elf in his nest in order to free the cub.
Finding himself in trouble, the elf started sreaming so loud that all the elves of the other nations heard his shoutings. These elves came to help him. Following their friend’s voice, they reached the eagle’s nest and saw him on a very high branch. They decided to put one on top of the other to reach the green elf. When they arrived to the nest, they explained to the eagle that all the toys in the bag were inanimate objects.
Seen that the big rapacious was sad, they gave the little cub as a present, sure that he would have treated it as a child. All the elves ran fast towards the village, that, in the meanwhile, had been surrounded by the flames. With great talent, the elves reached the big water reserve of the village and managed to break the levee and the water extinguished the fire.
At that time the elves noticed that the poor dwarves were colourless, they didn’t speak and stayed still! What is more their tears were petrified. One of the elf, the wisest one, understood that the reason was the destruction of their plants. The dwarves couldn’t live without them.
The only solution was to plant all the trees again and they did it. Gradually, the village, the dwarves and the wood took colour and life again. On the seventh day everything had returned to normal, just like a magic! The elves, waiting for the recovery of all the elves, had started to take care of the plants and to rebuild the village damaged by flames.
As a sign of gratitude, the dwarves decided to build a big hut to host the elves of the other nations every time they had wanted it. They also organized a special surprise for the green elf: a house on the highest tree of the village full of the objects given as presents by the dwarves of Swabedo and by the elves of the other nations.
When he saw this present, the elf was surprised and happy. In order to thank the dwarves, he gave them all the puppets sewn by the taylor so that to resume the happy exchange that was interrupted because of him.
So peace, love and tranquillity came back to the village and, from that moment on they all lived happily ever after.