One day Liska and Anji were building a castle out of wet sand. The sun warmed their backs, the waves whispered, and the air smelled of salt and flowers.

Liska was so happy! She stood up and flung her paws wide, as if she wanted to hug the whole world!

Right by the shore, a huge fish leaped out of the water and — SPLOSH! — flopped back in, splashing Liska from ears to paws.

"Pfft!" Liska sputtered, and in her surprise smooshed face-first into the wet sand.

"Ha-ha!" Anji laughed. "Now you have a sand mustache!"

While Liska was shaking off the sand, a curious crab peeked out from under a rock. He wiggled his little bead-eyes.

"Look, a castle-dweller!" Liska whispered.

Anji set a tiny shell by the crab's burrow. The crab paused... hooked the shell with his claw and scooted it a little closer.

"Look! He's decorating his porch!" said Liska.

Suddenly, a huge fat seagull landed on the prettiest tower and — THUNK! — the whole castle crumbled to bits!

"Oh no!" Liska gasped. "Our castle! Our crab!"

On the way home, Anji bounced happily along.

"That was an awesome castle we built!" he said.

"But a seagull broke it!" Liska huffed.

"But remember how funny that crab was?"

"So what!" Liska stomped her paw. "The castle still got broken!"

Anji tilted his head in surprise.

"It was fun though, wasn't it?"

At home, Liska climbed onto Mama's lap and buried her face under Mama's arm.

"Mama, it was awful!"

Her face was hot, and her chest felt heavy and tight.

Mama wrapped her up in all four paws, like a big warm blanket.

"What happened, kitten?" asked Mama.

"We were building a castle, and a stupid seagull broke it!" Liska wailed. "And Anji wasn't even upset!"

"I get it. It's no fun when your castle breaks. I'd be angry too."

"Maybe something fun happened too?" asked Mama.

"No!" Liska squeezed her eyes shut and plugged her ears with her paws. "Nothing fun! Just the stupid seagull!"

She turned away and pulled a pillow over her head.

A minute later, a damp pink nose poked out from under the pillow.

Liska's fur stuck out every which way — she looked like a tiny angry dandelion.

"Maaa-maaa, I'm still angry!" She poked herself in the chest. "It's like there's a huge big dragon in here, huffing and puffing!"

"Huffing?" Mama asked. "Yes, that sounds like anger. What does he want to do?"

"He wants to stomp and roar!"

"Well then, let's stomp and roar!"

They stomped — BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! And roared — RAWRRR!

But the little dragon inside kept on angrily huffing.

"It's not working!" Liska flopped onto the floor and sprawled her paws out. "Stupid dragon!"

Mama lay down next to her.

"Yeaah, angry feelings are so big!"

Liska rolled over to Mama and pressed her nose into her side. Mama smelled like cinnamon and safety.

"Want to know a secret?" Mama whispered, scratching behind Liska's ear.

Liska nodded.

"When we're angry, the fun memories hide. They get small and quiet."

"They hide?" Liska lifted one ear. "So we have to look for them?"

Mama nodded.

"Like treasure?!" Liska's eyes lit up.

Mama smiled. "Exactly! Like treasure hunters!"

The next morning, Liska and Anji were building a house for the sea creatures.

"This is the kitchen for crab pies!" Liska laid out a circle of shells. "And here — a dance floor for shrimpies!"

But then a huge wave rushed in and — WHOOSH! — washed away half the house.

Liska's face turned red. In her chest, the huge dragon started huffing again.

She clenched her fists. Took a big breath. And how she stomped! How she roared! Sand flew everywhere!

Anji ran to the water and shook his fist at the wave. "You wet meanie! Give our house back!"

The wave, of course, didn't give the house back. But Liska snorted with laughter — Anji looked like a ruffled, soggy pompom.

She stopped stomping. Took a deep breath in... and out...

I'm a treasure huntress! she reminded herself, and started remembering.

At first all she could think about was that meanie wave. But then... slowly... other pictures started showing up.

"Oh!" Liska bounced. "Remember that HUGE fish? It was as big as... as... a hundred Liskas!"

"And your sand mustache!" Anji cracked up.

Liska giggled, remembering her wet face.

"And the crab! How he decorated his porch!"

They laughed so loud that every seagull flew away. All the way home, paw in paw, they kept remembering:

"The fish! The crab! Your sandy nose!"

That evening, Liska ran up to Mama.

"Mama! I found a million fun treasures!"

Mama laughed, pulled her in close, and sniffed her ears.

"Mmm. You smell like a real treasure huntress. And a little bit like crab."

Liska giggled and flung herself around Mama's neck.

"And my little dragon was smiling! Can you imagine? Angry — but smiling!"

Now every evening, curling up to sleep, Liska hunted for treasures. She closed her eyes and remembered something fun.

How Anji tried to catch his own tail. How Mama sneezed into the flour and turned into a snowman. How Papa left a pancake stuck to the ceiling.

Liska smiled sleepily, curled into a ball, and gave a big cozy yawn.

Tomorrow, she decided, I'll go treasure hunting again!