One morning, Mama and Liska squeezed something HUGE through the bedroom door.

"Just... a... little... more!" Mama grunted, pushing the heavy pot.

Liska planted her feet, grabbed a giant leaf, and tugged with a mighty little "IEEEH!".

With a final push, in came their new monstera plant, its leaves full of holes, just like Swiss cheese.

Liska poked her tiny pink nose through a leaf-hole.

"A cheese flower!" she said. "I name you Mr. Cheesy!"

That afternoon, Liska played with Mr. Cheesy's shadow.

"High-five!" she giggled, slapping her palm against a leaf-shadow on the wall.

The wind moved the plant's leaves, and the shadow moved away. A happy SQUEEEE burst from Liska as she chased it for another high-five.

As night fell, Mama tucked Liska in tight as a cinnamon roll. Her stuffed sloth, Slothy, snuggled under her arm.

A WHOOSH of wind moved Mr. Cheesy's leaves, and his shadow stretched and swayed.

Suddenly, the leaf-shadows grew longer... and sharper... until they didn't look like leaves anymore. Now they looked like claws!

Liska's eyes widened. It's just Mr. Cheesy. She hugged Slothy and pulled the blanket over her head.

"Go away," she whispered. "You're just a plant."

But under the blanket, her head filled with scary thoughts: What if the shadow crept closer? What if it touched her? What if—

A quick, loud thumping started in her chest: BA-DUM, BA-DUM. BA-DUM, BA-DUM.

She threw off the blanket, tumbled out of bed, and scampered out of the room.

"MAMA!" she cried. "The shadow has CLAWS and it wants to GRAB ME!"

Mama scooped her up.

"Oh, sweet kitten, you're so scared," she said softly.

She carried her back to the bedroom, and they peeked inside.

"You're right," Mama said. "That shadow does look a little spiky."

Liska nodded, leaving tears and maybe a little snot on Mama's nightgown.

As Mama tucked Liska back into bed, she held up her paws in the moonlight, folding them until their shadow became a butterfly on the wall.

She made it fly closer to the plant. Then around its claw-shaped shadow.

Liska watched, her eyes wide. The shadow butterfly was... beautiful? Not scary?

"It's like they're playing," she whispered.

The next evening, Liska asked:
"Maamaa, I'm still scared of that shadow. Help me?"

"Of course, kitten. How does your body feel?"

"My heart is going thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump," Liska said.

"Then let's help it calm down. Breathe in like you smell a flower, and breathe out like you cool down hot soup." Liska did a slow SNIFF in... and a long WHOOOSH out.

"Mama," she said, "remember the butterfly you made? I wanna make one, too."

Mama lit the candle.

She helped Liska link her thumbs together, and a wobbly butterfly appeared on the wall.

"Look, your watering can's shadow looks like an elephant with a long trunk. I bet he's ticklish! Wanna tickle him?"

Liska made her butterfly circle the trunk once... twice... and... bopped it right on the tip!

In the flickering candlelight, the trunk-shadow shook as if laughing. A tiny SNORT came out of Liska. The trunk, it seemed, wanted to play.

Suddenly, a new thought sparked inside her: Ooh! I can PLAY with them!

Later that night, Mr. Cheesy's shadow stretched across the whole wall again. Liska's heart began to thump, but this time she knew what to do. She squeezed Slothy so hard, she imagined his fluff might come out. She smelled the flower, SNIIIFF, and cooled the soup, WHOOOOSH.

Then, slowly, like a brave little snail, she got out of bed. She lifted one shaky paw, and its shadow appeared on the wall. Small and wobbly, but THERE.

The shadow paw was almost touching the clawed leaf-shadow. Liska's heart thumped faster, and her paw froze.

"Come on, shadow paw," she whispered. "Don't be scared. You can do it."

She pushed her paw forward until its shadow softly touched the plant shadow, and...

Nothing happened. No one grabbed her. Just her shadow paw resting on the shadow leaf. Her own paw was safe.

"You're not scary at all," she said. "You're just... another shadow! You can't DO anything to me!"

Liska looked down at Slothy.

"Oh, you're scared too?" she whispered, hugging him. "It's okay. Let's smell the flower and cool the soup. In... and out. And now let's play!"

She held Slothy up and pushed his shadow right up to the claw-shaped shadow. She moved him closer... closer... and suddenly — pat! She gave the clawed shadow a little high-five!

And there wasn't a claw after all. Just the shadow of her friend, Mr. Cheesy, swaying in the wind.

Mama, watching from the doorway, laughed.

"Wow, you were so afraid of that spiky shadow, but you still found a way to play with it!"

Liska nuzzled into Mama's paw and purred:

"Mama, I love you so much."

She looked at the shadows around her.

"Good night, Mr. Cheesy," she whispered. "Tomorrow, we'll play again."