It was a special evening, one of those nights when the sky dressed up for a party. Ziggy, Lily, Skye and Dash were sitting on the rug, building a little house out of cushions, with a tiny light inside pretending to be the moon. Ziggy's four cats watched them, curious: Sofia, the little black cat, purred next to Skye; Dora, the brave tabby, jumped on the tallest cushions; Poldo, fat and soft, slept like a bag of flour; and Milo, nimble and long, spied on everything from up on the couch.

"Our little house is beautiful," said Skye in her sweet voice.

"It only needs the sea outside the window," laughed Dash.

And in that moment, as if by magic, a sound they knew well arrived. "CHOO CHOOO!"

It was Toby the Magic Train, popping out of the hallway with his colorful cars and a cheerful whistle. Toby always spoke in rhyme, and he said:

"Climb aboard, little children, with kittens, and cheer,
for the Sea of Seven Winds is the way we will steer!
There's a light that's gone dark, and it's waiting for you,
where the whispering rocks murmur love, soft and true!"

The children clapped their hands. Whisper? The rocks? What a strange and wonderful place! They all climbed onto the train, cats and all, and Toby set off among the clouds.

When the wheels stopped, the children were breathless. They were on a cliff, by the sea, at night. But it was not a dark night: in the sky, ribbons of green and purple light danced, moving like veils of silk. It was the colorful aurora, and it looked like the sky was dancing.

"Look up there," said Ziggy, pointing high above.

Above them stood a very tall lighthouse. But it was dark. Black, silent, sad, like a sleeping giant who had had a bad dream.

"This is the Lighthouse of the Seven Winds," breathed a little voice. "And that is the Cliff of Whispers, because when the wind passes through the rocks, they whisper."

The children turned around. On the water, inside a little bay shaped like a seashell, floated a creature made all of light. It was a blue jellyfish, see-through, glowing softly in the dark. It moved in little puffs, opening and closing like a small umbrella.

"I am Lulla," said the jellyfish. And then, without ever stopping: "Oh, how nice, how nice, you have big eyes and soft cats, and you came tonight of all nights, the most important night of all, because the lighthouse is dark and the sea is angry and the waves are teeny tiny, do you see? They don't even reach the beach anymore! And I talk too much, I know, everyone tells me so, but I'm just so happy to have company!"

Ziggy laughed. "You really are a chatterbox, Lulla!"

From the jellyfish rose a strange, lovely smell, of salt and fresh mint. And when she got excited, her body changed color, from blue to purple.

"But why is the lighthouse dark?" asked Lily, who always wanted to understand everything.

"Ah, that is a sad story," said Lulla. "Come, look at the heart of the lighthouse."

She swam toward the rock and the children climbed after her. At the bottom of the lighthouse, where the big lamp usually is, there was something different instead: a huge picture made of seashells, all fitted together like the pieces of a puzzle. It was a mosaic.

"A mosaic is a picture made with lots of tiny little pieces placed next to each other," explained Lulla. "And this mosaic is the heart of the lighthouse. At night it catches the light and spreads it over the sea, so the boats can find their way. Look what it shows."

The children looked. The mosaic showed the Sea and the Beach hugging tightly, cheek against cheek.

But there was a problem. The mosaic was broken. In the middle there was a big crack, and many seashells had fallen, scattered among the rocks and inside the puddles of water.

"The Sea and the Beach love each other very much," said Lulla, and her body turned a little purple. "They are like a family. But yesterday they had a quarrel."

"About what?" asked Dash.

"About something silly," sighed the jellyfish. "They both wanted to say hello to the Moon first. 'Me first!' said the Sea. 'No, me first!' said the Beach. And they quarreled so much that their hug broke apart. The mosaic broke, the lighthouse went dark, and the Sea, all grumpy, kept the waves for himself. That is why they are so small."

Skye came closer with teary eyes. "Poor things. They love each other, but they're sad."

"We can fix it!" said Ziggy right away. "Let's put the seashells back in their place, like a puzzle!"

But when they looked more closely, they understood it was hard. The scattered seashells were hundreds. How could they know which ones were really needed?

Ziggy stayed quiet. He sat on a rock and scratched his head. He looked at Lulla, who glowed. He looked at the seashells. And then... "Aha!"

An idea lit up in his eyes.

"Lulla," he said, "you have a little light, don't you? Under your umbrella?"

"Oh yes!" said the jellyfish, and she lifted her little body. Underneath, hidden away, was a tiny pearl that glowed like a firefly. "This is my firefly-pearl. It's magic. When I bring it close to the right seashells, the right ones, the ones from the heart, they start to shine!"

"There!" cried Ziggy, jumping to his feet. "We don't need all the seashells. We only need the ones that shine near your pearl! Those are the seashells of the heart!"

Lily smiled. "Ziggy, you're a genius!"

They tried it right away. Lulla passed over a pile of seashells with her pearl, and some lit up with a blue light, soft and translucent.

"Translucent?" asked Skye, curious. "What does that mean?"

"It means the light passes through, but not all the way," explained Lulla. "Like when you put your little hand in front of a flashlight and see your fingers glow pink. Translucent, understand? It's not closed to the light or open to it, it's in between."

"Translucent," Skye repeated softly, happy to have learned a new word.

Now they had a plan. But the shining seashells were scattered in hard places: on the tall rocks, between the narrow stones, inside the dark puddles. And here they needed the body, not just the head.

"Let's make a chain!" said Ziggy. "A living chain, of children and cats, so we can pass the seashells hand to hand all the way to the lighthouse!"

And so they did. Ziggy stood among the rocks and began to jump from one rock to another, fast and light. Milo, the nimble cat, made very long leaps and reached the highest ledges, where no one else could. Poldo, the fat cat, sat on the most slippery spot and acted as a weight, so the chain wouldn't fall apart. Dora, brave, pushed on where you needed courage. Sofia, sweet, stayed close to Skye and purred to give her courage.

Lily, tough, never let go of her grip. Dash ran back and forth carrying the seashells with his fast legs. And Lulla lit up everything, repeating: "That one shines! No, not that one! That one, yes! Oh, well done, well done!"

One seashell after another, the mosaic began to fill up. The cracks were closing. The Sea and the Beach, piece by piece, came close to each other again.

Only one piece was missing. The most important one: the key-seashell, the one right in the middle of the hug.

Ziggy was already holding it in his hand. But as he jumped the last rock, it slipped from his fingers. "Oh no!" The seashell rolled and fell into a dark puddle, deep and black as ink.

Everyone stopped. The puddle was scary. You couldn't see the bottom.

Skye held tight to Sofia. Dash held his breath.

Ziggy looked at the puddle. His heart was beating fast. But he thought of the Sea and the Beach waiting for their hug. And so he took a breath, knelt down, and plunged his arm into the cold water, up to his shoulder.

He felt around with his fingers. Nothing. Again. Nothing. And then... he felt it! His fingers closed around the seashell. Ziggy pulled out his arm, wet up to the elbow, with the key-seashell held tight in his fist.

"I've got it!" he shouted.

Everyone burst out in a cry of joy. Ziggy climbed up to the mosaic and put the last seashell in its place, right in the middle of the hug.

For a moment nothing happened. Then the mosaic trembled. The seashells lit up one after another, like many little stars. The Sea and the Beach, in the picture, recognized each other and hugged tightly again.

"I'm sorry I wanted to say hello to the Moon first," said the Sea in a wave's voice.

"I'm sorry too," answered the Beach in a sandy voice. "I want to say hello to her together with you."

And then the lighthouse lit up. A warm, golden light spread over the water. The colorful aurora was mirrored in the sea, green and purple, and the waves, happy at last, grew big again and ran to hug the shore, one after another.

Lulla turned all purple with happiness. "You did it! You stitched the hug back together!"

Skye had teary eyes, but she was smiling. "They were only angry. But they loved each other all the same."

"Exactly," said Ziggy. "In a family you can quarrel. But the hug can always be put back together, piece by piece."

When they came back to the bay, Toby the Magic Train was waiting for them, all lit up by the light of the lighthouse. He went "CHOO CHOOO" and said:

"Well done, little children, with hearts oh so kind,
you have stitched a warm hug that was ever so hard to find!
If someone in a family should do something wrong,
a kiss mends each stitch and keeps everyone strong!"

The children said goodbye to Lulla, who kept on talking even as they moved away, and climbed onto the train tired and happy. While the lighthouse shone over the sea and the waves sang, Toby carried them home, straight into their little house of cushions, where the tiny light was still pretending to be the Moon. And this time, the Moon, they all said hello to her together.