It was a regular day in Headquarters—until something strange happened.

Joy danced across the control panel, humming a happy song. Sadness was drawing pictures of rainy clouds. Anger was doing push-ups and shouting about too much homework. Disgust was polishing her nails.

"That’s 499, 500! I’m on fire today!" Anger yelled. 

"You always say that," said Disgust, looking at her nails. "But there's no real fire."

Just then, Fear ran into the room, looking scared. "Something's wrong! Really, really wrong!"

"What now?" Disgust asked. "Did Riley step on a crack and break her mom's back?"

"No! Worse!" Fear pointed to the Memory Screen. "Riley is getting confused by silly sayings!"

They all looked at the screen. Riley was in class. Her teacher said, "It’s time to break the ice," and Riley started hitting her desk with a ruler!

"Oh no," said Joy. "She didn’t understand the idiom."

Suddenly, a new character appeared in Headquarters.

Envy peeked over Joy’s shoulder. "Wait... she thought ice meant the desk?"

Embarrassment turned red and hid behind a chair. "This is so awkward!"

Anxiety started bouncing. "What if Riley thinks ALL sayings are real forever?!"

Nostalgia sighed. "I remember the good old days when she didn’t mix up idioms."

A was a strange, glowing character made of swirling words and silly pictures stepped in. The name on its chest read: Idiom.

"Hello, emotions," Idiom said with a smirk. "I thought I’d shake things up a bit!"

Joy gasped. "You’re the one causing all the confusion!"

Idiom laughed. "That’s right. I take ordinary sayings and turn them into chaos! Isn’t it fun?"

"You’re making Riley misunderstand everything!" shouted Anger.

"Exactly," Idiom grinned. "Isn’t language fun when it’s all mixed up?"

"We need to stop this!" said Joy. "Come on, team!"

Fixing the Idioms!

Joy and Sadness went to Riley’s school memories. Idiom had made the desk freeze! Joy added a new memory.

"'Break the ice' means helping people talk and feel comfortable," she whispered.

Riley smiled in the memory. A crack appeared in the frozen desk—then melted away.

"One down," Sadness said.

"Break the Ice"

Anger, Fear, and Sadness went to the weather memories. Idiom had filled the sky with barking and meowing!

"It means heavy rain," Sadness said. "No real animals."

They zapped the memory, and it changed to a normal storm.

"Ugh, so wet," Fear muttered.

"Raining Cats and                Dogs"

Envy and Anxiety found Riley swinging a huge hammer in a test memory.

"'Nailed it' means you did something really well!" said Anxiety. "Not building furniture!"

They fixed it, and Riley’s memory showed her acing her quiz.

"Nailed It"

"Hit the Sack"

Ennui and Embarrassment tiptoed into a bedroom memory. Idiom had turned the pillow into a punching bag!

"'Hit the sack' just means bedtime," said Ennui.

Embarrassment blushed and hit the reset. Riley was now gently lying down.

Disgust and Envy found Riley slipping on beans in the cafeteria.

"'Spill the beans' means tell a secret!" said Disgust.

Envy rewrote the orb. Riley now leaned in, giggling as she shared a surprise.

"Spill the Beans"

Fear and Anxiety dodged flying bugs in Riley’s tummy memory.

"No real bugs! Just nerves!"

Joy floated by and turned the bugs into twinkling lights. Riley smiled before her class speech.

"Butterflies in My Stomach