Chapter 7
BLAM! Joy shot out of the tube and landed in a basket of memories. Sadness fell out next, crashing hard against the ground next to Joy. The core memories rolled in different directions. Joy frantically gathered them up. “One, two, three… okay. Where are we?”
Joy looked at the shelving units that surrounded them, and suddenly she realized they were in Long Term Memory. Grabbing the core memories, Joy hopped out of the memory basket. She could see Goofball Island in the distance, silent and dark. Beyond Goofball, the other islands were dark and lifeless, too.
Sadness walked up slowly behind Joy. “Riley’s Islands of Personality. They’re ALL down! Oh, this is bad, this is very, very bad,” she whimpered.
“We—we can fix this,” Joy stammered. “We just have to get back to Headquarters, plug the core memories in, and Riley will be back to normal.”
With a sense of urgency, Joy and Sadness hurried toward Headquarters. “Riley has no core memories, no personality islands and no…” Sadness stopped suddenly with a gasp.
“What is it?” Joy asked.
“You!” Sadness declared. “YOU’RE not in Headquarters. Without you, Riley can’t be happy.”
Joy realized that Sadness was right. Together they crossed the bridge toward Goofball Island. She knew that if she could make it to the lightline, she could walk the power line that led from the core memory holder to the Islands of Personality, all the way back to Headquarters. “I’m coming, Riley,” Joy said, determined. Headquarters loomed in the distance, the tallest structure in all of Mind World. It was going to be a long journey back.
That night, when Riley sat down to have dinner with her parents, she was quiet and distant.
Fear, Anger, and Disgust stood in Headquarters, stumped, as they looked at the empty core memory holder and the dark Islands of Personality.
“Riley is acting so weird,” Disgust commented.
“What do you expect?” Anger demanded. “All the islands are down.”
Disgust flipped her hair. “Joy would know what to do.”
The three Emotions looked at one another as they came to a decision. They would do what Joy did until the missing Emotion returned. But there was a problem. None of them knew how to be happy.
“Hey, Riley,” Mom said. “I’ve got good news! I found a junior hockey league right here in San Francisco. And get this: tryouts are tomorrow after school. What luck, right?”
“Pretend to be Joy,” Fear said, quickly pushing a reluctant Disgust toward the controls.
“Won’t it be great to be back out on the ice?” Mom asked.
Disgust rolled her eyes as she pushed a few buttons.
“Oh yeah, that sounds fantastic,” Riley replied sarcastically.
The look on Mom’s face showed that she was clearly taken aback.
“What was that?” Fear asked. “That wasn’t anything like Joy.”
“Uh, because I’m NOT Joy,” Disgust said.
Inside Mom’s Headquarters, her Emotions were scrambling to assess the situation. “Did you guys pick up on that?” Mom’s Sadness asked. Her other Emotions nodded. “Let’s probe,” Mom’s Sadness said. “But keep it subtle so she doesn’t notice.”
“So, how was the first day of school?” Mom asked.
“She’s probing us,” Anger said.
“I’m done,” said Disgust. She turned to Fear. “YOU pretend to be Joy.”
“What? Uh...okay,” Fear said, awkwardly stepping up to the controls.
But Fear wasn’t any better at helping Riley act like herself than Disgust. Riley continued to sound strange, and her mom noticed.
Inside Mom’s Headquarters, her Emotions decided to take a different approach. “Signal the husband,” Mom’s Sadness said.
Mom tried to signal Dad, but inside his Headquarters, his Emotions were busy watching a hockey match. Finally, Mom’s signal worked. “Uh-oh,” Dad’s Anger said. “She’s looking at us.” He clicked off the hockey game and tried to pay attention.
Mom raised her eyebrows at him, signaling him again as he stared at her blankly, wondering what she was trying to say. Finally, he got it. “Ahhh, so, Riley! How was school?” he asked.
Inside Riley’s Headquarters, Anger had had enough. “Move,” he said, marching up to the console. “I’LL be Joy.”
“School was great, all right?” Riley’s voice was full of attitude.
“Riley, is everything okay?” Mom asked, concerned.
Riley rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic groan.
Inside Dad’s Headquarters, his Emotions finally noticed Riley’s odd behavior. “Sir, she just rolled her eyes at us,” Dad’s Fear said.
“Riley, I do NOT like this new attitude,” Dad said.
“Oh, I’ll show you attitude, old man,” Anger said, steaming up.
“No!” Fear said, trying to stop Anger from exploding. “Stay happy!” But Anger shoved him away and forcefully hit a button on the console.
“What is your problem? Just leave me alone,” said Riley.
Like a soldier, Dad’s Fear reported “high levels of sass” and his Emotions took it to DEFCON 2, the highest level of alert before things got really bad. The siren inside Dad’s Headquarters blared and his Emotions prepared to “put the foot down.”
Inside Riley’s mind, Anger had really worked himself up. “You want a piece of this, Pops? Come and get it!” he yelled, and with all his might, he pushed two levers as far forward as they would go.
“Just shut up!” Riley yelled.
“Fire!” yelled Dad’s Anger, like a sergeant.
“That’s it!” Dad yelled. “Go to your room! Now!” Riley pushed her chair away from the table and stomped upstairs to her bedroom.
Once Riley got to her bedroom, she slammed the door behind her.
“The foot is down! The foot is down!” Dad’s Fear announced. All the Emotions inside Dad’s mind cheered.
“Good job, gentlemen,” Dad’s Anger said. “That could have been a disaster.”
Mom’s Emotions sighed with disappointment. “Well, that was a disaster,” Mom’s Sadness said.
第 7 章
“砰!”樂樂被彈出管道,掉到一個滿是記憶球的籃筐里。憂憂緊接著掉了下來,重重地摔在樂樂旁邊的地板上。核心記憶球四處滾動,樂樂瘋了似的把它們撿起來。“一,二,三……好了,我們這是在哪兒?”
樂樂看著周圍一排排的架子,突然反應(yīng)過來,她們在長期記憶存儲庫里。樂樂抓起核心記憶球,跳出記憶球筐。她能看見遠(yuǎn)處的耍寶島——沉寂、漆黑。耍寶島之外的其他島嶼也一樣,一片漆黑、了無生機。
憂憂慢吞吞地跟在樂樂后面,嗚咽著說:“萊莉的性格島全都不動了!噢,這可不好,非常非常不好。”
“我們——我們一定能解決的。”樂樂結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說,“我們只要回到情緒總部,將核心記憶球放回原處,萊莉就會恢復(fù)正常。”
形勢緊迫,樂樂和憂憂朝情緒總部趕去。“萊莉沒有了核心記憶,沒有了性格島,也沒有了……”憂憂突然停了下來,喘著氣。
“沒有了什么?”樂樂問道。
“你!”憂憂宣布道,“你不在情緒總部了。沒有你,萊莉不可能快樂。”
樂樂意識到憂憂說得對。她們一起穿過橋梁朝耍寶島走去。樂樂知道只要找到光纜,她就可以沿著從核心記憶裝置到性格島的電纜一路走回情緒總部去。“萊莉,我來了。”樂樂決心已定。情緒總部在遠(yuǎn)處隱約可見,那是大腦世界中最高的建筑?;厝サ穆愤€長著呢。
那天晚上,萊莉坐下和父母一起吃晚飯時,她顯得安靜又冷漠。
怕怕、怒怒和厭厭站在情緒總部,看著空蕩蕩的核心記憶裝置和黑漆漆的性格島,束手無措。
“萊莉看起來怪怪的。”厭厭評價道。
“你希望她怎樣?”怒怒不客氣地問,“所有的性格島都不動了。”
厭厭撩撩頭發(fā)說:“樂樂會知道該怎么做。”
三個情緒小人互相看了看,做出了決定,那就是他們將履行樂樂的職責(zé),直到她們回來為止。可是,問題來了,因為他們都不知道怎么才能快樂。
“嘿,萊莉,”媽媽說,“我有個好消息要告訴你!我發(fā)現(xiàn)舊金山這兒竟然有一個少年冰球聯(lián)盟,你猜怎么著?選拔賽就在明天放學(xué)后,多么幸運啊,是吧?”
“假裝自己是樂樂。”怕怕說著,迅速地把不情愿的厭厭推向控制臺。
“能重新回到冰上真是太棒了,不是嗎?”媽媽問道。
厭厭翻了翻白眼,按下幾個按鈕。
“噢,是啊,聽起來是有那么棒。”萊莉挖苦道。
媽媽臉色變了,顯然沒想到萊莉會有這樣的反應(yīng)。
“剛剛那算什么回答?”怕怕問道,“一點也不像快樂的樣子。”
“呃,因為我不是樂樂。”厭厭回答。
媽媽情緒總部中的情緒小人們爭著分析狀況。“你們聽到萊莉剛剛的話了嗎?”媽媽大腦中的悲傷小人問道,其他情緒小人點點頭。“讓我們再試探一下中,”悲傷小人繼續(xù)說,“但是盡量委婉些,不要讓她察覺。”
“那么,第一天上學(xué)怎么樣?”媽媽問。
“她在試探我們呢。”怒怒說道。
“我不干了,”厭厭轉(zhuǎn)向怕怕說道,“你,來當(dāng)樂樂。”
“什么?呃……好吧。”怕怕邊說邊笨拙地走上控制臺。
但是怕怕的表現(xiàn)一點也不比厭厭好,萊莉依然言語奇怪,行為方式也異于往常,媽媽注意到了。
媽媽情緒總部中的情緒小人們決定變換策略,媽媽的悲傷小人說:“向丈夫示意。”
媽媽試著向爸爸使眼色,但是爸爸情緒總部中的小人們正忙著看冰球比賽。終于,他們注意到媽媽的示意。“呃——哦,”爸爸大腦中的憤怒小人說道,“她正看著我們呢。”他關(guān)掉冰球比賽,試圖集中注意力。
媽媽朝爸爸抬了抬眉毛,再次示意,而他只是茫然地盯著她,不知道她到底想說什么。終于,他明白了。“啊,那么,萊莉!學(xué)校怎么樣?”爸爸問道。
萊莉情緒總部里的怒怒忍不住了。“走開,”他說著大步跨上控制臺,“讓我來當(dāng)樂樂。”
“學(xué)校很好,行了吧?”萊莉的聲音里滿是不屑。
“萊莉,真的一切順利嗎?”媽媽又問了一遍,她有些擔(dān)心。
萊莉翻了翻白眼,夸張地嘟囔了一句。
爸爸情緒總部里的小人們總算注意到了萊莉的反常舉動。“先生,她剛才朝我們翻白眼呢。”爸爸腦中的恐懼小人說道。
“萊莉,我可不喜歡你現(xiàn)在的態(tài)度。”爸爸說道。
“噢,老家伙,我讓你見識見識什么是態(tài)度。”怒怒被惹怒了。
“不!”怕怕試著制止怒怒,“高興點!”但是怒怒一把推開他,用力按下控制臺的一個按鈕。
“你到底想怎么樣?就讓我靜一靜吧。”萊莉回道。
爸爸腦中的恐懼小人像士兵一樣報告了 “高級別的沖撞”,其他情緒小人把這當(dāng)作二級防御事件,這是事情完全失控前的最高警戒。警笛在爸爸的情緒總部里嘟嘟作響,情緒小人們準(zhǔn)備好要“解除威脅”。
萊莉大腦中的怒怒蓄勢待發(fā)。“想試試這個嗎,老頭?接招吧!”他叫著用盡所有力氣,將兩根控制桿一推到底。
“給我閉嘴!”萊莉叫道。
“開火!”爸爸的憤怒小人像軍士一樣吼道。
“夠了!”爸爸吼道,“回你房間去!馬上!”萊莉把椅子推離餐桌,重重地踩著樓梯,回房間去了。
萊莉一進(jìn)房間便將門砰的一聲關(guān)上了。
“威脅解除!威脅解除!”爸爸的恐懼小人宣告道,所有的情緒小人都?xì)g呼起來。
“先生們,干得好,”爸爸的憤怒小人說道,“差一點就釀成災(zāi)難了。”
媽媽的情緒小人失望地嘆了口氣,悲傷小人說:“剛剛可真是場災(zāi)難。”