The People Inside Your Head [Inside Out]

Into the mind

The wind rushed through my hair as the pipe sucked us upwards. I held my breath, a sickness brewing in my stomach. We kept going faster and faster...

CRASH!

We landed in a pile of memories. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt, although my heart was racing. I shook my head, brushing my long hair out of my face.

"Ed?" Disgust asked. "You okay?"

I nodded, a pained smile burning my cheeks. "Yep. Totally not dreaming, right?"

Disgust sighed. "Come on, we'll get going."

She climbed out, Sadness just behind her. She offered me her dainty hand; I grabbed it, letting her pull me out.

I gazed at the world around us: tall, looming shelves filled with memory orbs. My whole body began to shake. It was like an entire labyrinth, the shelves reaching on for infinity. Where were we supposed to go from here?

"What is this place?" I asked.

"Long Term memory," Sadness responded.

"Are these..." I stepped towards one of the memory shelves. "Are these... my memories?"

I reached out to grab one of the memories; it was blue with a hint of yellow; Sadness' colour.

"Hey! Don't touch that!"

I jumped back in surprise; the voice came from a small, teal blob-like creature. He had curly teal hair, and was wearing a hardhat and safety goggles.

"Sorry," Disgust pulled me away. "She's... uh, not used to this place."

"For someone who ain't used to this place, she sure does a good job cosplaying Edaliyah herself," the... creature... replied.

I noticed he had a long tube behind him, similar to ones on vacuum cleaners. It was connected to the ground, burrowing deep into who knows where.

"What's that for?" I asked, titling my head.

"To get rid of faded memories," he replied. He turned the machine on, facing a shelf. "You see these?"

He pointed to some grey orbs on the shelves. The images inside them were barely visible; faded out like old photos.

"These are forgotten memories," he told me. "Us forgetters clear them all up."

He used the machine to suck up the forgotten memories. Gone, just like that.

"And where... where do the forgotten memories go?" I asked.

The creature pointed into the distance. "The memory dump."

I turned around, gasping at the view. I saw headquarters; the looming, white building shaped almost like a pin, alongside the islands of personality. Below it was a chasm; a looming, dark chasm, almost endless. Staring at it brought up an existential horror; it was like seeing death itself right in front of me. It was so big, so terrifying... and it was a part of me.

I shivered. Sadness squeezed my arm, comfortingly.

"Thanks for the help," Disgust spoke up. "Let's keep going."

She moved Sadness and I away, a stride in her step. We didn't speak for a while.

I tried to take in everything: the shelves, my emotions, the creatures hanging around us. I felt a wave of nausea.

"Um..." I finally spoke up. "So... where exactly are we going?"

"Dream Productions," Disgust answered. "That's where my... friend... lives."