0:09 Shown in the scoreboard at Foghorn's Hockey Stadium.
0:08 Riley skates nimbly.
0:07 The left half back tries to stop her.
0:06 With a bold twist, Riley dodges the mark.
0:05 Riley moves the puck with her stick from side to side.
0:04 She peers at the goal.
0:03 She raises her stick
0:02 The puck flies to the goal.
0:01 The goalie jumps, but the disc gets in.
0:00 The buzzer sounds. End of the game.
Riley just made the Foghorns gain a last-minute victory at the championship final. Everyone hugs her and lifts her up. Everything is joy.
The goal is replayed on screen at the Headquarters, again and again. Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger and Fear enjoy the show with a popcorn bag in their hands, as if they were watching the best movie ever.
"Yes, today was a great day," Joy summarizes. She leans back in a comfortable chair in front of the Control Panel's screen that displays the stands at the hockey stadium on the background. "Riley had a great game. Mom and Dad saw her from the stands; she marked the goal of victory. It was a perfect day."
"Yes, it was a perfect day . . . but something happened to Mom," Sadness warns suddenly, approaching the board and staining part of the image blue. The reflection of the trophy Riley is holding shows her mother in the stalls. She is grabbing her head; she looks in pain. Dad seems to notice it, but he continues to encourage Riley, as if nothing happened.
"Why would he do that?" Fear asks anxiously. "Didn't he notice that Mom feels bad? Are they going to separate? Is this the end? This IS the end! I knew that one day he would no longer put up with that hideous broccoli pizza . . .
"Everyone hates broccoli pizza," says Disgust.
"No, no, no, no," Happiness rushes, as he moves Sadness's hands away from the Control Panel. "Today was a great day and maybe Mom is a little tired, that's all. Now we're going to sleep, Riley needs to rest," Joy says. Riley falls asleep in the back of the car, on the way back home. "Yes," Joy repeats to herself, now alone with Riley, "today was a perfect day."
Riley smiles hugging the trophy of MVP. Joy holds that last image while operating a lever that darkens the screen until the Headquarters gets dark:
"Goodnight, Riley. Sweet dreams."
Joy yawns, stretches and goes to sleep on her smile-shaped bed in a small room.
YOU ARE READING
Deeper Inside out
FanfictionA year after moving to San Francisco, Riley is better than ever. Her hockey team (The Foghorns) is in the finals, everything is going well with her boyfriend Jordan and with mom and dad too. But when everything seems perfect, something happens to mo...
