Riley returns from school and leaves her backpack on the table with frustration. Her Dad leaves the car keys on the table and tries to talk to her, but she doesn't give him a chance; she climbs the stairs in silence ready to lock herself in her room when she notices that Mom is at home.
"Mom? what are you doing at home? Didn't you go to work?"
"I didn't feel well, honey," Mom tells her from the bed.
"Are you sick?" Riley asks anxiously.
Her mother smiles at her.
"I'm fine, really," she says to reassure Riley.
"You're not lying to me, are you? The day of the final I saw you in the stands, you didn't look so good."
"How did my little girl grew up so suddenly?" asks Riley's mother, looking at her tenderly.
"I don't want you to be sick."
"Riley, dear," says Dad from the door. "Why don't we let Mom rest for a while and we go for a walk?"
"Urgent meeting," Fear announces.
"What's wrong now?" Disgust complains.
"Mom is sick," Fear says seriously.
"I know, genius. She just said it."
"Anger, help me out," asks Fear.
Anger approaches with a stack of DVD boxes. He puts them loudly on the table and begins:
"Here is much of Riley's knowledge about life."
"Movies?"
"Yes," Anger says proudly, 'movies'. Thanks to them, Riley has been able to face the idea of loss, but nothing prepared her for illness."
"I'm not following you," Disgust says impatiently.
"Look at this," Anger explains illustratively. "The Lion King? Pum, bye bye Mufasa," and he puts the film on the table. "Bambi? No more mummy," and he puts the movie on top of the previous one. "Finding Nemo? Bye bye babies," and he keeps on stacking movies on the table. "Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella. And I could go on for hours . . . Everyone dies, nobody gets sick."
"What's wrong with those people?" Sadness wonders, with genuine pain.
"None of these films prepare us for illness or fragility," Fear dictates. "Riley is not ready to accept what is happening to Mom."
"Then what do we do?" Sadness asks.
"Leave it to me," Fear instructs convinced.
"But what about Joy?" Sadness asks. "She is also sick. And we are not ready for that either."
"We'll have to do it without her," Fear says sharply, "it won't be the first time we are left alone, and it won't be the last time. From now on, everything Riley does will be under my supervision."
There are different scenes: in one of them, Riley's cell phone rings, it's Jordan. Disgust gets ready to answer, but Fear slows her down. Instead of the answer button, he puts a post 'don't touch'. In another scene, Riley looks at her hockey stick, ready to go out to practice and get distracted. Sadness looks at Fear, but he nods and puts another paper on the sports button. Riley prepares to leave the room, but before touching the doorknob, Fear avoids it. Riley finally curls up on the bed. Fear is huge now; the entire control panel is covered in papers. Anger traces a circle of fire around Fear. Sadness and Disgust stay in a corner, next to Joy, who fails to face Fear.
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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...
