"What is that?" Fear shivered.
A mind worker drove by in a forklift. "That's a sar-chasm! It can open for miles! Run for your lives!"
Maya's sarcastic voice echoed from the chasm. "Disney makes the best movies."
"But she loves Disney movies! They always end happily" I said.
"Joy, if we can't follow the stream, we don't know where we're going" Fear panicked. "And if we don't know where we're going, we can't follow the stream! It is an endless loop of tragedy and consequence!"
"Or we could ask those guys" I said pointing at two mind workers.
"Oh yeah. Or that" said Fear calmly.
"Boy, are we so lucky we ran into you guys" I said.
"Please! We really need your help" said Fear.
"I bet you're the best crane crew in the world" said Disgust.
But little did we know, when our voices echoed over the chasm, they sounded sarcastic.
The mind workers thought we were actually being sarcastic and drove away.
"Wow. Those guys are jerks" said Anger.
Meanwhile, Maya was still being sarcastic to avoid Jeremy's disapproval.
"Disney is the greatest" she exaggerated.
Meemaw had come to see her just then and overheard.
"Maya honey, what are you talking about? You love Disney" she said.
"Uh..." Maya stuttered.
"We are not sharing Jeremy with her!" said Anxiety.
"Oh, why is our granny always trying to see us?" said Envy.
"Oh stop it, dear. We just saw a rerelease of The Lion King" said Meemaw.
"Uh, yeah, but..." said Maya.
"But what? We had a good time" said Meemaw.
"You are not helping, granny!" said Anxiety.
Ennui pushed the sarcasm button again.
"Oh yeah, we had a great time" said Maya.
The sar-chasm opened more as she said that.
"Why can't they just leave her alone? We'll just have to go the long way" I said. "Which is the best way! Stretch those hammies, Anger!"
"Best night of my life" said Maya sarcastically.
"Well, this has been fun" said Meemaw joining the sarcasm. "But I'm going home. Come back before ten, Maya."
"Okay. Bye!" said Maya.
Then she saw Jeremy scrolling through documentaries. "Wow! That looks fun!"
Jeremy gave a tiny smile, then shook his head.
It's almost like he knew Maya was trying to change just for him.
I wonder if he knew it was all Anxiety's doing. He probably did; Jeremy's very smart.
"See? As long as we like what Jeremy likes, he'll always love us" said Anxiety.
Jeremy looked at Maya. "I s'pose your grandmother is right, darling; it is late. I think you'll want to get some sleep before your first day at Central."
"But it's not till Wednesday" said Maya.
"All the same, it's good for you. Your health is a good start to success" said Jeremy. "In my youth, I managed my health so well, my teacher said I'd be professional in no time."
Maya smiled awkwardly and Jeremy put his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, luv; you'll be lovely. Just be yourself" he said.
"Did you hear that? We could be a professional actress on the first day!" said Anxiety.
"But he said be yourself" said Envy. "How do we be ourself if our new self isn't ready yet?"
"Excellent point. Let's get these downstairs" said Anxiety.
She took a whole bucketful of memories to the belief system and put them all in the water.
