We thought Maya would finally get some sleep after all that.
But sometime later...
"Joy doesn't get it! Without our projections, we won't be prepared" said Anxiety.
"What do we do? What would Jeremy do?" said Envy.
"We're just gonna need ideas. Lots of them" said Anxiety.
Just as we were floating on the big balloon, it started to rain lightbulbs.
"It's a brainstorm!" said Anger.
I found some terrible ideas like trash talking other actors and sticking to monologues.
"We can't let these bad ideas get to Maya" I said.
But then, we got sucked into a whole cyclone of bad ideas.
"Grab an idea!" said Fear.
Soon, they found a huge orange idea and grabbed onto it.
They tried to grab me, but I hung onto the balloon.
"Joy, we need this idea" said Fear.
"If Maya takes it, it could be a disaster!" I protested.
"Joy, the only way out is up!" said Fear.
Reluctantly, I let go of the balloon and the big idea was sucked to Headquarters.
The idea got in, but we fell. Fear had us hold onto him and he opened a parachute so we could float down safely.
"Fear! You have a parachute?" said Disgust.
"Yes. The real question is why don't any of you" said Fear.
We landed safely on the ground and ran further.
"To the back of the mind!" I said. "You're finished, Anxiety!"
In Headquarters...
"Memorization is key for being a great actress" said Anxiety. "So let's memorize every line in every play we know."
"And how do you expect to do that?" said Ennui.
"The new Maya will handle anything. And I think this is the finishing touch" said Anxiety.
We'd just made it to the mountain of bad memories that I'd launched to the back of the mind.
"Wow. This is more than I remember sending" I said.
"Oh! Like this one where she walked into that glass door" said Disgust.
"And stealing that cupcake from the principal? Thank goodness those aren't part of her" I said.
We managed to find the old Sense of Self, but it looked like it was fading.
That might have been because Anxiety had brought one more orange memory to the Belief System.
When she got back, the new sense of self was ready.
It was all orange and jagged like insecurity.
"I'm not good enough!" Maya's voice panicked.
"What?" Anxiety whispered.
"Are we sure..." Envy began.
"Uh, don't worry!" said Anxiety awkwardly. "It's just that she knows there's always room for self-improvement. She'll be fine."
Now we really needed to act.
I took out my walkie-talkie. "Sadness, we have the Sense of Self. Bring us back!"
"Roger that, Joy" said Sadness.
She tried to send us back, but Anxiety took down my contraption and the whole tube collapsed.
