Joy and Fear: An Unexpected Connection

Chapter 7

JOY'S POV

Fear and I raced back up to Dream Productions, following Jangles the Clown. "Come on, Fear!" I cried, hopping across the steps. We met Bing-Bong halfway. By the time we reached the studio, it was destroyed.

"We need to find a working camera." I said, searching around the debris. "We got to make Riley sad." I spotted the Wake-O-Meter, and saw that she was almost awake.

"Joy! Over here!" I heard Fear call and hurried over to where he was. He held up a large camera over his shoulder and switched it on. "You're on." he mouthed.

I froze in my tracks and breathed in deeply. "Hey, Riley." I waved at the camera shyly. "I don't know what I look like in your mind right now, but I'm your Joy. I'm what makes you happy and have fun and smile. I know what makes you laugh, and what your favorites are, and what you love most. In fact, I'm the reason you love those things. But for the past hours, you haven't felt happy at all. You've felt sad, or disgust, or maybe anger. There are reasons that I can't explain."

I paused, biting my lip. Fear cocked his head away from the camera and assured me with a nod. I nodded back.

"All I've ever wanted for you was you to be happy. Not angry. Not sad. Not disgusted. And not even afraid." I took another breath. "But I've realized something now. You need those emotions to have a complete life. You need Sadness, and Anger, and Disgust. You also need Fear. Which, sometimes ironically, Fear can be brave, too."

Fear smiled at me from behind the camera.

"Remember when you missed the winning shot to that hockey game, and you felt horrible and sad? That was all Sadness. If it wasn't for Sadness, Mom and Dad and the whole team came and cheered you up. Remember when you were so scared to jump off the high dive for the first time? That was ALL Fear."

I glanced over at the Wake-O-Meter and noticed it rising to Awake. It was working.

"You would've never had those memories if it wasn't for those emotions. So just because you don't feel happy now, you will soon. Go ahead, feel sad and angry, I'll be home soon."

Suddenly, the sky lit up amd Wake-O-Meter announced Riley being awake. Fear dropped the camera and lept with joy. "That was amazing!, Joy!" He wrapped his arms around me and spun me around.

A train whistled. "Follow me!" Bing-Bong cried happily, and all 3 of us raced to the Train of Thought. We boarded just in time. "We did it!"

"Um, Joy. Look!" Fear pointed as Honesty Island began to crumble. "Oh no!" I cried as chunks destroyed the tracks. The train jerked backwards and we began falling. As we hit the edge of the cliff, the train began to slip over. "Hurry! We have to get off!"

But Bing-Bong slipped and fell into the Forgotten Pit. "No!" I cried, and my dress got caught in the wood. "Fear!" Fear held out his hand to me, but I couldn't reach him.

"Fear!"

"Joy!"

My other hand slipped and I began to fall. As I fell into the abyss, Fear's arms wrapped around me and we dropped down into the Forgotten Pit together.