Happy To Know You, Grumpy

Back To Normal

((I COULDN'T THINK OF A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS CHAPTER.. UGGG))

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Grim left early, heading straight for his dark manor. Hilda, on the other hand, walked out the castle in utter silence, carrying her present in her perfectly cupped hands. Hilda treated this present as if it was the most prized item she could ever touch. She continued staring at the object, as if she had superpowers and could see through it. She breathed through her opened mouth, still partially in shock. Hilda took one peek off her present to look around at Jollywood. The Christmas decorations were ripped and torn, cracked ornaments lay on the ground. Glass was everywhere and gloom still existed.

Hilda usually loved the feeling of other people's discomfort. But her holding that present and the terrible condition Jollywood lay in didn't seem right. Hilda carefully placed her present in the pocket of her oversized coat and took out the machine she used to suck out all the townsfolk joy. With a sudden change of heart, Hilda let all the joy leak out of the machine, in her complete control. The townsfolk turned from grey, lifeless figures back to their original shining and bright optimistic light.

The Jollywoodians glanced around at each other with awkward eyes. Their gaze finally fell on Hilda, and they gasped in shock. Hilda didn't change her emotionless expression. Instead, she merely lifted the machine above her head and smashed it, breaking it into a million pieces without any worry or regret. The townsfolk looked around at each other again with great shock; did Hilda really have a random change of heart? Was she letting them go this soon? Their questions were answered as she left the town, headed to her old manor without bringing any more harm towards the town.

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"Are you sure he's ok?" Grumpy asked, leaning over Happy.

Lord Starchbottom cringed in annoyance. "FOR PETE SAKE GRUMPY, GIVE HIM ROOM!" He yelped, pulling Grumpy away from the close distance he stood from Happy.

Queen Delightful rushed in with a cold ice pack in her hands. She softly lay the ice pack on Happy's warm head and waited, hoping for a sign Happy would wake up.

"It's so weird..." Grumpy stated as he caressed Happy's hand. "...his hand is so cold... but his head is so warm...."

"Could you stop worrying?" Lord Starchbottom murmured. "That's supposed to be MY job..."

Grumpy only halfway listened as he laid his head down on Happy's chest to hear a heartbeat, and felt a small vibration. "His heart is beating!" Grumpy exclaimed with relief. Everyone behind Grumpy smiled extensively.

Bashful took a peek out a nearby window, staring across at the broken ornaments and realized the townsfolk were back to normal, most of them had already started cleaning up the mess, picking up red ribbon and tying them up to the poles, fixating the ribbon back into the pretty bows. They swiped the excess glass surrounding the buildings so no one would get hurt, and replaced the broken ones with new, shinier ornaments. Bashful's eyes twinkled with joy. He turned around with excitement. "Hey guys! Everyone's back to normal again! Hilda must've had a change of mind!"

"Or heart..." Queen Delightful said, trailing off as she thought back to Hilda's tearful eyes when she handed her the purple gift.

"I'm surprised she even had a heart to begin with!" Sneezy laughed to himself as he also took a long look out the window Bashful gazed out of. "Maybe we should help them." Sneezy stated with a smile. Bashful, Sleepy and Dopey highly liked that idea. They tightened and buttoned up their coats, getting ready to leave the toasty castle and help the Jollywoodians decorate in the bittery air.

Grumpy, Starchy, Queen Delightful, and Doc decided to stay in and take care of Happy. Grumpy was getting quite impatient with just watching an unconscious Happy for hours, and desperately wanted Happy to wake up so this nightmare could finally be over.