Dedicated To Disney

5: Time Limit

Calling him a boy wasn't quite right. To me, he looked more mid-teen, but I guess he could look older than he actually was. That, or he was a teenager. I didn't know. It'd been so long since I had watched the movie.

Travis looked up at me from his position in the corner of the exhibit. His combed hair looked like it had been toyed with and his face portrayed fright and confusion. I felt my heart sink a bit. The other characters had the same expression. Did that mean he didn't remember anything?

"Hi," I said, stepping up to the glass. There weren't many visitors in Ordinarily Disney. Probably because some other things were more interesting. "Can I talk to you, Travis?"

"How does everybody here know my name?" he asked quietly. He didn't move closer to the glass.

"It's...It's a long story," I answered truthfully. "Can I ask you something?"

He took a deep breath and placed his hat on his head, closing his eyes briefly. I waited patiently. He hadn't been there long at all so he wasn't even accustomed to being in the exhibit. I felt awful. He was just another person, but he was in a cage.

"Fine," he finally murmured, his eyes meeting mine.

I nodded, giving him a smile. "Don't worry, I'm trying to get you back home."

This caused a hopeful reaction from him and he perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, but I need to know...do you remember anything before you turned up here?"

Travis gazed at me a moment and I could sense that he was thinking. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I didn't have much time before I had to be back at Creational Creatures. I had a feeling Zeke still didn't fully believe me, but some part of him had to be convinced or he wouldn't have let me go.

"Not really..." Travis finally said, eyebrows furrowed. "Just a...a light, maybe. And a hand."

"A hand?" I repeated.

He nodded. "A white, gloved hand but that's it."

A white gloved hand. A person. Was a person bringing them here? Somebody from our world who somehow found a way to that world and is sending them here? Or something else? Like doctors? They worenwhite gloves. Were they experimenting in one of the fantasy worlds - for whatever reason - and they opened a hole and are now sending people through? Or are both of my wild guesses wrong?

Travis gazed at the people bustling around. "Is Old Yeller okay?"

"I'm sure he is," I said, rubbing my forehead. "He's in another exhibit, just like you, in a different area."

"Alright," he said, rather reluctantly. He probably had no clue what I just said.

I need to get back to Creational Creatures. "Thanks for answering my question. I promise you won't be here forever. I have to go now."

Travis sighed but watched as I walked away. I hated just leaving like that. Across from his exhibit was Mowgli. He was sitting up in a tree, sleeping. Children were banging on the glass to wake him up and it made me angry seeing it. I refrained from stopping them, though, as it could just get me into more trouble.

I stalked down the path until I was inside Royal Rounds and immediately stopped as Eric waved his arms to gain my attention. Why do all these characters want my attention? I stopped, rather hesitantly, to approach the glass. He fiddled with his boot until I reached him.

"Is it true that you're going to get us out?"

"What...?" I sputtered, my heart jolting. Did everybody know? "How do you know that?"

"The snow lady spelled it out with ice on her glass yesterday," he said. I forgot that just because they were all Disney didn't mean they knew each other. They were all from different stories, after all. "The word is spreading."

"Well, no one else can know," I said. "I can't have the word somehow reaching anybody working or visiting here."

"Is it just you doing this?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"You should be rewarded," he declared, "for the service you're giving us."

"Good luck with that," I snorted, glancing around me. No one seemed to be paying us any attention. "Look, sorry to be rude, but I need to go or I'll be in trouble."

"Of course." Eric gave me a low bow. A bit bewildered, I tried a curtsy before rushing off.

As I passed Ariel's exhibit her eyes locked on me but she didn't disappear this time. Instead, she swam up to the glass, smiled, and gave me a wave. Her green tail swished back and forth gracefully to keep her in place. The children with their parents squealed - probably thinking she was smiling and waving at them.

I smiled back before picking up my pace. The sound my sneakers made against the cobblestone was actually soothing as I took a deep breath, finally passing into Creational Creatures. I quickly found Zeke helping two men inside an exhibit. I approached the glass to investigate and I arrived just in time to see one of the men lift something out of a flailing bag they were holding before they dropped it onto the floor.

As they moved to exit the cage, my eyes widened. Joy! Joy from Insideout. I always thought she would be either full sized or tiny, but she was a bit in-between. About as tall as a toddler. Her shining blue hair whipped around as she raced the length of the exhibit frantically. I could see her inner-self fighting to remain joyful in the crisis. She must have been the character that arrived that day.

I thought that since she was an emotion, she wouldn't actually be able to be outside of Riley. Guess I'm wrong.

"Gianna."

I turned. Zeke was watching me. "What? I'm on time."

He gave me a lopsided smile. It was almost a little too knowing, like he knew something that I didn't. It made me nervous.

"I see that," he said. "You should probably get back to work."

"Are we ever going to talk like friends again?" I asker. He'd been acting a bit cool toward me lately, with the occasional small amount of friendliness. Was it because I argued with the founders?

The smile dropped at my words and he sighed, shifting slightly. "No. I shouldn't have been more than a supervisor. I shouldn't have shown the extra kindness. I'm your boss, and I don't think a friendship will help with either of our jobs."

"But...we have the same job," I said, my heart stinging a little at his words.

"Do we really?" His tone was once again very knowing. With that, he shook his head and turned, walking away.

What is that supposed to mean? It's almost like he knows I'm working to release the Disney characters...

I swallowed hard and collapsed onto a bench, suddenly feeling tired to the bone. Why should I care? I barely knew him. He was right...he had his job working as a supervisor. I now had my own job and that was returning all of the characters back to their homes.

Eric was right. I should be rewarded. After all, I'm technically dedicating myself to saving them. Goodbye Zeke, and hello mission impossible.

I'm dedicated to Disney now and I won't fail it.

•~•~•~•~•

Hope you're all having a joyous week! I have a dentist appointment tomorrow so I'm dreading that...xD