HCSP1 X ZEVEREY X SHERLOCKLAYTON

Riley Anderson was your common teenage girl. She was mostly upbeat and fun to be around, but she also had her moments of being scared, disgusted, angry and sad; like every other human being.

Her feelings were being controlled by a group of emotions living inside her head. Her emotions were consisted of the firebrick looking Anger, the broccoli resembling Disgust, the raw-nerve that was Fear, the teardrop which was Sadness and the star of the show, Joy.

For years, these five emotions accompanied Riley wherever she went. Anger made sure things turned out fairly for her, Disgust took charge in making Riley avoid poisoning in both physical and social aspects, Fear was doing his best to make sure Riley was safe from the many dangers the world contains, Sadness was there for the moments Riley needed to let go of everything; and Joy's job was keeping Riley the happy-go-lucky girl she was known to be.

Ever since her birth they controlled her thoughts and organized her memories. Even though each emotion had a different role in Riley's head, they all had the same main goal; making sure Riley would lead a good life. The emotions loved Riley and they did everything in their power to make sure the mission would be completed successfully. Day by day, month by month, year by year; they never stopped. For all they knew, they will take care of Riley to the best of their abilities forever.

But what they didn't know was that forever was a time period that did arrive at one point, even if it was unexpected…
The ambulance alarm was dying down as the stretcher was being pushed through the hospital doors. Four doctors were directing the old woman laying on it through the many corridors in order to get her to someone's care. The age the woman was in hinted that she might not survive this, but they at least had to try and save her.

Inside the woman's head the emotions were out of control, trying their best to work the control panel which controlled her feelings. They couldn't see anything as the woman had her eyes closed, and it didn't look like their constant struggle with the controls helped much, if at all.

Riley Anderson was an old woman now. She had lived out her life well, getting a good job, meeting a nice husband, and having three children, and grandchildren who were now crowded around Riley's deathbed. Her husband had died two years previously, and Riley felt herself slowly slipping away to join him. She was dying of old age.

Riley was dying.

She knew it was coming. After 89 years her life had to end eventually. The realization had actually given her a fair bit of relief, though she would have preferred different circumstances. Passing on in her old bedroom, or anywhere at home, would have been better than this hospital room. Riley had occupied the room for a week now, after sharp pain convinced her to call an ambulance. Before that she had suffered headaches, achy joints, fatigue. Old age, she told herself. Perfectly normal. Finally, though, she gave in and had herself admitted. Something was definitely wrong.

The room wasn't ideal. It was small and certain features were lacking. The single bed was comfortable enough. The same could not be said for the hard backed chairs. The large window was a delight, though. It gave her a wide view of the birds, the blue sky and San Francisco.

Moving to the city had certainly been a trying experience. Riley still recalled how she had broken down and even tried to run away after first arriving.

Even now, she still sometimes missed the Minnesota snow and woods, despite returning every so often. San Francisco, though, had become home. She loved the hills, the ocean and the people. She had played, worked, lived, laughed and cried here. This was where her family had been raised, and then brought up their own children. Some were gone now but others remained, enough that she had received visitors in this room every day since arriving.

Having visitors helped kill time, but the days still passed slowly. There just really wasn't much to do in this room. Every now and then she would try to read, but her eyes grew tired and fingers started to slip. A lot of time was spent lying down, reminiscing. Riley thought of her life and different events she had experienced. Sometimes the memories were frequent and at other times her mind was fuzzy and slow. Back at home Riley had sometimes reminisced but never for long, always finding something else to do instead. Here, she spent hours on end reviewing memories.

She wasn't the only one. In her head, in her brain, in headquarters, the Emotions watched everything as well. There were some physical changes, like the white hair each had that matched Riley's. There were some behavioural changes too. For the most part, though, each had retained the same essential personalities they always had. They also now sat on a long couch behind a massive console. That console was quiet for the moment, as all five watched a memory of Riley and Meg as children. They played with plastic dinosaurs, surrounded by various other toys.

Emotions took time to remember some things from the past.

"Remember that time Riley spilled peas all over the table at Thanksgiving?" said Sadness. The memory quickly flashed before them.

"Well, now we do," said Disgust.

"Salmon is such a nice fish," said Joy happily.

"Only if cooked properly," said Fear.

"Bon appétit," said the nurse. "Someone will collect the tray later." She turned to leave, pushing the cart. "Oh, and your grandson Rudy called. He won't be able to visit tonight after all."

"Oh no," said Sadness.

"Oh," said Riley. "Did he say why?"

"No. Perhaps someone else will drop by, though." With that the nurse left and the meal cart click-clacked down the hall.

"That little brat," said Anger. "This is the second time. He was supposed to visit Riley at home two weeks ago."

"Well, whatever," Disgust said. "Clearly he has more important things to do."

"Maybe he doesn't want to see Riley again," said Fear. "Is it something we did?"

"We should write him out of the will," said Anger, rubbing his hands together."

"He probably just doesn't want to spend any time with an old lady," said Sadness. "Can we blame him?"

"Everyone, please," said Joy. "Riley has had lots of visitors and Rudy sent a nice card. He must be busy."

"Always a good for nothing," muttered Anger, his white hair smoking slightly.

Joy switched tacks. "Maybe Riley should just have dessert. It's chocolate cake."

The others grumbled and muttered but soon grew quiet. In the past all of the Emotions would have made a much bigger deal out of such an event. Now, it felt almost too trivial to make a fuss. There would be
be other days, other visitors. Probably.

Riley wasn't sad, or angry, or annoyed with Rudy. It was a more nuanced feeling, like everything was mixed together. This was almost always the case. When she was younger there was almost always one emotion that dominated every situation and memory. Over time, everything became more balanced. Eventually she decided this was a sign of maturity. All of the Emotions would now push buttons or pull levers together. Them working in tandem was what made Riley feel these mixed emotions. It was something they had gotten good at over the years. Their teamwork now meant that Riley could adjust easily to new situations and feelings.

As Riley ate the cake a new memory emerged. It was another cake, this one at a birthday party. Riley blew out the candles. Her parents were there too. Once, this had been an entirely joyous memory. Now nearly everyone present was dead, including her parents. The memory was far more melancholic now. Nearly all her memories were this way. Happy bike trips blended with fear of falling, anger at another
depressing news headline mixed with disgust that the world was in such a sorry state.

Riley kept thinking of her parents now as memory after memory flashed. Hockey matches, board games and school plays all appeared and vanished. The Emotions watched each silently, recalling every event and the roles they had played in them. Suddenly, a memory of Riley at the beach.

Sadness: It seems so long ago

The time was soming close

"We're leaving in the order that Riley stops feeling us in," Joy realised. "She isn't feeling disgusted or angry."

Anger's head flamed up for a brief moment, before he noticed that his memory was playing. It was when a bully had shoved Riley's friend, Meg, over in kindergarten. Anger chuckled as Riley exploded in anger and shoved the boy back, pushing him against the wall and making him cry loudly.

"Served him right," Anger laughed. "He had no right to push Meg like that."

The next one was when Riley was in high school. She had just been told by a particularly cruel teacher that she would never pass her finals and

never amount to anything. The four emotions watched as Riley rushed outside and screamed at the sky, venting all her frustration.

Sadness said, "That was sad. Mrs Morgan was really mean."

That was one of the core memories," Joy said. "One of the anger and sadness ones, a mashup. That was when Determination Island opened.

Riley was determined to prove Mrs Morgan wrong and pass her finals. And she did. She got the best grades possible."

Anger was fading. He flared up for a moment before, again, shutting his fire down. "See ya, guys."

"Bye Anger," Fear and Sadness chorused.

"Just for old times' sake…"

Anger walked over to Fear and punched him in the face.

"Ow!" Fear complained.

"Take care of yourself," Anger said.

"You too," grumbled Fear, rubbing his face where Anger had hit him.

Then Anger was gone.

Next Fear's memory floated up. The first one was the first day of school in San Francisco when the teacher called on Riley. Joy gave a chuckle as she remembered Fear's panic.

Fear placed the huge stack of papers, listing all the potential negative outcomes. "Almost finished with the potential disasters. Worst scenario is either quicksand, spontaneous combustion, or getting called on by the teacher. As long as none of those happens…"

The bell rang. Everybody sat down in their seats. "Okay, everybody," said the teacher. "We have a new student in class today."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Fear shrieked, making the stack of papers go flying everywhere. "OUT OF THE GATE? This is not happening!"
Fear himself was chuckling nervously. "I remember that," he said. "That really was scary."

The next memory showed a heavily pregnant Riley lying in her bed. Joy remembered that day. It was the day before Riley's first baby was due.

Fear shuddered. "That was horrible," he said. "It was scary not knowing when it was going to happen…"

He started fading. Fear gave a salute. Joy and Sadness saluted back, though Sadness's arm was very listless. "Bye guys," Fear said. "I hope death isn't too scary."

"You're not dying, Fear," Sadness pointed out.

Fear disappeared but his last words hung in the air: "I meant for Riley."

It was just Sadness and Joy left.

"The original two," Sadness pointed out. "Remember?"

"You made Riley cry for the first time," Joy remembered. "I was trying to push you aside, like I always did."

"Don't be hard on yourself," Sadness said. "None of us realised what I was there for until Riley moved. Then we made the first mashup memory."

"Yeah," Joy said sadly. "I wonder who will go next," she wondered.

A moment later, a blue orb floated onto the stand. The first memory was the first non-joyful core memory: when Riley cried at school.
Sadness flopped on her face. "Sadness!" Joy said, exasperated. "This is your memory!"

Sadness didn't move.

Joy sighed and watched the next sad memory. It was when Mom and Dad died. Joy watched the policeman come to the door of forty-year-old

Riley's house and tell Riley that he was sorry but her parents had been involved in a heavy traffic accident. Neither of them survived.

Joy actually let out a few tears when Riley broke down crying on the floor. Even Sadness had lifted her head up to watch. "That was awful,"

Sadness muttered. "That was the most upset Riley has ever been."

Joy placed her hand on Sadness's shoulder and helped her stand up. "You're fading," she said gently.

It was true. Sadness was slowly become transparent. Sadness unexpectedly lunged forward and hugged Joy fiercely. Joy hugged her back. Then

she found herself hugging thin air.

Sadness was gone.

Joy turned back to the monitor to watch her memories.

Riley laughing for the first time as a baby.

Riley's first date with Mark when they both fell into the duck pond and had ducks swarming around them, looking for food.

Riley's wedding day.

And Riley holding her first baby, Alicia.

When the memories were over, Joy looked straight through Riley's eyes and saw Alicia, Marcus, and Rachel, Riley's three amazing children.

Joy closed her eyes and imagined Mom and Dad's faces, how young and happy they looked when Riley was a child. She imagined Mark, and his cheerful face.

Finally, she thought of her co-workers, the emotions. Disgust, Anger, Fear, Sadness…
And herself. Joy.

Riley's eyes were closing for the final time. Just before they closed, Joy found herself fading. She knew that Riley had a smile on her face and,
not for the first time, felt incredibly happy at the life Riley led.

As Joy faded slowly into oblivion, Riley's eyes closed forever.

Her family left for some time to handle their grief. Meanwhile a stranger went unnoticably in Riley's looked at her for a moment before she started to speak. "Hey Riley I know you may not hear me right now. But I just want to say that I'm so proud of you. I've watched you for a long time almost as much as your emotions did. And...I'm here to give you a second chance"

Stranger looked down "I know that it's not right to just switch life and death like that, that you have to move on like everyone else and I can totally understand that...

She then looked up at her "...but I can't move on knowing that I can help you. You have much more to achieve my friend. Sometimes to move forward is to look back. I hope one day you'll understand...please make a better future for yourself ".

Stranger put her hand on her and suddenly the entire room began to flash with light "Wake up Riley to your new adventures"

Light ceased to be as Riley opened her eyes. "What is- *remembers the hospital* WHA-WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Her eyes went wide as she realised she is no longer in the hospital bed then she looked around to see that she was instead in her old room in San fransysco. She then looked at her arms which now were fresh and young. She went outside to bathroom to look in the mirror "No way...but how I was surely there. That coudn't all have been a dream, that was too real. My entire life was real but then how am I here-

She then heard a voice from lower floor "Riley! Are you awake?"

Riley stopped in her tracks as her tears began to stream down her face. She recognised that voice "Mom?"

She ran down the stairs to see it for herself; then she she saw them, her parents alive and well in their kitchen.

Bill Andersen: Riley are you- *notices Riley's tears* RILEY?!

Jill Anderson: What's wrong why are you crying?!

Riley couldn't hold back anymore and she hugged her mother tightly as her father eventually joined in.

Riley: "I missed you so much".

Bill : *pats Riley* Here little monkey

Jill: What is going on? Did you see a bad dream?

Riley then though that telling her everything may not be such a good idea. And honestly she didn't want to upset them...not now after she is with them again so she noded. "Yes I had a dream that you were gone and I couldn't handle it"

Jill: Now now Riley everything's fine. Me and Bill are here and we will always be with you".

Riley smiled that she now has a chance again and make her future even better. She won't fail them. The will go through tough time now together.

Later someone knocks on the house door and Bill Andesrson goes to open it and see...a boy?

Mark Jordan: Hey is Riley here?

Inside Bill's head: RED ALERT!