THE SIMPSONS
THE DISTANCE IN HER EYES
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
Ralph walked down the street humming a quaint and innocent melody to himself when suddenly something caught his eye.
Homer Simpson lying on the concrete with a large elephant seated on top of him, his son Bart and wife Marge trying to pry the large animal off of him.
Seated on the front porch of the Simpsons household was Lisa, trying to laugh at the havoc unfolding but the distance in her eyes told an altogether different story.
On instinct, Ralph walked past the spectacle and sat down beside her, offering her the lollipop he was holding.
"Oh, hi Ralph" said Lisa.
"Why isn't that elephant flying?" said Ralph.
"It can't, it dropped out of the sky"
"Did a stork let him go?"
Lisa giggled a little more sincerely than when she was trying to laugh at her father's predicament.
"Nah, the elephant was being transported to the Springfield Zoo, part of a promotional package for a certain movie out on general release. The plane flying over us must of had a malfunctioning cargo hold and it fell out"
Lisa and Ralph stared on as Homer was wrenched off of the creature, which was fortunately for him a mere infant.
Lisa switched the topic back around to what Ralph had said earlier.
"You don't really think that's how babies come into a family's life right?"
"Elephants and birds don't interact that much? Haven't you seen the movie?" Ralph asked
"I've got a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of that movie" Lisa replied, saddened.
"Why are you frowning upside down?" Ralph asked.
"Oh my family signed up to have our entire home movie archive streamed on Disney+, every nuance of our livelihoods projected into people's homes, every blunder, every prank, every argument, all to feed voyeuristic appetites. We'll become overnight sensations, but we won't get a day's peace from the inevitable fame we'll be receiving"
Lisa realised very little of this was phasing Ralph, which made her feel even further isolated. Her family was dragging her into an unwanted world when she strived for normalcy, and she couldn't seem to confide her frustrations with anyone.
Ralph, however, had the best response she could hope for.
"Disney? So you're gonna be a Princess now?"
Lisa's eyes lit up and she gave Ralph a big hug, rubbing her cheeks tenderly against his.
Suddenly fame didn't seem so frighting.