Wow, I can't believe I finished writing this. I started writing it in mid-March, I think. I heard this song on a Coca-Cola commercial and got inspired. Heh. This was really hard (for me, at least) to write, because it's in three tenses, and I'm not an expert in the English language. Please, don't be mad.
Well, this one-shot is pretty AU. In the movie, we see that Lewis called Goob when he fell asleep during his baseball tournament, waking him and thus, win. That means there won't be a 'Bowler Hat Guy' ever again. And in this story, there isn't. I hope this makes sense...?
Anyway, enjoy! (:
Mildred was a happy, energetic little girl. She loved to play with her dolls, her older sister Karen, and her dog, Skylight. For her, only the present mattered; the future would come when it had to. She was positive about that.
That is, of course, until one day her sister walked inside the house and ran straight to the bathroom, calling for her mother. Mildred was puzzled beyond words. That wasn't like Karen. She would always turn on the TV, say hi to her, and then grab a little treat from a drawer. Then, in no particular order, she'd do other things.
"I'll go buy some. Just stay there!" she heard her mother say. She flew down the hallway and opened the principal door, the one that led outside. Mildred was so confused that, finally, she decided to go to the bathroom and find out what was going on once and for all.
Mildred toddled to the bathroom, her little feet clumsily tapping the floor. She knocked on the door once, and then turned the handle.
"Karen?" she whispered.
"Ahh! Mildred! Go away!" Karen screamed. Mildred ran to her room, startled.
A few minutes later, she heard her mother open the door and run to the bathroom. Mildred had resigned to never getting to know what had happened to her sister.
"Mildred! Please, come," she heard Karen saying. She wasn't in the bathroom anymore. It seemed like she was in the living room now. Mildred sighed, sitting up on her bed and then jumping to the floor, running to her sister's encounter.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scared you off like that. Will you forgive me?"
"Uhmm…"
"Please, sissy, please."
"Hah, okay!" Mildred said, jumping to hug her sister. "But, will you tell me what's going on?"
"Well," Karen tried to explain, "sissy, there are going to be a few changes from now on." She picked Mildred up and sat her on her lap.
"What is--?"
"First of all," Karen interrupted, "I'm not going to be able to play with you as much as I used to. Don't get me wrong; we will do fun stuff. Just, not as often."
Mildred's eyes started watering. "Why not?"
"Mildred, do you see mother or father playing with us all day long?"
Mildred shook her head no. "That's 'cause they're grown-ups. They have to work."
"That's right. Do you get it?" Karen said, smiling a bit.
Mildred groaned dramatically and brought her hands to her face, "I don't get a thing!" she exclaimed, using the latest phrase she had learnt while listening to her mother talk on the phone.
"You shouldn't be making fun of mother. You're lucky I'm not going to tell her."
They both laughed, and Karen went on.
"Anyway. Mildred, what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm a grown-up now, too."
Mildred's jaw dropped, and she finally let her tears stream down her cheeks.
"Are we still going to fly kites?"
"Not tomorrow. Maybe on Sunday."
"Karen…why did you grow up?"
"Everybody has to, someday."
"I don't want to grow up. Never. Ever."
"You say that right now. Once you start going to school, and then, get a little bit older, you'll see what I mean. Life for me isn't just games and fun anymore. There's a whole future lying ahead of me."
"What?"
"The future. The unknown, the hereafter…"
"Why does it matter so much? Be like me. Just let things happen when they have to."
Karen sighed and shook her head. "If we did that, just guess where humanity would be right now. Planning is the key."
Mildred racked her brain, trying to understand. Nevertheless, that was a very difficult conversation for a little kid.
"But, I've never cared about the future, and I'm perfectly fine."
"You're only five. You haven't done it for too long. You have to think like this: everything you do now will somehow affect your life later. So, why not start making the right moves at a young age?"
Mildred nodded and jumped to the floor, heading to her room. She was sure she would never think the same again, so she started to plan her life.
I'm going to be in a beauty pageant. Or be a fashion designer. Or an ice cream seller. Or a doctor. Or…
Mildred shook her head in confusion and then went to her mother's room.
"Mother."
Mildred's mother was called Maya. Maya had always loved her daughters, and treated them as if they were princesses. She wasn't rich, but had enough money to afford a comfortable life for each member of her family.
"Yes, Mildred?"
Mildred went to sit next to her mother on the bed, while she was putting makeup on.
"I have a problem. Karen says that I have to think about the future. But I haven't decided what I will do!"
"So?"
"I thought that maybe you would know. What am I going to be when I grow up?"
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, "what will I be?"
Her mother laughed. "You'll be Mildred, of course. You'll be an adult, but you'll still be Mildred."
Mildred shook her head. "That's not what I mean. What am I going to be? And I mean my future job. Will I have a lot of money? Who am I going to marry? Or, what will I look like? Like you? Like Karen?"
"Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?"
Here's what she said to me;
Maya sighed and left her makeup aside. "Mildred, I'm not a fortune teller. I can't tell you what you're going to be. That's up to you."
"But, can I at least get an answer?"
"Of course you can," Maya said, taking her daughter in her arms and placing her gently on her leg. "You can't be sure of that. At least, not now. Nobody can see the future. We can only hope that it'll be good."
Qué será, será
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Qué será, será
What will be, will be
"So, if there's no way to know, does that mean I only need to let things happen?"
"That's right."
The tot smiled and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Thanks, mother."
Mildred has just graduated from high school. The orchestra keeps playing, but all the graduates walk to the dressing rooms to take their togas off, since they have to give them back as soon as they're done with them. Their mortarboards are still scattered out on the stage where the ceremony took place. It seems like Mildred's life dream has finally come true. Her mother and Karen are there; her father passed away a couple years ago. Also, her boyfriend and future husband, Marco, has come to see her. Mildred exits the dressing room.
"Sissy! You're a woman now! Out of school…oh my gosh! It's unbelievable!" Mildred's 25 year old sister, Karen, shouts. Both sisters hug and she then goes to meet her mom.
Mildred smiles warmly at her mother, who has started to cry…again. They share a long hug, and then Mildred walks toward her boyfriend.
"Marco!" She jumps to his arms and then kisses him sweetly.
When I was young, I fell in love
"Mildred, we can go now…we can start a new life somewhere else," he says, smiling at her.
"I wonder what it'll be like…will it all be hunky-dory?"
I asked my sweetheart,
"What lies ahead? Will we have rainbows, day after day?"
"Yes, most likely," Marco says.
"Most likely?" Mildred frowns, jumping away from the hug.
"Mildred? What's wrong?"
"Why aren't you sure?"
Here's what my sweetheart said;
"Because, even though I'm committed to do this, I don't want to promise anything. Who knows what'll happen tomorrow, or next week?"
Qué será, será
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Qué será, será
What will be, will be
"Hmm…but, if you were sure of what to do, you would promise, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would."
Mildred and Marco will get married. But, just a couple months after that, they'll go to a party, and it will rain. They'll go home at two in the morning, only to be rammed by a truck. Mildred will be the only one to come out alive.
It will take a very long time for her to move on, but she will, eventually. Since she will not have gotten to fulfill her wish to have children, she will become the director of the Sixth Street Orphanage. One rainy night, she will hear a knock on the door. She will open it, and find a baby in a cardboard box.
His name will be Lewis. He'll be blonde and blue-eyed.
At an early age, it will be obvious to anyone, close to him or not, that he'll be very different from the rest of the kids. While they'll suck lollipops and sleep long naps, Lewis will spend hours thinking and collecting 'junk', as the other orphans will call it.
One day, he'll start questioning himself about…himself. He will have invented things his whole life, but will they ever be useful to someone? If they aren't going to be, then he will not want to waste anymore time in them. "But they're still a lot of fun to plan and start working on," he'll think. Lewis will then think about asking Mildred; after all, it'll seem that she knows more than he does.
"Mildred!"
Mildred will run as fast as she can, thinking something is wrong.
"Lewis? Lewis? What happened? Are you okay?"
"Mildred, Mildred! Come fast!"
Mildred will be hysterical. She'll stop in front of the door, breathing hard. "What is it, Lewis?"
"I want to ask you something."
Mildred will frown. "Is that it?"
"Uhm, yes."
Mildred will sigh. "Okay, go on."
"You know I've spent all my life inventing stuff?"
Mildred will nod.
"Well, I want to know if it's still worth doing it."
Now I have children of my own,
They ask (their mother), "what will I be?"
"Do you like inventing?"
"Yes, Mildred. I like it a lot."
"Then, of course it's worth it! Why did you ask me?"
"Because I do it for two reasons: one, because it's a lot of fun. And two, because I want my inventions to be useful for future people. Do you think the people from the future will like them?"
"Will I be handsome? Will I be rich?"
I tell them tenderly;
Mildred will have a very strong déjà-vu. She'll then remember asking her mother what she would be when she grew up. None of the things she has planned will come true, but she'll still be happy. She'll also remember what her mother told her. And she'll think that Lewis question is pretty similar. In other words, he'll be asking if he'll be a successful inventor.
"Lewis, come on. Let's sit," she'll say, sitting on his bed.
Lewis will sit next to her and wait for what she'll say, his blue eyes sparkly and hopeful.
"I had this same talk with my mother years ago."
"Really?"
"Yes. My sister Karen made me question myself about the future. I went to my mother, and she told me that there was no way to know what the future would bring; that we just have to let things follow their course. Of course, that depends on us. If we aim for a better life, we will most likely have one. Nothing can be sure. But it's good that you dream big. The most important thing is that you keep moving forward."
Qué será, será
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Qué será, será
What will be, will be
"Uhm…okay. Thanks, Mildred."
Mildred will exit the room, leaving little Lewis with lots of questions in mind. He will have understood what she'll tell him, but he will start wondering what he'll, more or less, want for his life. Thus, he'll think of a new invention
A time machine…
"That way, kids my age will only have to time travel and see what their life will bring. If they like it, they'll try to make it happen. If they don't, they can always change it," he'll think, and start working on its design.
A few days later, however, Lewis will forget about it. Still, he'll put it in the front pocket of his backpack, just in case.
At twelve, he'll meet Francesca Framagucci, or as everyone will call her, Franny. Lewis will think of her as an annoying little girl who likes frogs, but, eventually, he'll start to like her, to the point where he'll – briefly – flirt with her.
That same year, Lewis will get adopted by Bud Robinson and Lucille Krunklehorn, who will change his name to Cornelius. Cornelius will have his own lab at the Anderson Observatory, an observatory bought by his parents, where he'll invent many things that will change the world, starting with a robot which he'll name 'Carl'.
Cornelius will marry Franny, and become a father at twenty-nine, a son whom he'll call Wilbur.
One night, Cornelius will have a strange dream: Wilbur, graduating from high school, with no idea of what he'll do next. He'll wake up sweating, forcing his half-asleep brain to go open his closet to get his old backpack. He'll open the front pocket, and find the time machine first design. The next morning he'll start working on it, one single thing in mind: his son's future.
After having worked all day, Cornelius will have to go to buy materials for his new invention, but first he'll think of paying a visit to the woman who made the idea of the time machine possible: Mildred. It won't be hard; the owners of the building which used to be the orphanage where he grew up will know Mildred's address, as she'll have come once to show them around. She will have given them it to them in case they need help.
He'll arrive at Mildred's house and find her sitting on her front porch.
"Lewis!" she'll shout, running toward him and giving him a rib-cracking hug.
"Yeah, well, people call me Cornelius now."
"Oh it doesn't matter; for me, you'll always be little Lewis."
Cornelius will smile.
"So, what brings you here to this old woman's house?"
Cornelius will look around the garden absentmindedly, and then look at her. "I want to thank you."
"For what?"
"I doubt you remember, but, the first time we talked about the future, you gave me a great idea."
"Did I?"
"Yes. I'm now building a time machine."
Mildred's jaw will drop. "Are you serious?"
"Uh-huh. I remember how uncertain I was about what I was doing. My goal is that people who don't know what will be of their lives can get a peek of the future. If they like it, they'll try to get it. If they don't, they can change it."
"That's great! I'm so proud of you, Lewis."
"I know, Mildred. Well, I guess I better go. You should come over some time next weekend. I think my son would like to meet you."
"Alright, then. I will."
"Thanks. Good-bye, Mildred."
"Bye, Lewis!"
Cornelius will get the stuff he needs and then go back home. "I should tell Wilbur what I'm up to," he'll think.
Some info source: www(dot)disney(dot)wikia(dot)com/wiki/Meet_the_Robinsons
There's a part of the song where it says "they ask their mother [...]" and, since by children I meant the kids from the orphange, 'their mother' is in ( ). Hah, just so that is clear. Hope you liked it (: