Disclaimer: Walt Disney owns Meet the Robinsons.
(Lewis knows what it's like to hope and to fail.)
Ellen, his surrogate mother, walks through the room, black hair pulled back into the rare bun, eyes winking down at him, and his heart jumps in excitement.
He can feel the buzz of the orphanage, the stamping of feet on the playground outside, but all that matters is the thump thump of his own heart and the warming smile of his almost-mother.
Somedays, he doesn't want to leave her. When he feels sick, and none of his inventions inspire him, he'll sneak into the kitchen, and she'll be there; waiting with a glass of milk.
He also hates her. She ruffles Goob's puffy brown hair and pats Patty's cheek when she's about to have a tantrum; and he knows they love her just as much as he does. But Lewis doesn't want to share.
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The first time he has an interview, he makes a special pen. It goes round in circles and inevitably fails. He didn't like the way his almost surrogate father looked at him, so he isn't too sad.
That's why he doesn't understand how his footsteps lead him to the kitchen, where a familiar presence and glass of milk wait for him.
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The twenty-third time he has an interview, Lewis decides he's really going to do something. So he's goes out to the field, picks up a bunch of daisies; and he prays. His hands work awkwardly and he knows Goob is probably ready to slap him at this point, but he all can think is that if brains don't cut it, maybe wishing beyond what is possible will.
Of course they don't want him. He's too short and probably not pretty enough and he gets the feeling they wanted someone less - needy.
He supposes if he were a parent he would want someone else too.
He goes to his room that day, slowly, not expecting to find Goob there with a box of baseball cards. A smile ghosts its way onto his face, and he realizes that in his own way, Goob is trying to be kind.
They stay up late that night, and promise to be at each others' weddings; because Goob has decided that miracles are miraculous, but not impossible.
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The day he gets the idea to make a time machine, Lewis is feeling particularly upset. His hands ache and his too-long fingernails are bothering him; he desperately wants to get a nail cutter and chop away at them, but he can feel Goob cheering him on silently, and somehow he knows he won't fail this time.
So he tries harder, and pours stolen peanut butter and jelly into the long hose deftly, hours of practice coming in handy, and he feels a little rising feeling in the pit of his stomach.
That, more than anything, is like a slap of hope in the face. Some days he's too down to even feel nervous. He likes his butterflies.
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He hides under a box, and he cries. The sky is blue and the floor is smooth, and he can almost taste the happiness in the air, but all Lewis wants to do is curl into a smaller ball, and disappear.
When Ellen tries to give him hope, offering it like a bee offers honey, he lunges for it. He wants to hope while he still can.
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A month later, Cornelius Robinson sits in his laboratory for the first time, letting the sun's rays seep into his skin, and he flies.
A/N: Just saw the movie. And as much as I love his future family, I keep thinking about his orphanage care-taker (whom I named Ellen), and Goob.