Left Shoe on the Wrong Foot
Chapter Four
Riley was heading toward the location Gill had set for her to meet him, a warehouse near the pier.
She knew this was a little dangerous, meeting a guy she never knew before a few days ago at the pier. But she needed some excitement in her life, and she had a feeling that the reason Gill called her down here was related to The Time Machine.
She turned a corner and heard ships making a splash at the dockyards, quite nearby. Then she saw a butterfly flutter near. She watched it for a minute, feeling that it was embarking on a journey. She just hoped she could find out when her own journey would commence.
She saw a sign on a bundle of hay as she made her way to the warehouse, wending around crates and stacks of jars. It was so odd to see a sign attached to hay that she cocked her head and decided to remain where she was until she had read it.
Do you want to meet your emotions? Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger….and, well, there's one other one whom we haven't identified yet. But we can bring them outside your head, and you can meet them. If you're willing.
Come to the MIND EXPO, on Saturday, February 13th at the Welcox Supercenter near Maxal Park on Grunby Street. Be there for the thrill of a lifetime!
"Meet my emotions?" Riley said. "That's insane. It's like they think that emotions are people!"
"But we are people," Anger said. "Doesn't she realize that?"
"I'm not sure any humans know their emotions are like us," Joy said. "Of course we couldn't know that unless we interviewed a few people. Maybe we can encourage Riley to ask them."
"But this is scary science!" Fear said, looking frightened out of his wits. "If they can extract us from Riley's mind, then she'll lose her ability to feel whatever emotions they remove. And how do we know we can get back in?"
"It's not like Riley is going to it," Joy said. "She's just thinking about it. I bet the idea of meeting us thrills her. The pleasure scope seems to indicate such."
She indicated a screen that showed that Riley was thinking intently about going to that expo.
"Hey Disgust," Anger said. "Why are you huddled up in that corner?"
"They don't know about me," Disgust said, not looking too happy. "They've identified all the rest of you guys, but not me."
"I know all about being miserable," said Sadness, coming near Disgust. "Tell Auntie Sadness all about it."
Disgust shoved her away and took a more remote place to brood.
Outside Riley's mind, she was still staring at the poster when she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to find Gill standing there, looking sheepish.
"Hey," Riley said.
"Hey," said Gill. "You like the thought of meeting your emotions?" he asked Riley.
"A bit," Riley admitted. "But they don't have the technology perfected, do they? Says there's five emotions but they've only identified four."
"I think there's a sixth one, actually," Gill said. "Or at least I heard there is one."
"Oh?" Riley asked. "Do you know the identity of the sixth emotion?"
"Yeah, it's the feeling you get when you want to kill Darth Vader," Gill said. Riley punched his arm, then stared at her fist.
"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to do that," she said, a tad confused.
Inside her mind, the emotions were staring at the screen. "What just happened?" Fear asked.
There was the sound of an elevator rising behind them, and Love appeared, as silver as ever. "Did you love my first interference with Riley's infatuation?" she said, flipping her cigarette holder around in her hands.
"She punched him!" Joy said. "Was that your stunt?"
"'Course it was, sweetie," Love said, tickling Joy under the chin. Joy glared at her, which was not something Riley's other emotions could say they'd ever witnessed her doing before.
"That wasn't called for," Anger said.
"Trust me, little red man, she's going to be going to high places with this boy."
"She is eleven-years-old," Joy said. "You should not be saying where she's going or what she'll be doing."
"Oh, but don't you see? My very existence in her mind indicates I will have a large hand in what goes on here from now on. She had a crush on lover boy there, and boom! I was born. So you guys and gals better get used to me, because I'm not going anytime soon."
She and Joy exchanged looks of loathing. "One day Riley will be all mine for the most part, and you'll all be has-beens," she said as one last snooty remark, before descending in her elevator like tube.
"She thinks she's something special," Joy said. "Not understanding the wonder of being a from-birth emotion, since Love has only existed in her mind for the last few days."
"Don't let it get to your head, Joy," Fear said. "Let's just tune in to what's going on with Riley."
"Oh yeah, let's!" Joy said, sounding suddenly more cheerful.
But what she saw before her did little to gladden her spirit. Riley and Gill were holding hands.
"Uh-uh, no way is the eleven-year-old I live in holding hands with some boy!" Fear said. "I won't have it!"
He punched the button for him on the controls. Riley extricated her hand from Gill's as they walked along.
"There's the warehouse, up ahead," Gill said, pointing and not seeming to notice that Riley was no longer holding his hand.
"Splendid," Riley said, and she let him lead her to it.
"Now, be ready to be surprised," Gill said, as he unlocked the door to the warehouse with a key, and yanked it open.
"How do you have a key?" Riley asked.
"My uncle owns this place," Gill said. "He let me use it for an experiment."
His gaze was looking beyond her, into the warehouse. She followed it and saw a huge contraption there, as big as Santa's sleigh, which nearly made her quiver with fright.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"Yep," Gill said. "It's a time machine."