AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm trying my hardest to not upload another story from Diana until a little bit later, but that is easier said than done. I had writer's block for a little bit because I was trying to come up with a story that happened shortly after the movie. So, here it is! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to "Meet the Robinsons," nor do I own Jonatha Brooke's "I'll Try," I only own Karena.

STORY #8: Inspirations

STORIES OF REFERENCE: Disaster (Ch. 13); Pride and Justice (Ch. 5)

NARRATOR: Laszlo

JUNE 15, 2037 – TODAYLAND, NORTH MONTANA, USA

"How many times do I have to tell you, Laszlo?" my sister Tallulah asked angrily. "Stop painting my hat!"

"Come on, sis, lighten up!" I replied teasingly as I painted another portrait with my paint gun. "Besides, with the washing machine in the bathroom, your hat will be sparkly clean in five minutes."

Tallulah groaned as she skated away to the bathroom. I playfully directed my paint gun toward her, but I heard a scream that wasn't hers. I froze in my tracks and saw a young woman with my paint all over her face.

"Karena!" I exclaimed, and she looked very nervous. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you."

"It's okay," Karena replied, frozen in place. "I think. I'm scared to move or talk right now. What if I get paint in my mouth?"

"Come on, Karena, let's get you washed off."

I dropped to the floor and helped the woman get her face washed off. I had also gotten paint on her blue dress, so I helped wash that off as well.

"So, I thought you were with Wilbur," I said, trying to start a conversation.

"Wilbur said he wanted to do something with his dad," Karena explained. "So I'm just exploring the house until he's done."

"How are you liking Todayland so far?" I asked, putting a smile on my face.

"Todayland is so much more optimistic than Los Angeles, that's for sure. I love it though. It's very different, and a fresh start is exactly what I need."

"My cousin tells me that you are attending the university here. What are you going to study?"

"Music education."

"Oh cool! You know, Franny studied music education, too. Maybe she can help you. What do you hope to do with it? Be a music teacher?"

"You got it! Before I moved here, I was just going to major in music and become a famous singer."

We got out of the bathroom and walked around the second floor.

"But then I met Wilbur and my future changed."

"Why did you want to be a singer? Did you want to travel around the world?"

"Well, yes, that would be one perk to being a singer," Karena explained. "But my main reason is my mom. My mom traveled the world doing what she loved before she met my dad in Los Angeles. She gave up her music career and married my dad, and then I came along and we were a happy family. Sure, she still sang for local events in the Los Angeles area. Heck, she sang 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' at Dodger Stadium!"

"Your mom's name was Evelyn, right?" I asked, remembering the story Wilbur told me.

"Yes, that's right. I became her world, and she sang to me every night. I remember wanting to grow up and sing just like her. But then she died, and singing was all I wanted to do. That way, my mom would still be with me. I moved out of my dad's house when I turned eighteen and moved into my own apartment with all the money I saved from working, and I still worked to help me save for college."

"So, what all did Wilbur do that helped you change your mind?"

"He… was himself. He just blurted out all of his thoughts and secrets to me like he trusted me, and I realized I was having feelings for him. I understood why my mom gave up her career just to be with my dad."

Karena paused and laughed.

"I wanted to be just like my mom, and both she and Wilbur taught me that love is needed to live, not just dreams. And hey, my mom loved kids. I want to spread that kind of love, so that is why I will be studying music education."

"You know, you taught Wilbur the same thing."

"Wait, what did I teach him? We've only known each other for not even two months!"

"You taught him what love means. We all loved Wilbur before you two met, don't get me wrong, but he was… in the clouds. He was always in the clouds, wanting more. Maybe that was why he always took the time machine. But the only person Wilbur truly loved was Carl, because he could trust him. Since you've arrived, Wilbur started to trust more, and he started with his parents. I had never seen him around his mom so much before, but they are both happy."

"Well, I'm glad Wilbur's opening up to his parents," Karena replied with a smile.

I watched her take out her phone, and she put on a crooked frown.

"No text from Wilbur."

"Would you like to see some of my paintings?" I asked, and she put the smile back on her face.

"You know what? I'd love to. Wilbur explained that you paint. I want to see more."

"Let's go to my room."

I led Karena to my room, and she was in instant awe. My walls were covered in so many colors and murals, murals that described my family ever since I was born.

"Laszlo, this is amazing! Can you tell me more about them?"

"Well, Tallulah and I were born to Fritz and Petunia Robinson, as I'm sure Wilbur already told you. We're twins, but I'm the older one by five minutes. Our mom was an artist, so we moved all over the country throughout our childhood."

"That's a lot of moving around!" Karena replied with surprise.

"We were in a different state every year. Our mom's goal was to capture the landscape of each state. My dad had graduated college with an education degree, so he was easily able to homeschool both of us."

"Of all the states you and your family traveled through, which one was your favorite?"

"This one."

I pointed to my mural of the Rocky Mountains with sunflowers in the foreground.

"Back then, it was simply Montana. But now it's South Montana. Tallulah and I absolutely loved the scenery there, and our parents even considered settling there. But, our mom wanted to explore, so we kept going. My second favorite state is Utah."

I pointed to my mural of Monument Valley with a red sunset in the background.

"Are these your mom's paintings?" Karena asked.

"No, these are mine. I painted my entire room. As you can see, all the states have various landscapes. We have lived in New York, because Tallulah and I both attended school there. Utah and Arizona are desert-like states. New York and California are more lively. Oklahoma and Kansas are full of hills and plains. My mom sold all of her paintings to various museums, schools, and hospitals in New York. Whatever she didn't sell, it was auctioned off, so we did make some money out of it."

"What happened to your mom? I highly doubt some magician transformed her into a puppet."

I took a glance at Karena's smirk before I put a solemn look on my face.

"We lost our mother to breast cancer."

"Oh my gosh," Karena gasped and put her right hand over her mouth. "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. You didn't know. Tallulah and I overcame our grief quickly, but our dad never healed. It was something that should have been avoided. That was why he made the puppet. And he does everything with the puppet, before and after we moved here. Tallulah and I thought he was crazy at first, but Uncle Bud and Aunt Lucille encouraged us to support him no matter what, so we became accepting of the situation, even though Dad's a terrible ventriloquist."

We paused for some long moments.

"You told me your mom died as well. If you don't mind me asking—"

"A car accident," Karena answered, but she had anger in her voice. "A drunk driver rammed into my mother's car on her way home from the hospital and killed her. She had just found out she miscarried only to be killed minutes later."

"Come here, Karena."

I outstretched my arms, and she walked into them before I wrapped my arms around her. But I could not decide who had a more traumatizing death: my mom because she had passed away from cancer, or her mom because she found out she lost a baby before she died.

"So you grew up without a mother. That must have been hard."

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do," Karena replied with sadness. "My dad was a chemist, so he was not home often. Instead of playing like I used to do, I cleaned the house every day after school, and I had to teach myself how to cook and fix things. Actually, I hadn't believed in fairy tales or anything of the sort because of my mom's death. I had no hope for myself, so while I went through my teenage years, I kept praying that God would sweep me into heaven or something just to end the emotional pain."

"Do you believe in fairy tales now?" I asked, and Karena looked up at me with a strange look on her face.

"I… don't know."

Karena let out a laugh.

"It's funny how I just said that I prayed God would sweep me into heaven because Wilbur did sweep me away."

"Wilbur didn't do that, Karena," I assured her. "That was all you. Visiting Todayland for the first time was all you because you were trying to find your friends. Wilbur was just part of the puzzle. Everything that happened that led you here happened because of you. You wanted change, and you acted on it. If you did something about it, then you still have faith in yourself. I'll bet ya that by the time you have a child of your own, you'll believe in fairy tales again. Fairy tales have hope and happy endings. I have to believe it will happen to you."

I watched as Karena took out her phone and started to play a song that started out with only the piano playing.

"I am not a child now," Karena started to sing sweetly. "I can take care of myself. I mustn't let them down now. I mustn't let them see me cry. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Who's them?" I asked. "Your dad? Your mom?"

"Everybody," Karena answered before she started to sing again. "I try but it's so hard to believe. I try because I can't see what you see. I try, I try, I try."

"Well, Karena, I'm happy to say you'll fit right in with us," I assured her, sharing a smile.

"Your sister and Franny were the ones who really took me in besides Wilbur," Karena replied as the song continued to play.

"I take it Tallulah gave you a brand new wardrobe? Because whenever she meets someone she really likes, she'll make a whole bunch of dresses for them."

"Yes, she did, and I love them," Karena answered, pausing the song.

"So, what do you like to do in your spare time?" I asked.

"Well, if I'm super stressed, I love to draw and journal."

"You're into art, too?"

"Yes, I am. I was part of the yearbook committee during my years in high school. I created all of the designs on each page."

"You should go into graphic art."

"Nah, I'm good. I don't want to make money off of my passion. My passion should be freeing, not bringing me down because of money."

"You bring up a good point."

Before I could talk more, we heard knocking on the door, and in came Wilbur.

"I was wondering where you went," Wilbur said with a smile as he approached his girlfriend. "What were you and Laszlo talking about?"

"Art and our moms," Karena answered.

"What does Uncle Art have to do with your mom?" Wilbur asked with amusement, and Karena shook her head in response.

"Art, as in painting and drawing, cousin," I explained, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Oh! Oops! Wait a minute, Karena, you draw?"

"Yes, I do… when I'm stressed."

Karena paused and gazed into Wilbur's eyes. Then, she took out her phone and started playing the song.

"I can finally see it," Karena sang sweetly "Now I have to believe all those precious stories, how the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust. So I'll try because I finally believe. I'll try because I can see what you see. I'll try, I'll try, I'll try. I'll try to fly."

"Speaking of flying, wanna go on the time machine?"

"Not right now, Peter Pan," Karena answered, and Wilbur gave her a weird look. "Actually, yes, but can we just go into the city? I am feeling inspired."

"Sure! Anything for you."

Wilbur and Karena arrived back at the house in time for dinner, and then I retreated to my room to paint another mural. I flew to the ceiling, and I drew little figures of Wilbur and Karena gazing at the city of Todayland while holding hands.

After I was satisfied with my work, I laid down in bed and took out my sketchbook. I started drawing a portrait of Karena when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I yelled, and the door opened to reveal Karena. "Karena! I'm surprised to see you this late."

"I have to show you something," Karena replied, holding a sketchbook as I quickly hid mine.

I watched as she walked into my room and sat down on my bed. Then, she opened her book and showed me a drawing, which was a sketch of Todayland from the ground.

"Did you ask Wilbur to drive you into the city only to have him park in the middle of the city?" I asked.

"No, we toured the city again, and then he parked on the outskirts of the city so that I could draw. Apparently, Wilbur has the eye for photography, which I had no idea about."

"I didn't know Wilbur knew photography!" I exclaimed with surprise.

"Well, he only had his phone, but he was taking pictures of me the whole time, and Laszlo, you should see his pictures."

"But I digress. Karena, this is amazing! You truly do have an artist's eye. You need to show my cousin this sketch."

"Which one? Cornelius?"

"Yeah! He's the Father of the Future! He needs to see this!"

"Well, alright, but I want to color it first. I was actually thinking of having some neon colors in this. What do you think?"

"Ooh definitely! You should go to Todayland at night."

"It's night now, isn't it?" Karena asked.

"By golly, it is! Well, I could use a small drive into the city. Wanna join me?"

"Sure! I need a ride to my apartment anyway."

"I got you!"

Karena followed me out of my room, up the travel tube from the second floor to the garage, and we hopped into my orange flying car. I started the engine as the roof opened, and we flew out of the house and toward the city. Todayland was still busy at night time, but not as busy, but I was still thankful for headlights so we could see where we were going. I drove Karena throughout the different areas of the city before finally parking the car at her apartment complex.

"Are you feeling inspired yet?" I asked.

"I've been feeling inspired since Wilbur took me here this afternoon," Karena answered. "Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome… is there a nickname I can call you?"

"What were you about to call me?" Karena asked with amusement.

"Sis."

"Well, I'm definitely not your sister," Karena replied with a laugh. "It's up to you."

"Well, then I'll see you later, Karena."

"See you soon, Laszlo."

I waved as Karena got out of the car, and then I flew back home. When I got there, I found Wilbur waiting for me in the garage.

"Were you dropping Karena off?"

"Yes, I was. I'm sorry—"

"No, no! It's okay. When Mom told me you were out driving, I figured out that you were dropping her off. Have you seen her sketches?"

"Yes, she was showing them to me before I dropped her off. She's got a gift. And so do you, so she tells me."

"She told you of my pictures?" Wilbur asked with disbelief.

"Just let me see them," I replied with a raised eyebrow.

Wilbur took out his phone and showed me a close-up photo of Karena drawing the city.

"Wow, Karena was right. You do have a knack for photography. But I don't remember your dad doing any of that."

"Well hey, talent runs in the family."

Wilbur paused as he let out a yawn.

"I need to get to bed. I'll see you in the morning, Laszlo."

"See you later, Wilbur!"

Since when does Wilbur go to bed early?

I shrugged off my thoughts with a smile on my face, and I took out my sketchbook and continued drawing his girlfriend, someone who will bring a new kind of inspiration to the Robinson family, especially me.