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Toy Story: Mister Spaceman
Interlude IV: Childhood's End
"And as the first female president of these United States, I promise a progressive tax rate on the rich."
"Contestation! I must contest! We must lower taxes on the rich, so that their riches may wickle down."
"Pah, foo-fum!"
"Candidates, candidates, I must interject. You-"
"Hannah?"
The presidential debate between Marie Antoinette and Quacks came to an abrupt end, as all eyes turned to the new arrival in the debating hall. The hall, of course, being Hannah's room, and not all those present having eyes. Or, in the case of one of the moderators, missing one. Baby Face had demonstrated however, that despite missing an eye, she was more than capable of keeping the debate civil. Or at least when Quacks wasn't ducking the question.
But none present could stop mum from breaking up the proceedings. Even if she was just standing in the doorway, looking down at the array of toys Hannah had spread out in her room.
"Are you alright?"
"Sure mum. Just playing."
She saw her mother's eye twitch at the mention of play. Considering how Sid had been the past week, she could understand. But, bless her, her mum knelt down, and looked at the scene her daughter had set up. Tried to be "motherly."
"So what's going on this time?"
Hannah played along. "This is Marie Antoinette," she said, holding up the headless doll. "She's running for president."
"I see…"
"Yep. She's going to be the first female president, and is going to do something about taxes by…taxing people." Saying it out loud, the words caught in Hannah's throat – the most she heard about taxes in this house was from her had, and how much he hated paying them, and how they were theft. Nevertheless, she went to the second candidate.
"And this is Quacks," Hannah said, holding up the duck toy that had been smoshed together with a plunger base. "He's part of the old guard. He wants to act like he's got the working man's interests at heart, but secretly, he's part of a sinister cabal that wants to subvert the-"
"What happened to her head?"
"I'm sorry?"
Not interested in hearing about Quacks's co-conspirators, and their plan to poison Marie Antoinette's cake if she won the election, Hannah's mum instead picked up the lay herself.
"Where's her head?" mum asked.
"Sid tore it off, remember?"
The look on Marjorie Phillips's face told her daughter that she didn't.
"He did it a year ago. I showed you the doll."
"…if you say so?"
Jagged iron tore through Hannah's heart. The memory was seared into her mind. After Sid and his gang had torn off Marie Antoinette's head, she'd seen her mum. Told her what her brother had did. How Gran Gran had given Marie Antoinette to her, and now, it was ruined. Her mother, then cooking dinner, had barely given her a look, called out to Sid to not ruin her sister's toys, and had ended the conversation then and there.
Now, mum had caught up with Marie Antoinette's decapitation. Perhaps she might be interested in seeing justice. But instead, her eyes lingered on the toys that scattered Hannah's room. The ones that weren't dolls.
"I don't remember getting you these toys."
"They're not. They're Sid's. Or they were, I guess…"
Her mum frowned, as she picked up the moderator. "I certainly don't remember getting him this."
"You didn't. He built it." She gestured round to the toys – the ones who weren't missing their heads. "He built all of them."
There was a pair of legs attacked to a toy fishing rod. A Combat Carl head attached to a Melody Plus chime. A small skateboard with the top half of an action figure attached to the end. A frog-car hybrid. A jack-in-the-box, with a hand in place of Jack. A little green alien with dog marks on it. Them, and more – all of them from Sid. The only ones that were recognisably their original selves were a blue pterodactyl and Janie, both of whom had their heads re-attached to their original bodies.
Some small act of kindness, Hannah supposed.
"And why are Sid's toys here?" mum asked.
"He gave them to me, remember?"
Mum remained silent.
"Six days ago? He took all his toys out of his room, gave them to me, told me to take good care of them, and then went back inside." She chuckled. "Sid's still crazy, but-"
"Don't use that word, Hannah!"
She shut up immediately, before whispering, "sorry."
Sorry. The word had come out from her tongue, but she didn't mean it. Her mum was in her room, beholding Sid's little monstrosities, and yet all she could care about was Sid's condition. Which, Hannah reflected, the fires in her chest fading, might not have been too unreasonable, given what had happened.
"It's alright," her mum said. She placed the doll-headed metal-spider toy back on the ground. "It's just…difficult."
"Yeah," Hannah whispered, holding the toy up to face her, staring at its spikey head, and one-eyed grinning face. "Difficult…"
That was an understatement. One week ago, Sid had burst in from the yard, screaming about the toys being alive. She'd had her fun then, chasing him up to his room, but the fun hadn't lasted. Sid had barely emerged from his room since – only for breakfast and dinner – had kept it locked the rest of the time. And while Hannah appreciated the peace and quiet for awhile, everything else had gone wrong.
Scud, for starters. For whatever reason, he'd gone running down the road and ended up in a cross-junction, resulting in four cars being damaged, and a lot of irate drivers. The police had come later, telling mum that the household might be liable for damages. Dad, yelling about insurance, and "that damn dog," had ordered Scud be put down. A notion that Hannah might not have objected to in another, but hearing those words from her father…hearing how he slurred them…how he'd hit mum…
She'd convinced him to let her and mum take Scud to the pound. Stupid mutt or not, he was a living being. She'd even knocked on her brother's door, telling him that Scud was being taken away, and that this was his last time to see him again. He hadn't answered, and as such, she and mum had taken Scud away. The poor mutt had been whimpering the entire time, and she'd even given him a quick hug before turning her back on the dog in the pound. Forcing herself not to look back, as he was put inside a cage. Because after all, she'd been the one who'd slammed the door on Scud after he'd knocked her over when the doorbell rang. And while she hadn't sent him off on a wild goose chase down the street, she'd played a role in allowing it to happen. And while she hadn't dared admit it to her family, she knew the truth. And, as they'd left the pound, she'd realized that she'd carry such guilt for the rest of her life.
That had been three days ago. And things hadn't got better. Nor for her, or for any other member of the Phillips family.
"How's dad?" Hannah asked.
Not that she couldn't ask and hope for a different answer.
"The same," mum sighed. She rubbed her hand over her eyes. Through her hair, the flecks of grey showing in the afternoon light. "Won't come out of the bedroom. He's just watching TV, and drinking…God, he's not even searching for work anymore. I…I don' know if I can…"
"Mum," Hannah whispered, taking her hand. "It's okay."
Her mum smiled, and lied as only a parent could. "Of course it is," she whispered, squeezing her daughter's hand. "Of course it is…"
Hannah wished she could believe her. A week ago, she'd have killed to get her brother out of the way, and Scud shut up, and her dad…well, she didn't know about him…but two out of three wishes had been granted. But now?
Now, her mother was in her room. Looking around it, at the properly made bed, and the butterfly-painted walls, and the pile of books in the corner, as if she'd never seen any of it before. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands before her in a knot. Shaking. The bruise under her right eye having become larger. Hannah began to speak, but-
"So," her mum said. "How's the election going?"
…but frowned. "Mum, are you-"
"What's Marie Antoinette's platform?" she asked. "Cake?"
"Um…"
"If she's going to be the first female president, she needs a sound campaign manager," she said. "Who's that?"
Hannah, smiling, held up Sally. "Here," she said. "Sally Fields. She's worked on a dozen campaigns, and she'd got an approval rating of over ninety-percent."
"Excellent." Her mum got on her knees, and extended her hand. "Hello, Miss Fields. I'm Marjorie. I'd like to join your campaign."
"Indeed, young lady?" asked Sally. "And what can you bring to Marie Antoinette's campaign team?"
"Well, I've got friends in high places. For instance, Louis here." She rolled up the skateboard. "He knows a thing or two about palaces."
"Palaces?"
"Palaces," said Louis. "Which means I'll be happy to redesign the White House when Marie Antoinette wins the election."
"To be frank…" Sally whispered, looking at Marie. "It might be 'if' rather than 'when.'" She turned her gaze to Quacks."The opposition's doing a lot of dirty dealing."
"Leave it to me," said Froggy, as he rolled up. "I can go in and out. Why, I even worked on the Watergate scandal."
"Watergate?"
"Watergate," the frog said. "Slipped under the lilies, through the water, and I took down the gate so the tadpoles could get in, and get the dirt on President Nixon!"
Sally, taking a moment to examine every angle of the argument, extended both her hands to them. "I think I just might have a place for you."
"Mama!" came a voice.
Sally looked at Janie. "And you, of course."
"I love you!"
I love you…Hannah reflected, the words ringing in her ears, as more and more toys came to Marie Antoinette's side, guided by her mother's hand. I love you…
The twists and turns kept coming. Marie Antoinette was leading in the polls, but Quacks wasn't out of the game yet. He dug up dirt from Marie Antoinette's past, when she'd worked in a café, and served bread by mistake instead of cake. What followed was a scandal that seemed set to sink her campaign, until Terry the Pterodactyl swooped in as PR manager. He'd been around since the time of the dinosaurs, and if he could survive a meteor, he could survive the ins and outs of a presidential campaign..
And then there was Lem. The alien from Pizza Planet, who brought news from Ms. Nesbitt. In her secret mission in uncharted space, she'd discovered a cache of alien gold, and had sent half of it to fund Marie Antoinette's presidential campaign. She wished she could be here, and dearly missed their tea parties, but she had every confidence that Marie Antoinette could turn things around. And after a pep talk from her little sister, and after Terry discovered that Quacks was taking bribes from the Ugly Duckling Mafia, election day came, with Marie Antoinette winning 100% of the vote.
Hannah and her mum sat on the edge of the bed, in rapt awe, as their new president put her hand on a first grade maths book, taking the oath of office. They cheered and clapped as the ceremony ended, as did all the toys bar Quacks, who hopped away, furious that his chance to be president had been thwarted, and that his attempts at world domination had been postponed. Marie Antoinette hugged her sister, Sally and Janie decided to bury the hatchet, and Frogger said his farewells, as he returned to make up with his estranged wife and hundred tadpole children. Mother and daughter cheered, as Froggy rolled off into the setting sun, having realized that the true prize of the election was the friends he'd made along the way.
And then…nothing. No more play. No more story. All was right in the world. All the righter, as mum put Hannah on her lap. Kissing her on the forehead, and hugging her. Reminding her daughter of another time when they might have done this together…years ago…a lifetime ago…
"Look at you," her mother whispered. "You're growing up so fast."
"Mum, stop it," said Hannah, blushing.
"Presidents, and conspiracies…I remember when you used to do tea parties."
"Oh, I still do them. I just…" She looked at the toys scattered around the room. "I just…changed."
"Don't change, Hannah." Her mother took her off her lap and placed her beside her. "Don't ever change…"
"Mum, come on…everyone changes…"
Her mum didn't say anything, and it wasn't just the tears in her eyes that made Hannah re-think her statement. Sid had changed, after all. So had dad. And neither of those changes were for the better. Her dad was louder. Meaner. And Sid might no longer have been a bully, but being cooped up in his room, refusing to come out…refusing to be anywhere near toys, for some reason…
"Do you think Sid will be alright?" Hannah asked.
Her mum sighed. "I don't know, Hannah. I just don't know."
"Maybe we should take him to the doctor."
"We need insurance for that. And since your dad doesn't have a job…"
Hannah frowned. She didn't understand what that meant. Only that it was bad, and that if Sid couldn't get help…
"I just don't know…I don't know if I can…" Her mother, no longer able to hold the tears back, began to cry.
"Hey," said Hannah, hugging her. "Hey, come on mum. It'll be fine."
Her mum didn't say anything.
"I mean, nothing's broken forever, right? We can fix this." She looked at Marie Antoinette. "We can fix it…"
The new president said nothing. After all, she had no head. Sid had given his sister all his toys, but not Marie Antoinette's head. Once, Hannah would have thought he was holding out, but more likely, it was gone forever. Like Andy, from next door. Some things, Hannah realized, stayed broken forever. And all the stories you told yourself in the safety of your bedroom couldn't change that.
Like her mum, maybe, she thought. Crying. Broken. Fighting back her own tears, she hugged her. Let the tears flow. Her mum hadn't always been there for her when she needed it (hardly ever, in fact), but she could be there for her mum.
And be it five minutes, ten, or more, she was. Until her mother stopped crying. Until she looked at daughter, and smiled, brushing away some of her hair. Looking at her now, Hannah wondered if this was what she'd be like when she grew up. So pale. So timid. Like a…mouse, maybe.
"Want to catch a movie tonight?"
"You mean, borrow one from the video store?"
"No, I mean, go to the cinemas. Didn't you want to see that new My Little Pony movie?"
"What, Journey to Midnight Castle?" Hannah tried to steady her breathing. "I…yeah. Yeah, of course! This is the one where Twilight Sparkle becomes an alicorn, and teams up with Firefly to take down Tirek, and all the ponies use the magic of friendship to form a rainbow and…" She trailed off. "But…that would cost a lot, right?"
"Hannah…"
"Mum, you don't have to. Really."
"No, I don't have to. But I want to." She smiled. "Just this once. You and me. Together."
Hannah knew that she should say no. It would cost a lot to go the movies, and dad wouldn't like it. Especially now. But to be able to spend some time with her mum…just the two of them…like they had, once…
"Together," Hannah whispered, hugging her mother. "Together…"
"You hear me Hawthorne? We stick together!"
"Buzz, I can't!"
"You can! Just-"
"Hannah?"
She hadn't realized she'd been crying. But as the Doom Star closed in on Earth, as the final battle against the forces of the Galactic Alliance and Emperor Zurg raged on, it wasn't because of what was on-screen that was causing her to cry.
Rather, it was what was in her mind.
Memory.
That moment, when she and her mother had been in a cinema just like this one. That time, like one last gasp of her old world, and the start of the new.
Her brother, ever louder.
Her brother, ever stranger.
Her mother, ever quieter.
And she, in the eye of the storm. Alone.
Until now.
"Hannah, are you alright?"
She wiped her eyes, and lay her head on Andy's shoulder. "Fine," she whispered, as the tide turned against the forces of evil. "Everything's fine."
It was a spoken truth. And she hoped Andy knew it. Even if he didn't understand what was in her mind.
As she relived his childhood with him.
In this place of dark, and flickering light.
In memory, and in the moment.
At twenty-one years of age.
At love's beginning
At childhood's end.