Joy pressed her face against the thick glass window in the back of Headquarters, watching as the Train of Thought chugged off in the direction of the Subconscious. Anger, still tied up, had been hefted into one of those boxcars, all set to be dropped off at the gates of the Subconscious for however long she was going to be there. Logic had said a full day, but it might be more or less. She was usually willing to modify consequences to accommodate circumstances.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Sadness whimpered, recalling her own visit to the dark, mysterious Subconscious from that past month.
"I think so," Fear noted. "I mean, nothing here in the Mind has the potential to kill. She'll be alive - probably traumatized, but nevertheless alive."
"As long as she doesn't burn everything first," Disgust muttered under her breath.
Logic sighed, "The break is over, guys. Let's get back to work. Disgust, the food in this container has been there for several days without refrigeration."
"What?! That's rancid! Move over, Logic!" Joy, Sadness, and Fear shared a chuckle as Disgust shoved aside her coworker and started pushing buttons in order to contort Sarah's face into a grimace.
Anger pushed herself up from where she had been unceremoniously dumped into the Subconscious by the workers from the Train of Thought. The omnipresent stench of eggs hit her before anything else did. Once her eyes grew used to the dark, Anger wiggled free from her loosened bonds and looked around. Not much to see - just a bunch of leafless trees. Why is Sarah even scared by this?
"Well, you're finally here. Took them long enough." Anger knew that voice all too well. She turned around slowly, unwilling to cast eyes on the creature more than necessary. She started with the feet - green and furry. She moved up to the paunched belly, then the crooked yellow smile and the sinister, buglike red eyes.
"Grinch. So nice to see you."
"Your sarcasm is flattering. But there's someone who wants to meet you, so come with me, please."
"Yeah, like I'm going to follow the monster under the bed to something that's probably going to scar me for life."
"I'm not alone." Glowing yellow eyes appeared all around the two. "Now are you coming?"
Anger groaned and rolled her eyes. "You think I'm scared of a few little lights? Do I look purple to you?"
The Grinch snapped his long, furry fingers. A wolflike creature emerged from the shadows, eyes full of unbridled rage. The creature padded slowly closer to Anger, leaning onto its hind legs and preparing to pounce.
"Still not scared..."
The wolf leaped at the brick-like girl. Anger tried to counter the attack, but the wolf had the speed and dexterity to match Anger's brute strength. Anger was unable to get away in time to avoid the wolf catching her stubby arm in its jaws. Anger let out a slight cry of pain, but that cry did not reflect how she really felt. There must have been venom or something in the wolf's bite, because it stung worse than anything she'd ever experienced before. Bee stings and needle pricks were tiny taps compared to this bite.
"It's painfully obvious that you're new here," the Grinch explained with a sinister grin, showing off every last one of his disgusting teeth. "Nothing here will kill you, but there's plenty of things that will make you wish you were dead. Now come with me, or it only gets worse from here."
"Fine," Anger winced. "Just get this stupid wolf away from me!" Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.
At another snap from the Grinch's fingers, the wolf melted back into the shadows. The pain was still there, but Anger could move again. She collapsed to her knees again, breathing heavily. The Grinch's grin only widened.