Author's Note: First off, I wanna apologize for my year long absence. I just felt lazy and unmotivated. But I was also in a bad headspace over some personal things I'm not disclosing. Anyways, one of my friends wanted me to write them an alternate ending to Inside Out, and this is the direction my friend wanted me to take it in. Hope u enjoy!
No sounds are made. No words are spoken. No movements are made. All that is happening is just Bill and Jill Andersen hugging their emotionally distressed daughter, 11-year-old Riley Andersen, trying their level best to provide the comfort she very evidently, so badly needs.
All of their life, Riley had been their "Happy Girl". Their fun loving, adorable, little goofball. And while Riley was still very much that, right now, she was anything but that. She was virtually depressed.
Bill and Jill didn't understand how they didn't catch the warning signs of Riley being so upset with San Francisco. Her arguing with them at dinner, dressing in dark clothing, showing no interest in doing anything that brought her Joy, and always being angry, upset, and moody.
But none of that mattered right now. Because at this moment, Riley had stopped herself from running away and confessed her issues to them. She hated her new home and wanted to go back to Minnesota. In Riley's own words, she said "I wanna go home."
After several minutes, the family finally separated, and Riley was starting to feel a tiny bit better.
As Riley went off to bed, Jill and Bill looked at each other and began the inevitable conversation.
"Honey…are we…bad parents?" Jill asked, very clearly needing reassurance from her husband.
Bill hesitated for a long time before he spoke up. "I…I don't know." He mumbled. "How did we not see this?"
"I think we've been so focused on trying to adjust to this new life ourselves…that we forgot Riley might not be happy with this at all. I mean with all the time you're spending at this new job of yours, and the crisis with that goddamn moving van…I guess Riley felt…alone." Jill reasoned.
"Has she even…made a friend here yet?" Bill inquired in concern.
Jill suddenly remembered something Riley's teacher had said to her just a few minutes ago over then phone. That Riley had cried in front of the class while introducing herself, and how other students came to her with concern because Riley was closing herself off and showing possible signs of depression.
"No…I don't think she has." Jill confessed.
"Oh, honey let's face it. Riley's miserable here. She's feeling alone…scared…and she has no friends here to help her feel welcome, and we…have been busy. Plus, if I'm being honest, I think she hates this house." Bill said, with blunt honesty.
"Bill…you don't think Riley has separation anxiety do you?" Jill asked.
"I think she might honey. I mean she's always had a deep fear of being alone. Remember her first day of preschool, and how long it took you to get her to let go of your dress?" Bill responded. He knew she didn't like hearing about this stuff, but it had to be said at a time like this.
"It's true. Riley has always been…clingy…to a certain degree. And she has gotten better as she's gotten older. But I guess with how she says she feels here…all of that came back stronger than ever." Jill continued.
"Honey…do you think…we should move back to Minnesota? I know this new job of mine pays more, but is it really even worth it if our little girl is so unhappy here?" Bill asked in a serious tone.
Jill was caught off guard by this. "Move back? But honey…you don't have work there anymore." Jill tried to reason.
"My old manager said, when I took this new position, that I was always welcome to take my old position back whenever I wanted. Honey…I honestly think we should consider it."
Jill was at a loss for words. "Wow. I…uh…I don't know what to say. You think we should talk to Riley? She what she says?"
"I think at this point; we owe it to her to talk to her. After all, what she is going through right now…might partially be our fault, for not being there enough for her during this tough time." Bill said, in a somber tone.
Jill and Bill were struggling to keep themselves from crying their own eyes out for how badly things have gone for Riley in just 3 days of living in San Francisco. But they were able to restrain themselves. Riley didn't need them crying right now. She needed them to just be there for her. And they would be.
"I…I think I'm gonna go to bed now. We can talk more about this tomorrow with Riley." Bill said, trying to find any reason to leave this conversation.
"Yeah…I think I am too. It's been a rather…unpleasant day." Jill said.
In Riley's room, Riley was already fast asleep as she unconsciously let tears flow out of her eyes.
Inside of Riley's head, her emotions Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness were all collectively breathing a sigh of relief that they, (or mostly Sadness) had prevented Riley from running away. There was an obvious tension in Headquarters. They needed to have a conversation of their own. It seemed like sleeping would not be happening tonight.
"Sadness…you did a good job. You saved Riley." Joy said, in a quiet but proud voice.
"Thank you." Was the only response Sadness could offer right now.
Joy then turned to Anger, Fear, and Disgust, who were all huddled together, away from the console. She wasn't mad or upset with them. But she did want to know what happened.
"So…does anyone wanna fill me in on what happened while Sadness and I were gone?" Joy asked in a firm tone.
Fear stepped forward. "W-we messed up Joy. We failed to protect her…I-I failed to protect her."
"No Fear…we all failed. Half of the islands fell…because of me. And…I pushed all of you away." Anger lamented in a quiet voice.
"I share a lot of the blame too. I didn't stop you from making Riley angry…or hurting Fear…or from making Riley run away. I feel…like crap right now." Disgust bemoaned. Normally, she wasn't one for self-deprecation, but right now…it had to be said.
Fear turned back to Joy. "W-we tried to help Riley without you and Sadness…but all we did was make things worse. We caused her to fight with her parents, break her friendship with Meg, quit hockey, and…steal from Mom's purse."
Joy stepped forward, stopping it all. "Alright there needs to be some serious change here. First things first, we need to give Sadness the respect she deserves. She's the one who saved Riley. And after our adventure in Mind World, I learned what her purpose is. Sometimes, Riley…needs to be sad. So, from now on, we're not stopping her from doing her job."
The other emotions all looked at her as if she had been whacked on the head by a mallet.
"Next, I need to step back from having Riley happy all the time. I realize that I have been…pushing all of you away from having roles in Riley's life. So, I need to let you all have more control here."
The emotions all began exchanging apologies to one another. Anger to Fear for pushing him away, Disgust to Anger and Fear for basically doing nothing during the time Joy and Sadness were missing, Fear to Disgust for trying to quit, Joy to Sadness for how she treated her, and everyone to Sadness for how they treated her. The rest of the night, was spent trying to cheer each other up as they sat in the living room of Headquarters, with drinks passed out, talking about things that brought them, their own version of happiness, as soon, the tension was eased, as jokes were being told, laughs were shared, and everyone really for the first time got along since the disappearance of Joy and Sadness, as Disgust and Anger were in constant bad moods, and Fear was worried…but annoyed.
The next day, Jill and Bill woke up earlier than usual and they prepared Riley's favorite breakfast, something that they hadn't done in a while. Then Riley came down the stairs, with a neutral expression on her face.
Riley was going to take a few bites and leave for school when her father spoke up.
"Don't worry monkey. We called the school, and you have the day off today." Bill said, surprising Riley. "We actually wanted to talk to you about something important." He continued.
"First off…we wanna apologize to you. We've been…neglecting you these last three days with how busy we've been, with your fathers' new job, and that stupid moving van still not being here, we haven't realized that you felt alone. We're so sorry sweetie. We love you." Jill said as she hugged Riley tenderly.
"Mom it's okay." Riley tried to reassure.
"No honey its not okay. Just because we're busy, doesn't give us any reason to ignore your feelings." Bill chimed in as he patted his daughter on her head. "Anyways, your mother and I have been talking. My boss from my old job in Minnesota said I am always free to return. And it's no secret anymore that you truly hate it here. So, we wanted to ask you…do you want to move back to Minnesota?"
Riley was trying to hold it in. But something inside her urged her to say how she felt. So, Riley let herself show how she truly felt. She silently cried again, while her parents hugged her again.
"Please." Riley began. "I…wanna go home." She said again, rather beggingly.
Jill and Bill then looked to one another and knew that it just wasn't gonna work out here. So, they began to mentally prepare for a move back to Minnesota.