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After the game, Riley, Bree, Grace, and their teammates exited the ice, savoring their victory. As they walked to the locker rooms, a woman approached them.“Hey, girls. Congratulations on your win!”she said. Riley’s eyes widened. It was Coach Roberts, head of the high school hockey team!
“What a game. That last play. Woo! The three of you were impressive,”the coach said, smiling.
“Thanks, Coach Roberts,”Riley replied.
“Look, it’s last-minute. But every year I do a three-day skills camp. I invite all the best players in the area. I’d love for you girls to come,”Coach Roberts said as she handed Riley a flyer.
The three best friends gaped at her, too stunned to speak. Meanwhile, in Headquarters, the Emotions were freaking out.
“Are we in a dream right now? Please, can somebody pinch me?”Fear asked.
“If we impress Coach, she’ll put the three of us on the team next year!”Joy exclaimed.
“The Fire Hawks! Finally, a team I can get behind!”Anger said approvingly.
“What do you say?”Coach Roberts asked the three girls.
“Yes!”Riley, Bree, and Grace chorused.
“Great! We’ll see ya tomorrow!”the coach told them.
As she walked away, Riley and her friends turned to each other, laughing in amazement. They hadn’t thought it was possible for the day to get any better. But it just had.
Later that night, Riley sat on her bed, taping her hockey stick. Her mom and dad came in to say good night.“What a big day!”Mom said.
Dad pulled Riley into a hug.“You are such an all-star!”he said, rocking her back and forth.“You are gonna knock the coach’s skates off!”
“Dad, stop!”Riley pushed him away, laughing.“It’s just her hockey camp. Who knows what will happen.”
Her smile dimmed as she suddenly remembered her penalty. In Headquarters, the blue-colored memory rolled into recall, playing across the screen.
Twenty-eight, Andersen, tripping!
“My penalty almost lost us the game today,”Riley told her parents.“What if I get to camp and I screw it up?”
“Hey, don’t talk like that,”Dad replied, placing a comforting hand on Riley’s shoulder.
“Yeah, you did great today, honey,”Mom said.
“Exactly! Mom gets it,”Joy said. She yanked the blue memory out of recall.
Riley’s smile returned.“Yeah, I guess,”she admitted.
“We are so proud of you,”Mom told Riley. She kissed her on the forehead.
“Night, monkey,”Dad said. He and Riley scratched at their armpits, making monkey noises. It was their good-night ritual. When her parents left, Riley got under the covers and lay down with a sigh. Then she turned out the light. Within seconds, she was asleep.
The Emotions looked with concern at the blue memory in Joy’s hands.
“Oh, Riley’s so hard on herself,”Sadness said unhappily.
“But... we can make everything easier!”Joy said. She picked up a hook and used it to pull a long tube down from the ceiling.“Behold! My super high-tech Riley protection system.”The others studied the tube. A piece fell off. Joy popped it back into place.
“This is for all those memories that belong in the Back of the Mind. Like this penalty one,”Joy explained, holding up the blue memory sphere.“It’s weighing on her, so let’s lighten the load!”She placed the penalty memory sphere inside the Back of the Mind tube and then pulled down a spring beneath it. When she released the spring, the memory was launched through the tube. The Emotions watched as the blue sphere arced away from Headquarters and disappeared into the distance, to the farthest part of Riley’s mind.
“A one-way expressway to ‘We’re not gonna think about that right now’!”Joy said. The other Emotions nodded, impressed.
“Not bad, Joy,”said Anger.
“You take such good care of Riley,”Sadness added.
Joy smiled modestly.“Thanks, I try. Okay, let’s do a sweep!”she said, gesturing to the day’s memories.
Disgust, Fear, Anger, and Joy went to the shelves of the memory wall. They began to pull out all the memories that might weigh on Riley’s mind.
“Here’s one where she waved at a guy who was actually waving at a girl behind her,”Disgust said. She handed the sphere to Joy.
“Oh, that was so bad. Good choice,”Joy said.
“Here’s when she forgot that girl’s name,”Anger said, grabbing another.
“Oh yeah, that was super awkward,”Joy added.
“What was her name?”Disgust asked.
“I don’t know. Janet or something? Whatever, let’s just get rid of it,”Joy said.
Joy grabbed more memories. Soon her arms were so full, she could barely hold them all. She loaded them into the Back of the Mind tube, pulled the spring back, and released. Whoosh! The memories flew out of Headquarters and vanished into the distance.
“We keep the best and toss the rest!”Joy said, dusting off her hands. She took the memory of Riley, Bree, and Grace celebrating their championship win off the shelf.“Nice work, everyone. All right, Anger. The rest of these babies can go to Long Term.”
Anger pushed a button on the floor. The remaining memories rolled off the shelves and headed to storage in Riley’s Long Term Memory.
“Okay, let’s get some shut-eye—big day tomorrow,”Joy said.
As the other Emotions headed off to bed, Joy lingered behind. At the door, Sadness turned. She eyed the memory sphere in Joy’s hands.“Joy, are you taking that where I think you’re taking that?”
Joy smiled.“Wanna come this time?”
“Yes. I—I mean, no. I—I really shouldn’t,”Sadness stammered.
“You know, you’re the only one who hasn’t been to the Belief System,”Joy pointed out.
“Yeah, it’s just that it’s new, and I know how important it is. I don’t want to mess it up or break it or burn it to the ground or anything,”Sadness explained.
“Sadness, you won’t hurt it. I promise,”Joy assured her.“Have I ever steered you wrong before?”
“Yeah,”said Sadness.“Many times.”
Joy pressed a code into a panel beneath her feet. An elevator rose from the floor.“Come on,”she said, stepping into it.“Where I go, you go.”
Sadness followed her into the elevator. As the doors closed, she smiled and took Joy’s hand. The elevator traveled down the stem of Headquarters, then down, down, down, into the depths of Riley’s mind. The doors opened.
“Oh my goodness,”Sadness said, stepping off the elevator.
They were standing in the center of a massive root system. All around them, glowing beliefs grew like vines. The beliefs stretched high above them, reaching all the way to Headquarters. Joy plucked at one of the glowing tendrils. As it vibrated, they heard Riley’s voice speak her belief. “Mom and Dad are proud of me.”
Joy grinned.“An oldie but a goodie.”
Sadness reached out and plucked at another. “I’m kind.”
“Aww. That’s nice,”said Sadness.
Giggling, Joy ran through the forest, strumming several tendrils as she passed. The beliefs vibrated in the air around them.
“I’m strong.”
“I’m brave.”
“I make great friends.”
Joy and Sadness looked down at the memory sphere in Joy’s hands. In the memory, Riley, Bree, and Grace were celebrating their championship win. Joy bent down and placed the memory in the flowing stream. Its glow intensified, spreading light everywhere. A new belief sprouted from it, attaching itself to the rest of the root system. Joy plucked it. “I’m a winner.”
A pulse of gold energy shot from the new belief. Joy and Sadness watched as it traveled up through the root system, all the way to Headquarters. It touched Riley’s Sense of Self, which glowed. “I’m a good person.”