Free Driven by Emotions by Elise Allen

those chairs and shelves. Blech!
    So we resumed our walk to the bus station. It was a grueling, unforgiving, relentless walk. If I hadn’t been convinced before that we needed to get as far away from San Francisco as
possible, the walk did it. With all those hills, it was a plod. And then we went through this dirty park. I must have seen bird poop on every bench. And, I don’t know, call me crazy, but back
in Minnesota, when you walked by someone, they said hi. They just did, whether or not they knew you. Here? No one. Yeah, yeah, I know Riley had her head down like she didn’t want to talk to
anyone, but still—how about some manners, San Francisco?
    Worst part? The last few blocks before the station smelled like feet and sewage. Nothing in Minnesota smelled like feet and sewage. We’d be
soooo
much happier back there.
    Mom called as we approached the bus station, but we were
not
going to answer and deal with that nonsense. Riley kept her head down and her nose as closed as possible, and we finally made
it to the bus station…which, of course, smelled like pee. I totally didn’t get it—did people seriously think the corners of the building were an okay place to do their business?
What were they, dogs marking their territory?
    Riley was in line for tickets when Mom called again. She’d called fifteen times already.
    Fear, Anger, and I heard a horrible sound. It hurt my ears—it was all rumbly and screechy and…it was the sound of Family Island collapsing.
    “We’re losing the last island!” I screamed.
    “This is madness! She shouldn’t run away!” Anger yelled.
    “Let’s get that idea out of her head,” I said.
    We tried. We seriously tried hard-core. But the idea wouldn’t budge from the console. It wouldn’t unscrew. Worse, it got fire-hot so we couldn’t even touch it! “Now
what?” I asked.
    Then things got weird.
    All the controls started shutting down. This nasty black yuckiness spread over the console. None of us had ever seen anything like it.
    “Get that idea out of there!” I screamed.
    Anger tried to slam a chair down on the console, but it just bounced off. Fear tried prying the idea out with a crowbar, but the bar just popped out and smacked him in the face…which
would have been funny at any other time, but now I was way too freaked out to laugh at his expense.
    “How do we stop it?” Fear wailed.
    I had an idea. “Make her feel scared! She might change her mind!”
    “Yes!” Fear cried. “Brilliant!”
    “I know it’s brilliant,” I snapped. “Do it!”
    Fear tried. He pushed every button.
    “Guys,” he said, and there was something in his voice I’d never heard before. A fear deeper than anything he’d ever shared. “We can’t make Riley feel
anything.”
    “What have we done?” Anger asked.
    I wondered the same thing. We’d messed up big-time, and now Riley was hunched on a bus, running away from the people who loved her.
    “That’s it,” Anger said. “It’s over. There’s nothing more to do.”
    At that moment, I heard banging on the back window. I ran over to investigate.
    “It’s Joy!” I shouted.
    She and Sadness were hanging on to the outside of the window! Who knows how they got there, but they wanted in. Just one problem…none of the windows in Headquarters opened.
    “Stand back!” Anger roared. He threw a chair at the window, but it still wouldn’t open. These guys and their throwing things—do they really think it’s an effective
way to get things done?
    “Brilliant,” I chided him.
    “Well, what would you do, if you’re so smart!?” he challenged me.
    You
don’t
want to challenge me. Watching him smolder, the little flames flickering on the top of his red, square body, I knew
exactly
what to do.
    “I’d tell you, but you’re too dumb to understand,” I said.
    “WHAT?” he spat.
    “Of course your tiny brain is confused. Guess I’ll have to dumb it down to your level. Sorry I don’t speak ‘moron’ as well as you,