Xylophone Chronicles

As the rest of the emotions guided Riley through a fun evening out with her parents, headquarters was buzzing with activity. The big screen displayed a peaceful, steady stream of Riley’s experiences, laughing at a terrible joke Dad told, enjoying a delicious meal, and running around a park with Mom. With Joy and Xy dominating the console, two emotions ventured to the back.

Sadness and Embarrassment.

The two of them sat at the dining table in headquarters, enjoying some downtime as neither of them were needed at the moment. Delivery tubes on either side of the table suddenly whirred to life, sending down two identical brown paper bags. The bags landed on the table with a soft thud, and both emotions reached from their seats to collect their meals.

Sadness sighed a quiet sigh, carefully opening her back and rummaging inside. Embarrassment, his face already tinged pink as usual, hesitated before mirroring her movements exactly, rummaging through his bag.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The quiet hum of headquarters filled the air, accompanied by the sound of rustling paper bags.

Sadness pulled out a set of plastic cutlery.

“Fork… and knife,” she murmured softly.

Embarrassment reached into his own bag, pulled out an identical set, and placed them neatly in front of him. He nodded slightly as if to confirm.

Next, Sadness pulled out a napkin.

“Napkin,” she mumbled.

Embarrassment followed suit, pulling out his own napkin and setting it down just like Sadness did.

Sadness’s hands dipped back into the bag and retrieved a soda can. She turned it slightly in her grasp before setting it down in front of her.

“Drink,” she said quietly.

Embarrassment retrieved his soda as well, handling it as carefully as if it were made of glass, before placing it in the exact same position on his side of the table.

Finally, Sadness reached into the bag and took out her meal: a white box that contained a simple grilled cheese sandwich with lettuce and fresh tomato inside. It was a meal that looked warm and comforting. She studied it for a moment before exhaling.

“Dinner,” she murmured.

Embarrassment did the same, taking out his identical meal and setting it in front of him. He seemed to hesitate before giving a tiny nod, as if confirming that, yes, his dinner was ready.

Slowly, he opened the white box and peered at his identical sandwich.

The two of them stared at their food for a moment, the soft, warm glow of headquarters’ lights reflecting in their eyes. Then, as if on cue, they both picked up their cutlery at the same time and helped themselves.

It was quiet, but it was a comfortable sort of quiet. Both of these emotions were the two quietest around after all, so eating in silence was by no means awkward.

They chewed slowly, in sync, the manner of their eating was orderly and civilised.

After a few bites, Sadness glanced up at Embarrassment. He was still looking down at his food, his posture slightly hunched as usual. She tilted her head slightly.

“Is it good?” she asked softly.

Embarrassment’s blush darkened just a little. He gave a small nod but didn’t speak. Instead, he simply picked up his soda, cracked it open with a faint hiss, and took a careful sip.

Sadness gave a small nod in return, mirroring his action. She opened her own soda, took a sip, and placed it back down.

For a while, they continued eating. The silence stretched.

Eventually, Embarrassment shifted slightly in his seat. His eyes flicked up for a brief moment before darting back down to his food. After a moment, he gave a small, barely noticeable smile.

They continued eating, the quiet companionship settling over them like a warm blanket.

As Sadness quietly ate her meal, she stole the occasional glance toward the console, where the rest of the emotions were guiding Riley through her evening out. At first, things seemed normal, Joy and Xy were leading, Fear was anxiously checking every potential risk, Disgust was making sure Riley didn’t accidentally touch anything gross, while Anger and Envy debated the morality of having to wait in a line to use playground equipment.

Ennui was asleep on the couch.

But then, as expected, mild bickering broke out.

“Ooh, Riley should totally get a milkshake from the cafe!” Joy insisted, leaning over the console.

“No way, that’ll be like, our third milkshake this week. That’s too much.” Disgust countered.

“We don’t wanna be gaining weight, people!”

“But the choc-mint shakes are SOOOO good!” Joy groaned.

Fear clutched his head.

“Can we just make a decision before we leave the park!?”

Sadness sighed softly, shaking her head as she returned her attention to her meal. But just as she went to cut off another piece of her sandwich, her arm knocked into her soda can, sending it toppling down and spilling its sticky contents all over her grey sweater and onto the chair.

“Oh,” she muttered.

Meanwhile, across from her, Embarrassment was having a flawless dining experience. He sipped his soda, placing it down perfectly on the table without a single drop spilling. He took another neat bite of his food, chewing slowly, completely oblivious to Sadness’s predicament.

Sadness sighed again, wiping at the mess with a napkin. She picked up her can to inspect the damage, only to spot a hole in it, with soda leaking onto the table, making another mess.

Embarrassment, meanwhile, reached for his napkin at the exact same time, but instead of using it to clean up an unfortunate mess, he casually dabbed at the corner of his mouth like someone in a fancy restaurant.

Sadness placed her now half-empty can back on the table and tried to focus on eating. She grabbed her fork and stabbed it into her sandwich. Just as she did…

SNAP!

Her plastic fork snapped in half.

She stared at the broken utensil for a moment.

Embarrassment, in perfect contrast, cut off another section of his sandwich and ate it without issue, chewing slowly with a tiny, pleased hum

Sadness held tightly onto her plate and tried cutting the sandwich with just the knife. When she succeeded, she stabbed the piece of sandwich and got it to her mouth.

Except the knife wasn’t in it deep enough.

The sandwich piece slid off from the knife and fell pathetically onto the floor.

Sadness blinked at the plastic knife now with nothing on the end of it.

“Oh,” she muttered again.

Embarrassment, still completely unaware of her suffering, gently placed his fork down and reached for his soda. He took a long, refreshing sip. Not a single drop spilled.

Sadness, meanwhile, reached for her napkin, intending to clean off the now soda-sticky table. As soon as she lifted it, a sudden gust from the ventilation system sent the napkin flying directly into her face.

It stuck there.

Embarrassment blinked as he finally noticed something off. He tilted his head slightly, watching as Sadness carefully peeled the napkin from her face before readjusting her glasses.

“…Hmm?” he said, his tone concerned.

Sadness nodded.

“Yeah,” she mumbled.

She rubbed her brow and sighed.

“I think I’m just having one of those days.”

Embarrassment hesitated before nodding slowly, though he clearly didn’t relate. His meal was still going perfectly. Sadness cut off another piece of her sandwich with her lone knife. This time, nothing went wrong, until she bit down on something crunchy.

She frowned and carefully extracted a very large eggshell fragment from her mouth.

How the heck did that get into her sandwich?

Meanwhile, Embarrassment’s meal continued to be absolutely flawless. His food was perfectly cooked, his soda remained the ideal temperature, and even his napkin was folded neatly beside his plate.

Sadness sighed in resignation, deciding to simply finish her meal quickly before anything else could go wrong. She reached for her soda, forgetting momentarily that she had spilled half of it. She tilted it back.

Nothing came out.

She shook the can.

Completely empty.

She sighed again, the sound barely audible.

As she eyed the last corner of the sandwich, she finally felt a sense of victory. Nothing else could go wrong, she told herself. She made it.

She lifted the final piece to her mouth…

“NOOOOOOO!!!” shrieked Xy from the console.

“They’re out of choc-mint! What flavour are we supposed to choose now?!”

Joy quickly embraced her in an attempt to calm her girlfriend down, shushing her gently.

Sadness was startled. She jumped, and the last bite of food slipped from her knife and landed straight onto the floor, right next to the other fallen piece.

She stared at it.

She sighed.

Embarrassment blinked, looking between Sadness and the fallen food. He was already nudging his plate toward her, as if he was saying, “Do you want the rest of mine?”

Sadness shook her head, offering a small, weary smile.

“No, no it’s okay,” she murmured.

“I think I’m done.”

Embarrassment hesitated but didn’t push. He simply nodded and continued eating, still having zero issues whatsoever.

At that moment, the bickering from the console intensified.

“Ugh, fine,” Disgust huffed.

“We’ll just get the vanilla one. But this better be our LAST milkshake for a while!”

“Ha! Vanilla milkshake, comin’ up!” Joy beamed.

“I hope we don’t get a stomachache.” Fear muttered nervously.

Sadness glanced at the screen, watching as Riley happily sipped on her milkshake, completely unaware of the chaos in headquarters, or the even greater chaos that had been Sadness’s dinner.

She exhaled softly, deciding that maybe it was best to just rejoin the others at the console and resume work.

As she stood up, she accidentally knocked her now-empty soda can off the table. It hit the floor, rolled a little, and finally came to a stop by Embarrassment’s foot. He glanced down at it, then back up at her.

Sadness gave a tiny shrug. Embarrassment let out a small, awkward chuckle, unsure of how else to respond.

With that, Sadness shuffled away, leaving behind a dining experience that would definitely not go down as one of her best.

Meanwhile, Embarrassment took one last, peaceful sip of his soda, savoring the final moments of what had been, for him, a perfect meal.

Sadness sighed as she left the dining table, stepping away from the mess she had somehow managed to create in the simplest of activities, eating dinner. She gave a small, awkward nod to Embarrassment, who remained at the table, finishing his meal without a single issue.

She wasn’t sure if it was just one of those days, but it felt like every little thing was going wrong. Maybe she was overthinking it, but as she walked back toward the main control room, she couldn’t shake the feeling that misfortune was following her.

When she reached the others, she immediately sensed the shift in energy.

Joy and Xy were in their usual chaotic flow, playfully debating over what Riley would do once she’d gotten home. Disgust sat nearby, scrolling on a tablet, occasionally rolling her eyes at their antics. Fear was cautiously monitoring the console while Anger lifted Envy slightly so she could have her input.

Ennui twitched in her sleep.

Sadness sighed and made her way toward the memory shelves, deciding to check on some of Riley’s memories. It was a comforting task, something that required minimal interaction. Surely, nothing could go wrong there, right?

She was very, very wrong.

Sadness climbed up the small step stool near the memory shelves, reaching out to inspect one of her own blue memory orbs. The rest of the orbs shimmered in their respective colours, yellow for Joy, red for Anger, and so on.

She reached for the blue orb, one that contained a bittersweet moment of Riley watching a stray dog. But just as she grasped it…

Wobble.

Wobble.

The stool beneath her feet shifted.

“Uh-oh,” she muttered.

She quickly tightened her grip on the shelf, but her movement caused a ripple effect. A few memory orbs shifted forward, teetering on the edge.

Then

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three orbs rolled off the shelf, bouncing on the ground loudly.

Sadness gasped, reaching out instinctively to stop them from falling. But as she stretched her arms to catch them, her foot slipped off the stool entirely.

In the span of a single second, a lot happened:

More memory orbs crashing to the floor, scattering in different directions.

Sadness, falling backward, arms flailing.

The stool toppling over.

Her glasses flew right off her face.

Then…CRACK.

Sadness landed ungracefully on the ground, her glasses skidding a few feet away. As she pushed herself up, she heard the unmistakable sound of something fragile breaking.

Her stomach dropped.

She reached forward, fumbling blindly—her vision already blurry without her glasses. When she finally grasped the object, she felt it immediately.

Her glasses.

Broken in two.

Sadness lifted them up carefully, dread creeping into her chest. One of the lenses had popped out, and both frames were bent at an awkward angle.

She let out a long, deep sigh.

“Oh…” she murmured.

The sound of the orbs crashing and Sadness falling had not gone unnoticed. Joy and Xy immediately paused their conversation, turning their heads. Disgust groaned.

“Oh my gosh, what now?” she muttered, putting her tablet down.

Fear practically jumped at the noise, scrambling over to see the damage. When he saw Sadness on the floor, glasses in hand, his tone of voice became concerned.

“Woah, you okay, Sadness?” Fear asked, his voice high-pitched.

Sadness didn’t answer immediately. She just stared at her broken glasses in defeat. Joy jogged over, Xy close behind. When Joy spotted the wreckage, she winced.

“Ooh, you poor thing.” Joy said.

“Need some help?”

Sadness sighed and gave a small nod.

“Well, if you can cure a bad eyesight then…that’d be great.”

Xy kneeled next to her, hesitantly poking at the frame.

“Uh…yeah this’ll require a lot of work to fix.” she said bluntly.

“Not unless you wanna look lopsided,” Fear added, half jokingly.

Xy was already spiraling.

“Okay, this is obviously not an ideal situation. Uh…just gimme a second to think about how to handle a scenario where Sadness needs to..”

“Anxiety!” Anger cut in from across the room, barely looking away from the screen.

“Relax! We’ll be fine, will one of you just hold her hand through the day or something?!”

Anger’s suggestion sent a ripple of quiet through the room. Joy thought for a moment. It wasn’t a bad idea by any means. Not bad at all. However, how long would that have to go on for?

Sadness groaned and pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Guys, don’t worry about me. My eyesight isn’t as bad as it might look.”

But Joy, ever the optimist, clapped her hands together.

“Alrighty! No need to panic! We can totally fix this!”

Fear frowned.

“Um...right now? Are you sure, Joy?”

“With what? Super glue and duct tape?” Disgust scoffed.

Joy ignored the unhelpful comment, instead helping Sadness to her feet.

“C’mon, Sadness. Let’s go see if we have a spare pair lying around somewhere.”

Sadness hesitated but allowed herself to be guided away. As she walked off, she could still hear the faint murmurs of the others behind her.

“Poor Sadness.” Xy whispered.

Fear nodded.

“You don’t suppose...there’s a curse placed on her?”

Xy gave him a funny look.

“What?” He asked.

Sadness sighed as she trudged along beside Joy. She didn’t want to admit it, but honestly?

Fear was probably right.

Joy, Xy, and Sadness searched high and low across headquarters, tearing through every possible hiding spot where a spare pair of glasses might exist. They started with the storage room, a cluttered space filled with all sorts of forgotten items, from dusty old tool boxes to dirty shelves. Xy shuffled through a drawer while Joy lifted a box labeled “Miscellaneous!” with a hopeful grin.

“Let’s see… yo-yos, old memory magazines, a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich..eww to whoever left that…”

Xy peered over her shoulder.

“Why do we have a half-eaten sandwich in here?”

Sadness stood nearby, rubbing her hands together anxiously.

“Maybe it’s symbolic?”

“Yeah. Haha. Of bad storage management..” Xy muttered nervously.

Sadness could tell Xy was already thinking about rearranging the entire storage room.

Despite their efforts, they came up empty-handed.

Desperate, the trio climbed up to the sleeping quarters and entered Sadness’ room. It was a cozy, quiet space with soft blue lighting and piles of neatly stacked books. Sadness immediately started checking drawers while Joy searched under the bed, just in case.

Xy, arms crossed, leaned against the doorframe.

“You’d think you’d have a backup pair, considering your luck.”

Sadness sniffled.

“I thought I did…”

But once they’d scoured the entire room, it became painfully obvious, Sadness had no spare glasses. She let out a deep, defeated sigh.

“This is officially the worst day ever.”

By the time they returned downstairs, Sadness was on the verge of a meltdown. Joy tried to stay positive, but Xy knew this wasn’t looking good.

Sadness plopped onto the couch, eyes welling up with tears.

“I can’t even see properly! Everything is blurry!

Her voice cracked.

She burst into tears.

Joy quickly sat beside her, rubbing her back. The others remained at the console, some observing, others focused on the controls.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! We’ll figure something out!”

Xy awkwardly shifted on her feet, watching the scene unfold.

“…Should I…get a tissue?”

Sadness just kept crying.

Xy was about to turn and leave to get a box of tissues when suddenly, she had a brilliant, spectacular idea. She snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up.

“Wait! I got it!”

Before Joy or Sadness could react, Xy zipped behind the sofa at lightning speed, making a beeline for her special massage chair. She grabbed her laptop from the seat and practically threw herself back onto the sofa.

“I’ll just order you a new pair, Sadness! If I order it right now, it should arrive in approximately 24 hours! Easy fix!”

Sadness blinked through her blurry vision, still sniffling.

“Oh… that’s…that’s really nice of you.”

“Yeah, no problem! It’ll take…da da da…two seconds!” Xy exclaimed as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

Joy moved closer, peeking over Xy’s shoulder.

But as soon as the screen loaded…

BZZT!

The laptop let out a sputtering whine before freezing completely. The screen glitched, then flickered, then…

BLACK SCREEN.

Xy paled.

“No. No no no, NO!”

She furiously slammed the keyboard, fingers moving at an inhuman speed. Nothing. She tried again. Still nothing.

“No… Ooh nooooooooo…no no no no no…

Xy slowly closed the laptop and lightly butted the surface with her face, losing all faith in the universe.

“No…no…no…no…” Xy droned.

Joy and Sadness exchanged awkward glances at each other.

“Uh, Xy? Honey, maybe we should…”

“Shush! I can fix it!” Xy shouted suddenly, opening her laptop again and haphazardly jabbing random keys.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! Don’t do this to me!”

She pressed every button at once. The screen flickered for a brief moment, giving her hope…

And then it completely crashed.

Xy gawked at the now lifeless screen, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“But…but…”

She exhaled in an effort to calm herself down. She forced a smile and closed her laptop with mock calmness.

She looked at Joy expectantly, as if waiting for her to come up with a new idea.

Joy rubbed her arm awkwardly.

“Sooo… plan B?”

Sadness, still wiping her face, gave them both a watery smile.

“It’s okay, really. You guys tried. I, um…” She sighed deeply.

“I really appreciate it.”

Xy looked like she wanted to protest, but Joy shook her head. It was clear that Sadness didn’t want them fussing over her anymore. With clear reluctance, Xy looked down at her laptop, staring at it like it had personally betrayed her.

“I will deal with you later,” she said to it with a calm nod and a neutral expression.

Joy gave Sadness one last concerned glance before gently guiding Xy back toward the console.

“Come on, let’s give her some space.”

Xy sighed but followed without argument.

As the two left, Sadness turned and slowly trudged toward an open space in headquarters. She didn’t know why she felt so heavy. Maybe it was because of how much had gone wrong today. Or maybe it was because it’s just who she was.

Whatever the reason, she just… needed a moment.

Reaching the center of the room, she let herself sink down onto the floor. First on her knees, then onto her back. She spread out her limbs like a starfish, staring blankly up at the ceiling. Everything felt so exhausting. Tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, but she didn’t bother wiping them away.

She just laid there.

Quiet.

Still.

Sadness lay on the floor, her limbs sprawled out, her tear-streaked face pointed toward the ceiling. She felt so drained, so unbelievably tired. The day had chewed her up and spat her out, and now all she wanted was to melt into the floor, just for a little while.

Then, suddenly, she noticed something.

A shadow. A big shadow.

It loomed over her, blocking out some of the soft glow from headquarters’ lights. At first, she thought maybe it was a trick of her watery vision. But no, someone was standing over her, watching in silent concern.

She blinked slowly, clearing some of the blur from her sight.

It was Embarrassment.

His large, round pink form filled most of her peripheral vision, and even without her glasses, she could make out the deep frown on his face. His hands were held together nervously, his shoulders hunched like he wanted to shrink away but couldn’t bring himself to leave.

Sadness took a shaky breath, then rasped out the weakest, most pitiful greeting imaginable:

“Hello, Embarrassment.”

Her voice was so hoarse and quiet, it barely registered as sound. Embarrassment flinched at how fragile she sounded. His frown deepened, and without a word, he plopped himself down onto the floor beside her with an awkward thud.

He didn’t say anything right away. He just looked at her. His eyes filled with nothing but pure sympathy.

Sadness turned her head slightly to meet his gaze. Even through her exhaustion, she could tell what that look meant.

It was the kind of look that said, “Yeah, today was terrible, huh?”

It was the kind of look that said, “I don’t know how to make it better, but I’m here anyway.”

But then, Embarrassment’s expression shifted slightly. His eyes drifted away from hers and down toward the floor.

That’s when he noticed it.

The puddle.

The floor around Sadness was wet, a shimmering layer of tears pooling beneath her. It wasn’t an unusual sight, Sadness had been known to cry a lot, but the sheer amount was starting to get silly.

Embarrassment tensed, his nervous energy flaring up. He scrambled to his feet in an instant.

Sadness blinked up at him in confusion.

Without speaking, Embarrassment quickly waddled off toward the storage room, his big feet making soft thudding noises as he disappeared through the door. Sadness sighed. Maybe he had gotten uncomfortable. Maybe he didn’t know what to say, so he left. That would be okay. She wouldn’t hold it against him.

But then, he came back.

And in his hands?

A bright yellow wet floor sign.

Sadness blinked in surprise as he gently placed it beside her, right where the worst of the tears had collected. Then, without a word, he sat back down. Sadness stared at the sign. Then at him.

This was something the emotions always did whenever Sadness had a moment like this. It wasn’t out of mockery or exasperation, it was just practical. A quiet, unspoken acknowledgement of her struggles. For some reason, that made her chest ache a little.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and whispered,

“Thanks.”

Embarrassment nodded.

And just like that, he and Sadness remained side by side, sitting still and lying down respectively.

Sadness lay on the floor, her limbs still sprawled out as she let out a long, weary sigh. Embarrassment sat beside her in silence, his big pink form hunched slightly as he watched her with concern. The yellow wet floor sign sat between them.

For a long moment, neither of them said anything. The sounds of headquarters hummed softly in the background, with Joy and Xy whispering about something at the console, the faint clatter of memory orbs sliding onto the shelf, the distant sound of Ennui stirring on her couch.

Then, without looking at him, Sadness finally spoke.

“You probably think all of this is breaking me,” she murmured, her voice quiet but steady.

“Like today was awful enough to finally break my soul.”

Embarrassment twitched slightly, his hands wringing together in his lap. He didn’t say anything, but the deep crease in his brow showed just how much he had been thinking that.

“But really,” Sadness continued, blinking up at the ceiling,

“I’m just having another one of those days….”

Embarrassment tilted his head slightly, unsure of what she meant.

Sadness shifted, hugging her arms close to her chest. She turned her head just enough to glance at him.

“And that’s okay.”

Embarrassment’s frown deepened. His fingers squeezed each other a little tighter, but still, he said nothing. Sadness knew what it meant. She'd come to accept it a long time ago.

Embarrassment made a tiny noise, something between a hum and a sigh.

Sadness smiled slightly.

“I know it looks bad,” she admitted.

“I know it feels bad, too. But…” Her voice softened.

“It’s just one of those days.”

She let her words settle in the air between them.

Embarrassment still didn’t speak, but the worry in his eyes hadn’t faded. If anything, it had deepened.

Sadness understood why.

She was telling him she had accepted this part of her life, that she had always been like this and probably always would be. But that didn’t mean it was easy for others to accept. It didn’t mean it was easy to watch.

Embarrassment had seen everything today.

Her disastrous dinner. Her fall. Her broken glasses.

And now here she was, lying on the floor like a defeated ragdoll, talking about it like it was just another Monday.

He didn’t like that.

But he didn’t argue. He didn’t try to tell her that it wasn’t okay. Because deep down, he knew she was probably right.

Sadness inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly sat up.

“Well,” she muttered, stretching her arms slightly.

“I should get back to the console.”

Embarrassment straightened a little, watching as she struggled to push herself up. Without her glasses, her depth perception was completely off, and it made her movements sluggish and clumsy. She barely got to her feet before stumbling forward slightly.

“Whoa…”

She wobbled, nearly tripping over the wet floor sign, then caught herself at the last second. But as she turned to start walking, she immediately bumped right into Disgust, who had just been passing by.

“Ugh!” Disgust recoiled, pulling back dramatically.

“Watch where you’re going!”

Sadness winced.

“Sorry, I…”

When Disgust saw who she bumped into, her scowl disappeared.

“…Oh.” she muttered.

For a moment, she didn’t say anything else. Then she sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and taking Sadness’ hands.

“Hey, here, take my hands. Just stay with me, okay, girl?”

Sadness gave a small nod.

“I will. Thanks.”

Then, without another word, Disgust helped the half-blind Sadness to the console.

Embarrassment watched them go.

His hands were still tightly clasped together in his lap, his shoulders still hunched, but there was something… different in his expression now.

Something heavier.

He had always known Sadness was used to misfortune. He had always known she had a certain level of acceptance about the way things happened to her. But seeing it? Hearing her talk about it so casually?

It made his chest feel tight.

He wanted to say something to make her feel better.

But what could he say that wouldn’t make himself sound stupid. Sighing to himself, Embarrassment glanced at the wet floor sign still sitting beside him.

*******

As time went on, Embarrassment had plenty of time to think. He sat quietly near the console, his big pink hands resting in his lap as he watched Sadness fumble her way through the evening.

Without her glasses, she was struggling more than usual. She misjudged distances, bumped into furniture, and nearly walked into the memory shelves more than once. She kept squinting at the screen, tilting her head in confusion whenever she couldn’t make out the smaller details. Disgust had offered to hold her hand through the rest of the day, doing her best while Joy and Xy managed the console. Fear had offered to take over Sadness duties from Disgust, who insisted that she had it under control. When Ennui had woken from her nap, she would steal the occasional glance in Sadness’ direction to see what was going on.

And every time Embarrassment saw her struggle, a new weight settled in his chest. He hated seeing his best friend like this.

Sadness had already had a terrible day. The least she deserved was a little relief. Embarrassment had to do something.

And tonight was the perfect opportunity.

Thankfully, he had already put himself forward for Dream Duty earlier on, and he wasn’t the type to backpedal on his word, especially when it concerned Riley. So tonight was the night.

Tonight, he would take the opportunity to do everything in his power to make things right for Sadness.

Embarrassment smiled faintly at the idea that crept into his mind.

What he planned to do was going to take up the whole night.

Even if she had accepted her bad luck…

That didn’t mean he had to.

*********

The headquarters of Riley’s mind had settled into nighttime quiet. One by one, the emotions had climbed the stairs to their respective rooms, yawning and stretching as they murmured their usual goodnights.

All except one.

Embarrassment remained downstairs, stationed at the console for Dream Duty. He let out a deep sigh as he glanced up at the massive screen. Riley’s dream was already in full swing, some weird mash-up of a quiz show and a talent contest, but Embarrassment barely processed it. His mind was elsewhere.

His broad shoulders slumped as he rubbed the back of his neck, staring at the empty dining table. A thought gnawed at him, one he couldn’t ignore.

Sadness.

With newfound determination, he pushed himself up from the chair and made his way to the bin. Digging through the discarded junk, he rummaged past crumpled notes and empty juice boxes until…

There.

The broken remains of Sadness’ glasses.

Embarrassment pulled them out carefully, turning them over in his hands. The glasses were broken beyond recognition, snapped completely in half and both lenses cracked.

They were ruined.

But he’d fix them.

For Sadness, he’d do anything.

He walked back to the dining table, placing the broken glasses down in front of him. His large fingers traced over the damage, his brows furrowed in concentration.

This was going to take some work. With a quiet exhale, he pushed himself up again. Time to get to the storage room.

The storage room was packed with all sorts of spare supplies, some useful, some questionable. Embarrassment dug through shelves and drawers, grabbing anything that might help. A screwdriver, a roll of wire, some industrial-strength glue.

By the time he returned to the dining table, he had more supplies than he knew what to do with. But he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He got to work.

At first, it was slow. Frustrating.

His hands, so big and clumsy, struggled with the delicate task. The screwdriver was too small for his grip, and the wire kept slipping through his fingers. He fumbled. He cursed under his breath. He nearly gave up more than once. But he didn’t. Instead, he persevered.

The first attempt was a disaster, he tried to glue the frames back together, but they wouldn’t hold.

The second attempt was worse, he tried to duct tape the glasses back together but not only did they look ridiculous, but also the tape made the glasses thicker and heavier. He doubted they would even fit Sadness anymore.

Then, he realised.

He was attempting the very ideas Disgust was sarcastically mocking today.

Embarrassment blushed as he ripped the tape away to start again.

By the third attempt, he decided to think outside the box.

Grabbing a blowtorch and some safety goggles from his pile of tools, he got to work again.

He blasted the glasses with heat.

Then, when that step was done, his breath came sharp and rhythmic as he used a giant hacksaw to adjust the length of the wiring he’d use for the hinges.

Then, after that, and after a significant period of time, his fingers shook as he replaced the missing lens with a makeshift one from an old pair of rounded sunglasses.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t beautiful.

But it was whole.

By the time he was finished, he’d lost track of time. Embarrassment slumped back in his chair, exhaling as he looked down at the glasses in his hands.

They were fixed.

Or at least, as fixed as they were going to get. Would Sadness like them? Would she think they were ridiculous? Would she even wear them?

A deep heat crawled up his face as he thought about it.

But then, he pictured Sadness smiling. He pictured her looking up at him, thanking him for his hard work and then…

Walking straight into a wall because her sunglasses’ lenses are too dark.

And because the specs are incorrect.

Embarrassment stared down at the glasses, his massive pink hands turning them over. The frames were straightened, the hinges repaired, but the lens…

For goodness sake, the lens were a massive problem.

He had used the only thing he could find: an old pair of sunglasses. But now, as he squinted at the dark-tinted lens, doubt crept into his mind. He hesitated, then lifted the glasses and slipped them onto his own face. Everything went dark.

Embarrassment blinked. Then blinked again.

Nope.

This was a terrible idea.

He groaned, tugging the glasses off and rubbing his face. Of course sunglasses wouldn’t work. What had he been thinking?

He needed actual glass.

Actual glass that was the correct specs for Sadness.

If he couldn’t find the right lens… he’d have to make them.

With renewed determination, Embarrassment got back to work.

He didn’t know much about making glass, nor was he an optician. But he did know that the headquarters storage room had everything. He also knew that he was smart enough to solve this problem. He rushed back, rummaging through supplies until he found what he needed: a small pile of silica sand, some chemicals he couldn’t pronounce, and an old, neglected set of chemistry tools.

Back at the dining table, he carefully set everything up.

With the precision of someone far too anxious to mess up, he measured out the materials, pouring them into a heat-resistant mold.

Now came the hard part.

Embarrassment’s hands hovered over the blowtorch. He bit his lip, remembering how badly he’d messed up earlier. If he wasn’t careful, he’d ruin everything.

He took a deep breath.

Then, once again, he flicked the torch on.

A bright blue flame roared to life, and Embarrassment got to work, carefully heating the mixture. The minutes stretched on, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to keep his hands steady. The sand melted, turning into molten glass, bubbling slightly before settling into a smooth, clear surface.

It was working.

Embarrassment reduced the flame, letting the new lens cool. This had to be perfect. For Sadness.

Embarrassment worked tirelessly, his massive pink hands surprisingly delicate as he carefully shaped the new lenses. The molten glass had cooled, and now he was sanding it down, smoothing out any imperfections. Every now and then, he would hold it up to the dim light of the console screen, making sure it was as clear as possible. After what felt like forever, he finally managed to cut the lenses into shape, slotting them neatly into the repaired frames. He tightened the tiny screws, adjusted the hinges, and wiped the lenses clean with the edge of his oversized sleeve.

Then, he held them up to inspect his work. The glasses looked brand new. Embarrassment sat back in his chair, exhaling in relief. He had done it. Despite all the challenges, the failures, the endless hours of work, he had actually done it. A tired but satisfied smile crossed his face as he turned the glasses over in his hands one last time. The frames were straight. The hinges were firm. The lenses were crystal clear. Sadness wouldn’t even be able to tell they had ever been broken.

He’d copied the broken lenses exactly.

He just hoped the specs were correct.

But now, he had one last thing to do, clean up.

Riley’s dream had been flickering on the big screen all night, but now it was starting to fade. The clock on the wall read 6:58 AM. Any moment now, she would wake up, and the rest of the emotions would come downstairs to start the day. Embarrassment wasted no time, putting away all the tools and equipment. He scrubbed the table clean, threw away the failed attempts, and tucked the newly fixed glasses into his hands, protecting them like they were the most precious thing in the world. As he placed the last tool back into storage, a soft chime rang from the console.

Riley was waking up.

Embarrassment took one last deep breath, staring down at the glasses in his hands. It was time to give them back.

The morning at headquarters began as chaotically as ever. Joy bounced downstairs with Xy clinging to her back, giggling as Joy pretended to struggle under her weight.

“Wow, no more donuts for you, Xylophone!” Joy teased, dramatically wobbling as if she might drop her.

“It’s all the anxious energy!” Xy shot back with a smirk.

“Got a lot of it in my bones.”

Behind them, Fear trudged down the stairs, yawning. Anger stomped down next, already grumbling, while Disgust followed, adjusting her immaculate outfit with a disapproving sniff. Ennui drifted lazily behind them, carrying tiny Envy in her arms like an indifferent babysitter.

Finally, Sadness trailed behind, moving cautiously, her hands out in front of her as she stumbled without her glasses.

“Morning, guys,” she mumbled, blinking at the group already gathering at the console.

It was in that moment that Embarrassment took a deep breath and tapped Sadness on the shoulder. She turned, squinting up at him, and he wordlessly held out the glasses. For a moment, there was silence. Sadness’ tired frown slowly shifted into a look of surprise, then into a soft, warm smile. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the glasses and slid them onto her face.

Perfect.

She gasped, adjusting them slightly, then turned her wide, watery eyes up at Embarrassment.

“They’re perfect…” she whispered.

“Even…the specifications…perfect.”

Embarrassment, who had spent all night crafting them with more care than he had ever given to anything in his life, simply nodded. Before he could react, Sadness threw her arms around him in a tight hug. The rest of the emotions, who had been watching, immediately burst into cheers.

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Joy beamed.

“Wow, nice work.” Disgust muttered, flipping her hair.

“You can fix things?” Xy asked, pointing at Embarrassment.

“Any chance you can look at my laptop soon?”

Sadness ignored the noise and took Embarrassment’s massive pink hand in hers.

“Come on,” she said, tugging him toward the dining table by the window.

“I feel like having a lovely pancake breakfast today.”

Embarrassment followed without hesitation. But as Sadness reached for her usual seat, he quickly reached out and stopped her, gently guiding her toward the opposite side, the side where he had sat the day before.

Sadness blinked at him.

He blushed.

She let out a tiny giggle before sitting down where he directed. Embarrassment took a deep breath and sat where Sadness had suffered through the worst meal of her life just a day ago. A moment later, the delivery tubes appeared above them, dropping brown paper bags onto the table. They each took turns pulling out their meal items.

Cutlery.

Napkins.

A carton of milk.

Finally, their pancake boxes.

Sadness glanced over at Embarrassment, who seemed hesitant to start eating. She smiled softly.

“You know,” she said, cutting into her pancake,

“I didn’t say this yesterday, but having a terrible day makes you appreciate the good ones more.”

Embarrassment looked at her, still quiet, but something in his expression softened. Sadness took a bite and sighed contentedly.

“And today…is gonna be one of those.”

For a while, the two of them ate in peaceful silence.

Then…

CRACK.

With a loud snap, the chair beneath Embarrassment gave out completely, and he crashed to the floor in an unceremonious heap. The entire room went silent. Every emotion turned to stare. Embarrassment’s face immediately turned a deep, burning pink. He grabbed his hoodie and yanked it over his head in humiliation.