“I’m sooooo glad you stayed!” Joy is at full energy having just woken up. She raises her hands and looks at them. “This is awesome! Ooh, did you see my toys?!” Joy points excitedly at her...um… fighter spaceship toys, legos that build a cloud, then more war toys. “I got them as a gift from a lava monster after I defeated ninja pirates!”
I nod, not knowing what to say. Next to me, I see Suzy is doing the same. Although she no doubt does know what to say and is trying very hard not to say it.
Joy holds my hand in her right hand and Suzy’s hand in her left hand and drags us out of her cabin.
“Did you see Bonny’s Revenge? She’s so cool! This is the mast. The crow’s nest at the top. If you ever get there, you can call out ‘Aliens ahoy’ and stuff like that! That’s the plank, it’s where I brush my teeth!”
“What?” Suzy says. I squeeze her hand, telling her to keep silent for now.
“There’s the prison with all the villains. I’ll introduce you later! Some of them are really nice!” Suzy and I exchange looks.
“Master Mind!” Joy runs to her broken friend. “Are you still alive?”
“My functioning is 200%,” he says with his mechanical voice. “100% here,” he points to his body, “and 100% there,” he points to the separated lower half of his body.
“Good!” Joy taps his shoulder. “When Dad comes back I’m going to get him to fix you up!”
“Can I stop calling him Bad Dad?”
“Yup! Now he’s just Dad.”
“I’ll call him pirate, since, as I have stated before, he is still not my Dad.”
“Hey! Have you met Master Mind!” This last thing she says as she spins around to face us.
“Yes, he’s very… nice.” Suzy says.
“I am 51% nice and 49% villainous,” Master Mind corrects her.
“But… a nice sort of villainous,” Suzy says and I remember she always sees the good in people.
“That is insulting,” Master Mind says. “And true.”
Joy opens her arms and runs to us. We all hug.
“It’s so nice to have you here! There’s no one here except Dad and the villains and I never had a family!”
She cries. And Suzy cries.
Then Joy separates from us. “Hey! Have you seen the world? Can I take you to see the world?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer and runs to the wheel.
I guess we’re going to see the world.
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt