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It was a big day in The Library. It seemed as if everyone (not related to a certain red-horned temptress, that is.) was invited to some sort of special event. As such, everyone who had received a letter of invite now gathered in front of a large, open space. Standing before them was none other than Maisy the Mutt, who had also been the one to send the letters in the first place.
“I’m glad to see you all turned up!” She started with a smile. “Now, I know you’re all probably wondering why you’re here. Well, I got to thinkin’ lately. I know things haven’t exactly been the best around here. Both for us… and the folks outside. So, I decided that what we all needed was a place where we could all just… take a load off, y’know? Somewhere we could just have some fun, and not have to worry about everything. It might not fix things, but… at least it’ll help, right?”
Maisy was quiet for a moment, as if awaiting a response. When none came, she cleared her throat, before speaking again.
“Alrighty then! Without further adieu, I think it’s time for the main event! Ladies, gents, and everyone in between, I give you… Maisyland!”
With that, the lights around them activated one by one, revealing a large theme park, with all sorts of rides and attractions waiting to be activated. The audience stared at the park in awe, taking it all in. After a moment, Maisy spoke up.
“Now, since you’re all my friends, I’m letting you all in free of charge for your first visit. In fact, since we don’t really HAVE any money here, you can come in whenever you want! Now don’t just stand there! There’s a whole park here for you, so enjoy it!”
With that, one by one, everyone in attendance made their way into the park to experience what exactly it had to offer.
One of the rides Maisyland had to offer was a boat ride which took you around the park. The lapping of the waves and the gentle rocking of the boat would be enough to sooth even the most troubled of souls, assuming they didn’t get seasick. However, for one Dorothy Do, the sensations only brought about feelings of loneliness and homesickness.
The sailor couldn’t help but be reminded of his past adventures across The Deep Blue, sailing from island to island. From there, his mind wandered to all the friends he’d made during his travels… and how much he’d missed them.
He missed Captain Littaker’s wisdom and compassion. He missed Brightfin’s kindness, even if the dragon wasn’t keen on showing it to anyone else. He missed the Mapkeeper and her insight into the places he visited. He missed Seabiscuit, and the tricks he would perform whenever Dorothy was feeling sad. He missed the Historian and his knowledge, even if it wasn’t all that helpful. He missed the Cook and her delicious, if bizarre, meals. He even found himself missing the Hang Glider, obnoxious as he was.
When Dorothy had awoken in the strange new world, surrounded by soulless replicants of all his old friends, all he wanted was to go back to sleep. And even after he had been recovered by a few of the other inhabitants, he still found himself yearning for the peace that came with his sleep. Still, it hadn’t been all bad. Even if he couldn’t be with his old friends, he had still made plenty of new ones. Speaking of which…
Dorothy turned his attention to the other person currently sharing his boat, Lancer the Paper Fiend, who was sitting next to him, a bored expression on his face.
“Enjoying the ride, friend?” Dorothy asked politely. In response, Lancer gave a “so-so” gesture with his hand.
“Ah, I see. I know spending your time at sea may not seem exciting at first, but once you get used to it, you start to notice all the little details that I think make it worthwhile.”
Lancer said nothing in response. However, his bored expression had turned to one of thoughtfulness.
“Ah, I’m rambling again.” Dorothy said with a chuckle. “I think what I’m trying to say is… thank you for doing this with me, Lancer. It… it means a lot.”
In response, Lancer nodded, before offering his hand to Dorothy, who took and shook it. As they did, the boat came to a stop, and the two got off.
“Ah, that was nice.” Dorothy said as he stretched his back and arms. “Now then, where should we go next?”
Another one of the rides Maisyland featured was a high-speed train ride through a mine-system. Right now, two of the Archives’s denizens, Tellie Lectric and Beetrice B.E., were making their way off the train after their first ride on it.
“Oh goodness!” Beetrice said, still giggling from the exhilaration of the ride. “I haven’t had that much fun in years!”
“Likewise!” Tellie replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever made a train move that fast. I have to say, it was positively exhilarating!”
“Don’t you mean ‘electrifying’, dear?” Beetrice asked with a wink, getting a laugh out of Tellie.
“You certainly have a way with words, Ms. B.E. It’s no wonder you lasted so long as a mascot.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly an amateur yourself, Mr. Lectric! You were the face of one of the most popular electrical companies in America, after all!”
“Hehe. Yes, I certainly was.” As he spoke, Tellie looked down at the ground, rubbing his arm awkwardly. Immediately, Beetrice realised what she’d said.
“Ah, my apologies, Tellie. I didn’t mean to-”
“I know, I know. It’s just… it’s hard being so attached to something like that, y’know? Especially considering what happened at the World Fair. Sometimes, I can swear I see people looking at me funny when they think I’m not looking. Can’t say I blame em’, but still…”
For a moment, the two were quiet. Then, Beetrice spoke up.
“Well, despite what may have happened in the past, I believe that what we do in the here and now is what determines how people see us. And I must say, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve been nothing less than absolutely delightful, Tellie Lectric.”
“Aw, stop. You’ll make me blush.” Tellie and Beetrice both shared a laugh together, before continuing onwards to enjoy more of the park.
One of the more calming parts of Maisyland was the Nature Pavilion. It was a place where one could “enter the world of Maisy the Mutt.” Or, more accurately, enter an area of the park built to resemble the settings of past Maisy cartoons. This was where Millie Moonbeam and Wistful Winnie found themselves during their trip to the park, with Winnie giving an impressed whistle as she took in the sights around them.
“Getta load of this place, Mil. Pretty wild, huh?” As she spoke, Winnie leaned against a tree, painted to look like it had a face.
“That’s one word for it. I don’t remember seeing anything like this back in Meadowvalley. I have to admit, it’s… a bit overwhelming.”
“Eh, maybe. Can’t say I’m complaining, though. I’m loving the aesthetics of this place.” Winnie replied as she walked over to a graveyard, where several plastic skeletons poked out of their graves to wave at them.
“Say, that reminds me.” Millie said as she snapped her fingers. “Winnie, do you ever think about… going back? To Meadowvalley, I mean.”
At this, Winnie tensed up, before answering in a solemn voice.
“Millie… you know there’s nothing left for us there, right?”
“Well, yes, but… I still think the least we could do is pay our respects, right? Not just to it and the people, but… to Dad as well.”
Winnie was quiet for a moment. Her relationship with her father was… complicated, to say the least. After a moment, she replied.
“Well, if we ever do find a way back… I guess it couldn’t hurt to pay it a visit. As long as we’re together, it can’t be that bad, right?”
“Right.” With that, Millie walked up to Winnie and took her hand. For a moment, the two just stood there in silence, before Winnie eventually broke it.
“Alright, enough sappy stuff. C’mon, I heard this place has a great haunted house!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
With that, the two sisters ran off, eager to see what else the park had to offer.
One of the landmark attractions of Maisyland was the large ferris wheel that occupied the park’s center, adorned with the large visage of Maisy’s face, of course. Currently riding the ferris wheel were Seamore and Strawbetty, the latter of whom seemed much more enthused than the latter.
“Oh, Seamore, look! I think I can see our house from here!” Strawbetty exclaimed as she pointed out the window.
“That’s, er, wonderful, dear.” Seamore replied as he remained firmly planted in his seat. Strawbetty took notice of her partner’s discomfort. She was confused at first, before coming to a realization.
“Seamore, are you… scared of heights?”
“What?! Of- of course I’m not! That’s ridiculous!” Seamore laughed awkwardly, before coming to a stop as he noticed Strawbetty’s disbelieving stare.
“Well… maybe a little.” He eventually relented.
“Oh, darling, why didn’t you tell me?” Strawbetty asked, concerned for her partner, and more than a little ashamed for not noticing his fear sooner.
“Well, you seemed so excited to ride the Ferris Wheel, and I didn’t want to ruin your fun, so…” Seamore trailed off. As he did, Strawbetty scooted closer to him, taking his hands in her own.
“Seamore, you shouldn't have to do something you’re afraid of just for my sake. If something I want to do makes you uncomfortable, you should tell me, alright?”
“...Alright. Thank you, dear.” Seamore said in relief.
“Of course, darling.” Strawbetty replied, leaning in to kiss Seamore as the ferris wheel came to a halt. Afterwards, the two got off.
“Alright, let’s go find something else to do!” Strawbetty exclaimed, before running off, Seamore doing his best to keep up.
The Slishy Slasher wasn’t what one would call a sociable creature. When she had first arrived at the Library, she had expected to be feared and hated, just like she had been before. And yet, that didn’t happen. Instead, she was treated with indifference at worst and outright kindness at best, especially from the dog.
It was… odd, to say the least. The only ones who seemed uneasy around her were the firefly (And even then, she tended to be that way with most people she hadn’t gotten to know, according to her sister), and the puppet couple. More specifically, the blue one. The green one seemingly didn’t mind her. It was understandable, she supposed. She was known for ending relationships before she came here. However, she had no interest in separating the two puppets. She wasn’t even sure why, it just… didn’t appeal to her.
Still, despite how friendly most of the people here were, the Slasher preferred to keep to herself, only interacting with the others if absolutely necessary. As such, when the Slasher first received the invitation from Maisy, her first instinct was to send her a letter politely declining the invitation. However, for some reason, the thought didn’t sit right with her. As such, she decided to do the next best thing: she would go to the event, and then, when it was over, leave as soon as possible.
And yet, here she was, sitting inside a giant tea cup which slowly spun around and around, staring down the scarecrow puppet who shared it.
“I still don’t know how you talked me into this.” The Slasher muttered under her breath as she glared at Winerva Woeful.
“Well, I have always had a certain way with words.” Winerva replied. “Besides, though I can respect wanting to keep to yourself, I find that spending time with people you enjoy can be quite healing for the soul.”
“Really? You enjoy my company, do you?” The Slasher asked, intrigued.
“I suppose I do. Despite your unfriendly appearance, I believe you aren’t quite as monstrous as you appear to be.”
This actually got a laugh out of the Slasher.
“Is that so? You do know who I am, right? What I do?”
“I do.” Winerva replied casually. “And it seems like you haven’t been indulging in those habits for quite some time now. At least, not to any of us.”
This caught the Slasher off guard. She tried to form a rebuttal, but for some reason the words just didn’t seem to form correctly. Eventually, she just settled for crossing her arms and glaring at the scarecrow, who just chuckled in response.
“Now then, things have been going rather slowly, haven’t they? Why don’t we speed things up, you and I, hm?”
At first, the Slasher was confused. Then, she realised that Winerva was referring to the teacup the two were spinning in. For some reason, the idea of making it go faster sounded… really appealing.
“Alright, why not?”
With that, the two placed their hands on the disk that controlled the speed of the teacup, before they began to spin it as much as they could, causing the teacup to go faster and faster. For some reason, the feeling of the wind rushing across her body and seeing the surrounding area all blur together made the Slasher feel a sense of… liberation? She didn’t exactly know what it was, but it made her feel good. Really good.
As Maisy the Mutt wandered around her park, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in what she’d done. For the first time in a while, everyone in the library was smiling. Laughing. Just having a good time. And after everything all of them had been through, that was something all of them needed. She hoped, more than anything, that Maisyland could be a place where everyone could forget about their troubles for a moment and enjoy themselves.
It might not make things better, but at least it could make it hurt a little less.
So Maisy went on, head held high and with hope in her heart.
She couldn’t wait to show everyone the roller coaster.