"Lily, I have to tell you something!" I admitted. She looked at me, cocking her head, like she didn't understand my sudden frantic tone. "L-l-lily. You'll never believe me. You never will. But...well...I just...have...to...tell...you." She didn't say a word, waiting for my own next words. "I found it. I found the dreams." Her eyes became huge, and I was afraid she might faint herself.

When she inquired about what I meant, I went over to my desk and took off the blanket. She gasped at the black hole, but immediately went through. I followed after her, and got the same sick feeling in my stomach. We landed in front of the castle again, and she gasped once more. She went over to the castle, but found that she could only touch its exterior; she could not go through its tunnel. When she saw how she was a cartoon, she said, "This is incredible."

It just so happened that today was Employee day.

No one came to work; they were all at Disneyland again. Lily and I began to put more pictures on the desk, and spilled more of the chemicals onto them. Each picture formed a new black hole, then merged with the other holes. When we were all done, Lily and I jumped into the hole that now covered my entire desk. All the the pictures we had - the flowers and the trees and the kittens and the puppies - they were all there in cartoon form. We went back to the lab, and started to add pictures of Disneyland. Soon, we had all of Disneyland inside the new dimension. We could even walk around. However, there were still some blanks; you couldn't go into the Matterhorn, you couldn't ride a tea cup, you couldn't buy a cheero. Back at the lab, Lily began to draw pictures of Disneyland, but it was...different. It was a cartoon version of Disneyland...

I woke up last night, and wrote the previous entry. Once I finished the entry, I fainted again. This morning, I found myself on the cold ground. I got up slowly, looked around, looked at the clock, and saw that I had an hour ‘till work began. I didn’t know if I could handle work today or not. Maybe I should go home…no, I needed to look more into this reaction to the chemicals! The hole on my desk was still there. Panicking, I took a large blanket we keep in the corner for cold nights on top of the hole. Unfortunately, it got sucked into the hole. I took another one that is heavier, and put it over the hole. Thankfully, it didn’t go in.

Just as I did so, Lily came in.

“Oh, I didn’t know anyone was here!” she exclaimed.
“You’re here awfully early.”
“I always come this early.”
“Oh.”
“I love my job.”
“I can see that.”
“…”
“…”
She came over to me suddenly, and placed her hand on my forehead. I had never noticed how soft her hands are. Then again, she had never actually touched me with them.
“Oh dear, are you sick?” she asked, looking very worried.
“No, but I do feel a little…dizzy.”
“You should lie down.”
We went into the lounge area, and she helped me onto one of the couches.
“There we go – nice and easy.”
“Thank you, Lily.”
“You’re welcome.”
“…”
“…”
“You’re, um, too kind to me.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Hmm?”
“You are too kind to me, Charles.”
“No, I’m not.”
“…I guess we’re too kind on both parties, even when we shouldn’t be.”
“…Huh.”
“Yes. Huh.”
“…”
“…”
Then, she kissed me.

And I liked it.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING. IT JUST ISN’T. NO WAY. NO WAY AT ALL!

TODAY, I SPILT THE CONTENTS OF MY MIXED CHEMICALS ON MY PICTURE OF DISNEYLAND I’VE GOT PINNED TO MY DESK. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FINE, BUT THEN I REALIZED THAT SUDDENLY THE CHEMICALS AND PICTURE BURNED AWAY, TO REVEAL A HOLE. IT WAS BLACK, AND CARTOON-Y LOOKING. ‘HUH,’ I THOUGHT. ‘THAT’S ODD.’

IT WAS VERY ODD.

I PUT MY HAND THROUGH, AND IT DISPPEARED INTO THE HOLE! I GASPED, AND WHIPPED MY HAND BACK. I THEN SLOWLY INCHED MY HEAD TOWARDS THE HOLE, WHEN IT SUDDENLY SUCKED ME IN!

AT FIRST, I COULDN’T SEE ANYTHING. I JUST GOT A FEELING OF FALLING DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, LIKE ALICE IN THE RABBIT HOLE. I WAS SCARED TO DEATH! I TRIED TO SCREAM, BUT LUNGS FELT LIKE FIRE. I TRIED TO PUSH, BUT I FELT NOTHING. SUDDENLY, I SLAMMED INTO THE GROUND, BUT NOTHING ON MY BODY HURT.

I OPENED MY EYES, AND I REALIZED THAT I WAS IN DISNEYLAND. BUT IT WASN’T THE DISNEYLAND I KNEW – IT WAS A-A-A-A-A-

OK, I MUST BE DREAMING. NO WAY COULD I HAVE LANDED IN A CARTOON DISNEYLAND! BUT IT REALLY WAS LIKE A CARTOON VERSION OF DISNEYLAND! IT FELT SO REAL, YET UNREAL AT THE SAME TIME!

I LOOKED BEHIND ME, AND SAW THE SAME BLACK HOLE, BUT IT LOOKED MORE REALISITIC THIS TIME. IT WAS JUST HANGING IN THE AIR, INSTEAD OF LAYING ON A SURFACE. I LEANED INTO THE HOLE, AND I FELT THAT FEELING OF FALLING AGAIN…OR MORE OF A LIFTING FEELING, SINCE I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING UP THIS TIME.

I WAS BACK IN THE LABORATORY. I WAS MYSELF AGAIN. I WAS IN THE REAL WORLD – NOTHING CARTOON ABOUT IT BUT THAT HOLE. AMAZED WITH MY DISCOVERY, I WENT BACK IN. CALL ME CRAZY IF YOU’D LIKE, BUT I DID. AGAIN, I FELL DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. I SLAMMED ONTO THE GROUND, WITHOUT HURTING ANYTHING ON MY BODY. I OPENED MY EYES, AND FOUND MYSELF IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE AGAIN OF DISNEYLAND. I LOOKED BEHIND ME, BUT I ONLY SAW THE BLACK HOLE AGAIN, NOTHING ELSE, LIKE MAIN STREET OR THE ENTRANCES INTO THE DIFFERENT LANDS. I LOOKED FORWARD, AND SAW THAT CARTOON VERSION OF THE CASTLE AGAIN. I STOOD, BUT AS I DID, I SAW MY HANDS.

I THEN REALIZED THAT I, TOO, HAD BECOME A CARTOON.

I WALKED TOWARDS THE CASTLE, BUT I WAS GOING NOWHERE. I REALIZED THAT I COULDN’T GO ANYWHERE, BECAUSE THE PICTURE THAT GOT SPILT ON WAS ONLY OF THE CASTLE, AND NOTHING ELSE.

I WENT BACK IN THE HOLE, AND I FAINTED.

Lily caught a cold, so she didn’t come in today. I must admit: it was rather…quiet without her. I kind of missed her being here.

Wait, what am I saying?!

Lily came over to me again.

“Hello, Charles.”
“Hello, Lily.”
“How are you?”
“Good. You?”
“Good.”
“…”
“What are you doing today?”
“A shot of the Blue Fairy again.”
“Anything new?”
“Nope. What about you?”
“I’m doing Aurora today.”
“And…?”
“The colors in the first portion are dowdy.”
“Yep.”
“I, uh, haven’t been to concentrate today.”
“Oh, why?”
“…No reason.”
“Huh.”
“Anyways…”

She walked away. Strange. I wonder why she hasn’t been able to concentrate.
I looked up at one point from my picture, and I caught her looking at me. Heh, I probably had something in my teeth again.

The oddest thing happened today. While everyone was at lunch break, Lily came over to me. I suspected her to insult my notes again, but instead she asked, “How are you, Charles?”

“Eerm, I’m, uh, fine. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“…”
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I am?”
“Uh, how are you, Lily?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“…”
“What are you studying today?”
“A shot of the Blue Fairy.”
“That’s nice.”
“…”
“Um…what have you gotten so far?”
“She’s blue.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“…?”
“Well, I’m going to get some lunch.”
“…”
“Would you like to get some with me?”
“No thanks. I’m not hungry.”
“Oh!…Ok then. Bye.”
“…Bye.”
She smiled, then walked away.

Huh.

Today was April Fool’s Day. Yay, not. Everyone decided to pitch in and paint Wendy on this, my journal. I plan on scrubbing off the paint tonight, since I don’t find it funny at all.

Lily laughed at the prank the most today. Heh.

It’s been dull again. I’ve heard that the next Employee day isn’t until the summer. I can’t wait, because I’ve been dying to examine more combined shots together, instead of focusing on one at a time.

I turned in my paperwork, and I rushed out, before Lily could comment on my short notes today, while she had three pages of them. Heh.

A lot of the men (and woman, thank goodness) decided not to show up today, because today was Employee day. They all went to Disneyland together. I guess I just didn’t get the memo until they stuck a post-it note on my desk. Heh.
It was nice, though. I got some alone time at work, so I got to work on things that I’ve been dying to do lately. Namely, mixing some chemicals. There were several tiny bottles aligned on a shelf next to me, and I kept itching to mix them. Today, no one was looking, so I did. I mixed a pink chemical, a blue one, and an orange one. It was rather fun. I started speaking in a German accent and cackling like a mad scientist. I got bored with it, though, so I pushed my mixed chemicals bottle aside.

Then I hung some pictures from Alice in Wonderland on the wall, and analyzed them as a whole. What my fellow scientists don’t understand is that you must look at these things as a whole; you cannot just look at the parts. From looking at several shots, I got more of a grasp of what I need. The movie’s art is classical and beautiful, with a curious, insane twist to it. It’s rather extraordinary. I did the same with Pinocchio and Dumbo, and got equally good observations.

I hope they have more Employee days soon. It was quite nice today.

Why Dr. Smith made me sit next to her, I’ll never know.

Eh, I still hate my job. Today, I was given the assignment to study a picture from Peter Pan, more specifically Tinkerbell. She’s such a horrible character; I don’t like studying her. She’s so full of herself, while Wendy is so kind and gentle. Kendrick got Wendy today, even though I specifically asked for her. Now, all the men think I have a crush on her. How absurd!

Speaking of girls, we got a female scientist today. She’s a year younger than me, but she’s very intelligent. She’s quite pretty, too. Her name is Lily Denton. I think she despises me. I was looking at the picture of Tink, pretending to be intent on my work, when she suddenly asked me, “What is the meaning of magic?”

“Excuse me?”
“What, Mr. Charles Stewart, is the meaning of magic?”
“Eerm, I don’t have a definition of magic memorized.”
“Then make one up.”
“Well, uh…wizards and witches have powers-”
“Is this to mean only wizards and witches may have magic?”
“They practice sorcery afterall.”
“So this is to say that we cannot have magic within ourselves?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then why do you work here?”
“I needed a job, that’s what! Thank you for prying!”
“Hmph. No need to be rude.”
“Why is it so important to ask me what the meaning of magic is, miss?”
“You clearly are missing the entire point of that picture, that’s what, sir.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t work in this field if you can’t even understand it!”

I asked Henry Barrington what he thought of this. He said that he caught her looking at my notes, and then she made a face. Apparently, I was writing notes about Tinkerbell, but not the magical side of her, so Lily got upset. Lily also thinks that we must understand magic to understand Disney. What is she, a witch or something?!

Heh, she’s a woman. What does she know?

Yesterday, my boss, Dr. Jameson Smith handed each scientist a small book, with blank pages. When one of us inquired what it was for, he replied, “This, friends, is the record of your findings and discovering in our field of science.” Our field of science is one thing: Imagination. Our purpose for these studies is to discover how to make imagination real. Walt Disney filled his films with the idea that dreams can come true. Dr. Smith repeatedly reminds us that this is truth, we just have to find how. He said what we study is extremely important, and that is why we must record it. At the end of this year, he will read our book.

Mine will probably be vastly dull. I’m the youngest scientist here, and I’m only starting to get grips of these ideals. I probably won’t discover anything interesting like the others will. They are so intent on their work, while I feel like I’m rather lazy when I inspect. Perhaps this will change by the end of this year. All I know is that I’ve got a lot of growing up to do, and I must do it quickly!

As mentioned before, we are trying to find a way to make imagination real. This is a vague statement, though, so I must go into detail about this. Walt Disney decided that he didn’t want little kids to meet random strangers in costume at Disneyland anymore. He said that 'ruined the magic'. Thus, he created this laboratory right in Disneyland, for us to find out how we can make his cartoon characters come to life. I was just given this position; I didn’t actually have any desire to be hired here. My professor at my alma mater said I needed to find a place that would look good on my résumé for my first job. I saw an ad in the paper for scientists to work at the Walt Disney Corporation. My professor told me that I should take this job, and I did. Of course, I do not see how we can make cartoons come to life. Sure, Mary Poppins did, but that was a film. It wasn’t real life! Walt Disney focused so much on dreams, he didn’t stop to think about reality.

I’m basically doing this until I can quit and find somewhere else to go, where they study real science.

This is what we do in the laboratory: We take a Disney cartoon, or a picture from a Disney film, and we study it. We study the colors, the drawing style, the personality of the character from what we see, etc. It’s analyzing the picture, and seeing what we can make of it. I suppose Dr. Smith thinks that if we stare at a picture long enough, the drawing will pop out at us. How absurd! I have to sit here for hours and hours, just staring at a picture! No wonder I’m so lazy! What I can’t figure out is how the others may be so intent and concentrated. Or maybe that’s all a show, and they are actually falling asleep.

I didn’t discover anything new today. Hmph. I gave my notes on Steamboat Willie to Dr. Smith, and now I’m just writing a quick entry before I leave.

I think I hate my job.