Life, Animated (39 page)

Abigail grabs the mirror and puts it in her satchel as the Sidekicks return to the forest, dispirited. As they walk, she talks to Timothy Mouse, asking him to tell her what was. He tells her about how Dumbo discovered what made him different—those ears—helped him soar.

“But sidekicks don’t soar,” Abigail says.

“Of course, we do, my dear,” Big Mama tells her. “What allows us to soar is discovering that each of us has a gift. The gift of what makes us who we are. And a gift we can give to others.”

“What’s my gift?”

She smiles. “It is one of those things you’ve got to learn on you own. Why don’t you ask the boy? See if the two of you can figure it out.”

In the forest, the Goretezzle awaits. As he approaches, spinning monstrosities, Timothy turns to Abigail, trying to protect her. He sees in the edge of the mirror, poking out of her satchel, that the Goretezzle has no reflection. Just data, ones and zeros, rows of coded numbers. He turns to the sidekicks.

“He’s computer generated, made by a machine. That’s why he can change shape so swiftly, so effortlessly. But there’s no heartbeat. We’re more real than he is.”

“But what good will that do us?” Sebastian shouts.

“He’s stronger, too strong,” cries Phil.

The Goretezzle creates an enormous swirl of fire, a flaming mountain rising from the forest that begins to topple on the band. A weight that will crush them.

Timothy tells them to hold hands, in a circle.

Close your eyes, don’t look! Abigail cries.

“Merlin,” Timothy shouts. “Is there any force greater than gravity?!”

“Only one…Love, my boy—it’s the greatest force on earth!”

Abigail hears this, grabs the mirror and holds it up.

“Timothy, quick! Look in the mirror!”

The boy opens his eyes and for the first time, sees himself. It’s his face—not animated, but real. As he truly is.

He’s startled. “That’s me, isn’t it? Has it always been me in here?”

As Abigail lowers the mirror, he sees the same reflection—his reflection—in her eyes.

He gently takes the mirror from her, and holds it up to her. She sees her face, beautiful and real, for the first time. “Is that really, me?” And as he lowers the mirror, she sees her reflection in his eyes.

“That’s it, boy.” Merlin says. “That’s what’s real. The only thing that’s real. What you see in each other’s eyes.”

“And each other’s hearts,” says Big Mama.

And, suddenly, it is as though the world begins to dissolve around them, starting with the flaming mountain, ready to crush them, and then Goretezzle—who dissolves into computer code—and then the darkness of the forest itself. Timothy turns and sees a bridge—the bridge that collapsed so long ago—taking shape behind him.

And when he turns, he sees that the characters themselves are changing, shape-shifting: Big Mama, into his mother. Baloo, into his brother. Rafiki, into his friend and therapist. And Merlin, into his father.

“Has it been you all along,” he says to them.

His mother smiles warmly. “But it’s been you, too. It’s you who helped to create us. To animate our lives with a special love.”

He looks at the bridge, leading back toward home.

“Where do I go now?” he asks her.

“Wherever your heart leads you. Home, after all, is where the heart is. Maybe you should ask your friend.”

He turns to Abigail.

“I know where my heart is,” she says.

And they kiss.

“But what about our sidekicks?” Abigail says suddenly. “Can we take them with us?”

As the two turn, the sidekicks are smiling, back as animated characters alongside the real boy, his family, and the real girl.

“Well, I certainly hope we’ll be coming along, boy,” Merlin says.

“We’ve got lots to talk about. First off, this business about sidekicks acting like heroes…”

“No, a sidekick finding his inner hero, that’s me,” the boy says, with a laugh. “Maybe that’s the sidekick’s destiny. You know, sidekicks can dream.”

Rafiki interjects, “Wrong again—sidekicks
must
dream!” (This chatter, with sidekicks talking to each other, is the final scene, as the troop, animated and real, walks off together debating the great issues of how the hero emerges.)

“You too, Merlin,” the boy says. “You, Big Mama, and the others certainly
acted
like heroes.”

“Well, I suppose. We’re all sidekicks, searching for our inner heroes—
and I’m not about to get redrawn at my age!
”