A Girl and a Robotic Puppet

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There are many love stories …. And yes, this is another one. So shut up and listen.

My journeys in Oregon had taken me to a town called Ashland. It was … well, it was pretty quaint, but it seemed nice enough. There was a lottery pull going on and the winner got a time machine. Oh yeah. You all know I'm going for that. When I went to register, my numbers were 6, 4, and 2. And soon came the day of the big lottery pull.

I waited with bated breath, sweat pouring out of every crack in my robotic body (if you're wondering how I can sweat, the Academy put some human genes into my robot body, so yeah).

"All right, people," said the announcer. "Today's the big day." He reached into a jar and pulled out a ticket. "And the numbers are … 6 … 4 … and … 2!"

I had to restrain myself from exploding with happiness. Instead, I jumped up into the air, screaming with joy. Then I ran up to the stage.

"Congratulations, young man," said the announcer. "You have won your very own time machine!"

I looked over at it. It looked like the jet that was in Jonny Quest, but smaller. Either way, it was awesome.

"Thank you, sir," I said, taking hold of the man's hand and shaking it vigorously. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome," he said. "And don't worry about having to carry it around everywhere. You can just fit it in your pocket. You see that red thing on the front."

There was what looked like a small, red button on the nose of the machine.

"Just push it, and it will shrink to pocket-size."

And that's exactly what I did. And that's exactly what it did.

"Oh man," I said with excitement. "This is like something out of a James Bond movie." I pocketed the time machine.

"Hope you like it," said the announcer proudly.

After that, I went into the town. And that's when it happened.

I was lost in so many happy thoughts that I wasn't watching where I was going, and I bumped right into her. I fell backwards onto the ground, banging my head against the sidewalk.

"Ow!" I cried in pain. I then realized what had happened and knew I had to apologize. "Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's okay," said a female voice.

"No really, I-" But then I stopped. For in front of me laid what I thought to be an angel.

She had brown eyes, freckles, and pretty, blue short hair with a dragonfly hairpin in it. She was wearing an orange-red long-sleeve shirt with yellow stripes on it, jeans, and red sneakers. When we both stood up, I realized she was about as tall as me. My limbs went limp and my body became warm, I was really hoping I wasn't going to explode. She then gave me this funny look, and I realized I had been staring at her for too long.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Uh … I … uh …. I …"

"Hey, I know you," she said. "You're that homeless boy that looks like an oversized marionette."

I frowned, slightly insulted. "I'm not exactly a marionette. I'm a robotic puppet. And no, I am not homeless. I'm an adventurer. And I-"

"A robotic puppet?" she interrupted.

"I know it's weird, but that's just how it-"

"No, no. I think that's cool."

I felt as though I had received a lightning strike to the head. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I've never seen a robotic puppet before. And you're an adventurer? That's so cool!"

"Really?" I said again, feeling more and more stunned as I heard this.

"Yeah. I'm kind of an adventurer myself, but I'm sure you've seen more cool stuff than I have."

"Well, you never know."

"Yeah. And I love your gi."

"Really?" I had to stop saying that.

"Uh-huh. Do you really have a black belt rank or did you just steal that off a guy."

"I earned it, thank you very much."

"Cool! And I'm kidding."

I chuckled, feeling myself blush. Whoever this girl was, at least she was starting to take a shine to me.

"My name's Coraline," she said.

"Oh, uh, I-I'm Pinocchio," I responded, just noticing her outstretched hand. "Pinocchio P. Woodworth."

"Very formal," she said, giggling.

I smiled.

Then, from off in the distance, a woman's voice came calling, "Coraline!"

"Coming, Mom!" Coraline called back. "I gotta go. Nice meeting you, Pinocchio."

"Uh, nice meeting you, too," I said, waving my hand awkwardly.

I watched as she climbed into an olive green volkswagen. I continued to watch as the car drove away down the road.

You know how in love stories the guy or the chick will sometimes lay awake at night thinking about their true love? Well, that's exactly what happened to me.

That whole night, while I was lying in my sleeping bag at my camp set up in the side of a hill, I couldn't get Coraline out of my head. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever met. She even topped Galadriel from Lord of the Rings, and that was saying something. But I couldn't just walk up to Coraline and confess my feelings for her like some babbling idiot. I had to play it cool. Go on some dates with her. That was it. The next time I saw her, I would ask her out, but not like on a date date. Just a friendly "just friends" type of thing and then work my way from there. It was foolproof.

Unfortunately, I didn't see Coraline until two weeks later. I caught sight of her when she was walking through town with her mom. Now was my chance.

"Hey Coraline!" I called, walking briskly up to her. I couldn't run, that would give away something and I couldn't walk because that would make me seem either boring or like I was uninterested.

"Oh hey, Pinocchio!" she called back. "I haven't seen you for a while."

"Funny," I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly, but in a way that made me seem cool. "I was about to say that."

"Yeah, I've been busy with school," she explained. "Then we went up to Salem for a small getaway."

"Okay," I acknowledged. Now, I told myself. Do it now!

"Hey Coraline?" I said, trying my best not to sound like a total nitwit. "Would you like to … I don't know … go out to eat at some place some time. Not like a date. Just as friends, you know?" I could feel myself sweating as I waited for her answer.

"Yeah, sure," she responded. "In fact, why don't we go now."

Well, at least she said yes.

"Hey Mom?" she said, turning to her mother. Coraline's mom had Coraline's face and her eyes. However, she had black hair instead of blue. I wondered why that was. She wore a white turtleneck sweater, khakis, and a brown coat. "This is my friend, Pinocchio, you know, the boy I told you about yesterday."

"Oh yeah," her mom said. "The homeless boy."

"Mom!"

"I'm kidding. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, too," I returned, taking it.

"So Mom, Pinocchio was wondering if he and I could go fetch something to eat," Coraline explained. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure," said Coraline's mom. "Just make sure you're back no later than … say about … eight."

"Don't worry, ma'am," I said, trying my best not to sound too cocky. "I'll take care of her."

Coraline giggled.

Her mom gave me this look as if I had grown extra heads. But then she said, "All right then." She then left.

"I know a great pizza place where we can eat," Coraline then said. "Come on."

The pizza place wasn't big or fancy, but it was still nice.

"What can I get you two kids?" the teenage, pimple-faced waiter asked.

"We'd like a half and half," Coraline ordered. "I'll have cheese. And Pinocchio, what do you want?"

I looked at the menu. My eyes perked as I saw what I wanted, and man did it look good.

"I'd like the stuffed crust deluxe … with everything on it," I said.

Coraline giggled. "Going all out, are ya?" she said teasingly.

"Yep," I answered playingly.

The waiter then left.

For a while after that, we sat in awkward silence. Deciding I should get on with some playful banter, I was about to say something, but then Coraline began talking.

"So you're an adventurer, huh? Tell me."

What should I tell her? Definitely nothing with Gepetto. That checked out big time. And I didn't feel like talking about what happened at the academy. That would make me feel even more uncomfortable …. But what about Jack?

"Okay," I began. "What I'm about to tell you may sound completely crazy, but it's entirely true."

Coraline nodded curiously.

"Okay," I started. "My uncle … is the King of Halloween."

Coraline stared at me opened mouthed.

"No it's true," I explained. "His job is to put on a show each year on Halloween to make sure the holiday keeps going. Otherwise it won't exist anymore. And he puts on great shows. I've actually starred in a couple of them.

"But there was one year where my uncle had gotten tired of doing Halloween. So one night, we wandered off to the forest near where he lives, and we found this circle of trees, each with doors that had different symbols on them for different holidays. But the one that captured my uncle the most was the Christmas one.

"So, we went through it, and he learned about Christmas. Naturally, he came back home and showed everyone his discovery, and they became curious about it, too. But, unfortunately, they didn't quite fully get it. And my uncle, who's kind of an idiot, decided to shrug it off, which really ticked me off and-" I then stopped. Coraline was looking a little uncomfortable. I then suspected she didn't want to hear about my sibling-like rivalry with Jack.

I cleared my throat.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Anyway, he began these science experiments to figure out the true meaning of Christmas. Like I said, he's not the sharpest sword in the blacksmithery. So anyway, he soon got the notion that he should do Christmas in order to find, I guess, true happiness again.

"So then, he got the whole of Halloween Town making Christmas. And soon went off to do it. I'm pretty sure you can imagine how badly that went down."

"How bad?" Coraline asked.

"Have you seen the first Indiana Jones movie?"

"Yeah."

"You remember at the end when the Nazis opened the Ark and … uh … all that stuff happened?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's how badly it went down. But nobody died and they didn't get their faces melted off. However, Jack, that's his name, he did get shot out of the sky by the military. I got out in time though."

"That must've been awful to watch."

'Yeah. But he was okay. After that, though, he was a little upset, but then he decided to look at the situation with optimism. If there's one thing I admire about my uncle, it's his resilience. Anyway, after that, we returned to Halloween Town, saved Santa Claus from Jack's arch enemy, Oogie Boogie, the boogie man. Long story. Anyway, Jack defeated him and got Santa out. Oh, and he also saved this rag doll lady named Sally."

"Rag doll?"

"Well, she's supposed to be like this Frankenstein-like creature, but we just call her a rag doll. I don't know why. Anywho, after that, Santa went and tidied up our mess and then he brought Christmas to Halloween Town. And Jack and Sally confessed their love to each other."

"Aww," Coraline cooed.

"Yeah. Aww," I said cooly. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a picture of me, Jack and Sally. "And about two years later, Jack and Sally got married."

I handed her the picture. She got a surprised look on her face.

"I know it may seem all crazy, but it's true," I explained.

"No, no," she said, "I believe you."

"Really?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah," she returned. "Believe me, I've seen some stuff that no one would believe, too."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I-I have a few questions first," she said hastily. "Is your uncle really a skeleton?"

"Yep," I answered. "But he's a nice skeleton."

"Ah," Coraline said. "And so, Santa Claus is … real?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow. Thanks for ruining my childhood, Mom and Dad."

I chuckled. "We also did some other stuff. We had to help get this baby back home, once."

"Wow," Coraline said. "You're so lucky to go on so many adventures. I wish I could, too.

"You've never had any adventures?" I asked.

"Well, … I did have one," Coraline said, looking nervous.

"Tell me," I insisted.

She hesitated for a moment … and then began.

"Okay. Well, it all happened when me and my family moved into the Pink Palace Apartments about four months ago."

"Oh, you live in an apartment?" I asked curiously.

"Well, it's not really an apartment apartment. It's actually this really old house that's been split up into three parts. My family and I live on the middle floor; these two ladies, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, they live in the basement, they're both retired actresses; and this eccentric old man named Mr. Bobinsky lives in the attic. He's setting up this jumping mouse circus."

"Oh really," I said interestedly. "Have you seen it?"

"Yeah, it's actually really good," Coraline explained. Then she cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway, when we first moved in, things were pretty much drop-dead boring. My parents were extremely busy working on their gardening catalog, which required them to be working on computers all day, and it was rainy and wet most of the time. That meant I couldn't go out and do any gardening."

I raised my eyebrows interestedly. I didn't have much of a green thumb, but it was pretty cool that Coraline did.

"So, the only thing I could do was explore the house. One day while I was counting all of the doors and windows and looking for blue objects, I found this little door behind the wallpaper. But when my mom opened it, all that was behind it was a brick wall."

"Well, that's kind of anti-climatic," I remarked.

"Well, just wait," Coraline said. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, this neighbor kid named Wybie sent me this doll that he found that look just like me."

"Huh," I said. "Okay then."

"Anyhow, that night, I woke up to the sound of some mice squeaking in my room. Then it ran out, and I decided to follow it. It led me to the door, but when I opened it, there was this tunnel that led to another door. I didn't know it at the time, but I was about to get myself into some serious crap.

"So I went through it, and on the other side was a place that looked just like my apartment, but everything there was better. And everybody there, who were people who looked like my parents and the neighbors, all had buttons for eyes."

"Well, that's new."

"So, like I said, everything there was better than how it was at my real home. The food, the garden, and the people. Strangely enough, the first two times I went, I would wake up back in my real bedroom, like it was all a dream. But on the third time, it was real.

"But then I soon started to see this world's true colors. On my third visit, the woman who looked just like my mother, she called herself the Other Mother, she told me that in order to stay there forever, they would have to sew buttons into my eyes!"

My jaw dropped. "That sounds painful."

"I know. Naturally I refused, and I tried to go home the same way I had the first two times, but it didn't work. I just woke up in the Other World. I tried to escape through the little door, but the Other Mother caught me. I got into a fight with her, and then she turned into what she really was. A beldam."

"I think I've heard of those. Aren't they supposed to be like evil hags."

"Yeah. So I was having to deal with a witch. She locked me up in this room behind a mirror. While I was in there, I met these ghost of other children whose soul had been eaten by the Other Mother long ago. They needed my help, so I promised them that I would get their souls back for them."

"How did you get out?"

"With the help from the Other Wybie. He helped me out of the mirror and then he helped me get through the door and back home. But when I got home, my parents weren't there. The Other Mother had taken them. I had also found out that that doll that look just like me was actually a device that the Other Mother was using to spy on me.

"Later on that night, I got a visit from this stray black cat who likes to visit the Pink Palace. I had met him on my first day there, and we soon became friends after some bumps. Not going to get into that."

"Did he know about the Other World, too?"

"Yeah. He could actually travel there. Also, he had the ability to talk in the Other World. So he showed me that my parents needed my help through a vision in a mirror. It was then I decided that I had to go back and find my parents and help the ghost kids.

"On my way there, the cat told me that I would have to challenge the Other Mother to a game. She had this thing for games. So I did, but not before she locked the door to the real world. Anyway, I challenged her to a scavenger hunt to find the ghosts' souls and my real parents. And it wasn't easy, I can tell you that. I had to go through three challenges that had to do with the different stuff she had made for me. But I eventually got all the kids' souls, with a little help from the black cat. And soon came when I had to find my parents, which included me confronting the Other Mother in her true form, which did not look pretty.

"I had to be clever with this. So I tricked her into opening the door. While she did, I had found my parents in a snow globe."

"Bet that was chilly."

"Yep."

"So, then what happened?"

"Then I did the one thing I could only think of. I threw the black cat at the Other Mother."

"Wouldn't that be considered animal cruelty, throwing a cat at a psychotic witch's face?"

"Hey, it was the only thing I could think of. So while the Other Mother was battling the cat, I quickly grabbed my parents, but not before the cat scratched off her button eyes."

"Eh, she deserved it."

"I quickly escaped and locked both the doors, which was crazy. After that, my parents returned home with no recollection of what had happened, which was fine with me. After that, we went out for pizza to celebrate my parents success with their gardening catalog."

"And you all lived happily ever after?"

"Not quite. Later on that night, I got a visit from the ghost children, who were now angels, in my dreams. They told me that the Other Mother was still alive and the only way to make sure that she wouldn't get me was to get rid of the key that led to the Other World. I remembered that there was an old well not too far from the house. So, I went to take the key there, but while I did, the Other Mother's severed hand started to follow me and eventually attacked me. I would've been done for if Wybie hadn't shown up. I had told him earlier about the Other World, but he thought I was crazy."

"What made him change his mind?"

"His grandmother showed him this picture of her twin sister, who had been one of the ghost kids. He told me she had disappeared when his grandma was a kid. So anyway, we were able to defeat the Other Mother's hand, and all that was well ended well. I am now living happily with my parents at the Pink Palace Apartments. I go to school and I've made lots of friends."

"Wow," I said amazed. "That is quite an adventure."

"Yeah," Coraline said shyly. "I've also learned to be happy with what I have from that experience."

"Well that's good," I complimented.

"Yeah. I hope I can go on another adventure soon."

"I'm pretty sure you will."

We didn't have much time to talk after that because our food had then arrived, and I could tell you this, I was ready to dig into that stuffed crust deluxe.

After dinner, Coraline and I talked a little more. You know, like stuff about our interests and what not.

"Do you like video games?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," she answered. "I love video games."

"Cool. What games do you have?"

"Oh, a couple of Mario games, Sonic Unleashed, Kingdom Hearts II, a couple of Disney games, … oh, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

"You have Ocarina of Time?! I love that game."

"Me, too. Although, I'm kinda stuck on the last boss."

"You're stuck on Ganon?"

She nodded.

"Maybe I could show you how to get passed him some time?" I offered shyly.

"You would?" Coraline cried. "That would be great!"

I then paid for the food and then we left.

"Well, this was fun," Coraline said as we walked outside the restaurant.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We should get together some time again."

"Yeah, we should." Coraline's eyes then lit up. "Hey, how about you come over to my house next Saturday evening. I'm free then."

"Yeah, sure. That would be great."

"Maybe you could show me how to get passed Ganon then?"

"I'd be glad to oblige."

Coraline giggled. She then got out some paper and a pen.

"Here's my address." She gave me the paper, which I pocketed.

"Thanks," I said.

"Well, thank you for telling me about your adventures," Coraline said.

"You're welcome," I returned. "Thank you for telling me about your adventure."

She smiled. "Well, I better get home before Mom and Dad start worrying."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" I offered.

"No that's okay," Coraline said. "I know the way."

"You're sure you'll be fine?"

"Don't worry. I had to fight a witch on my own, remember?"

"Oh yeah." I scratched the back of my head embarrassedly.

"Well, see ya," Coraline called.

"Good-bye," I returned.

As I watched Coraline walking down the street, my heart swelling to four times its regular size (take that, Grinch), only one thing was on my mind. This was heading off to a great start.

Soon came the night of our second date. As I got my first glimpse of the Pink Palace Apartments, I took in what I saw. It was an old, pink Victorian mansion. Even though the paint on the house was faded, it was still an okay-looking house. I also caught a glimpse of a waterfall off in the distance behind the house, so that was cool.

The night had finally come when I would be visiting Coraline at her house. My only worry was that her parents would think I was only resolution I could come up with to making me not seem weird was getting Coraline something, which was actually harder than one would think. I knew that she wasn't much of a jewelry person, so I crossed that off my list. But then I remembered that she liked video games. So I got her just that. But even if Coraline had overprotective parents or not, I was going in.

I approached the front door and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Coraline answered it.

"Oh, Pinocchio, you're here!" she cried, throwing her arms around me. I at first felt a little awkward, but then I felt myself blushing hard. But then Coraline broke away, looking embarrassed.

"Uh … can we just pretend that didn't happen?" she asked humiliated.

"No worries," I said, winking.

Coraline's mom then walked into the room.

"Ah, you're here," she said. "Welcome. Make yourself at home. Dinner will be here in a few minutes."

"Thanks, ma'am," I said politely.

"We're having Mexican tonight," Coraline explained. "Which is good because I thought my dad was going to make one of his 'recipes'."

"Recipes?" I asked.

"My dad's … not the best cook. So basically the stuff he makes is just a bunch of food thrown together, and all it ends up looking like is puke. Literally."

"Oh." I made a slightly disgusted face.

"Yeah," Coraline said, sharing my same level of disgust. She then looked behind me. "What's that your holding?"

"Oh right," I said, just remembering the video game I got for her. "Well, since you like Legend of Zelda so much, I decided to get you this." I pulled out the game from behind me, which was Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.

Coraline's eyes widened.

"You got me Wind Waker!" she exclaimed, taking the game from me to get a better look at it. "Thank you! I love it! That is so sweet of you! And it's for Gamecube! That's awesome! Wait, how did you know I would need it for Gamecube?"

"I'm just smart," I said proudly.

"Thank you," she said again.

"Everything all right out here?" asked a man who just stepped into the hall. He could only be Coraline's dad. He was tall with brownish hair, a pointed nose, an ovally looking face, and he wore glasses. He was wearing a faded green sweater that said "Michigan State" on it, jeans with a belt, and … blue sandals. Uh … all right then.

"Dad, this is Pinocchio, the my new friend I told you about," Coraline introduced.

"Ah, you're the adventure boy," her dad observed. "Charlie Jones, nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, too, sir," I said, taking his hand and shaking it. "Pinocchio P. Woodworth."

He smiled a friendly smile, then looked over at his daughter. "What'cha got there, sweety?"

Coraline held out the game.

"Oh, that's nice," her dad observed. Then he turned to me and asked, "Did you buy this for her?"

"Yep," I said proudly.

Her dad smiled again. The next moment, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be the food," he said. "Excuse me." We both stepped to the side so that he could get to the door. "Why don't you kids head to the kitchen."

"This way," Coraline said, taking my hand.

She led me out of the front hall, through the dining room, which only had a long table and a few chairs, but looked extremely dusty (my theory was that they didn't eat in here much), and into the kitchen. Like the outside, the colors were pretty faded, but nonetheless, there were white cabinets, a fridge, and a table with a light over it. Mrs. Jones was already in there, setting out forks, knives, and napkins.

"Oh, hey kids," she said when she noticed us. "Make yourselves comfortable."

Coraline and I took our seats right next to each other. Mr. Jones then came in with a bag from the Mexican restaurant. They had ordered tacos, enchiladas, and nachos. The nachos were for both me and Coraline, which was great because I loved nachos.

After supper, of which I was full to bursting with Mexican food, Coraline led me into the living room so that I could help her with the final boss of Ocarina of Time.

The living room was very spacy. There was an exercise machine of some sort of in the corner, a little chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a fireplace with a few snowglobes on top of the mantle, a picture of a blond boy dressed in blue who had dropped his ice cream (some of it on his shirt) over the fireplace, a yellow circular rug, a wooden four-legged table, a yellow couch, an armoire off to the right, a flat screen TV with a Wii U, an old PlayStation 2, and an old GameCube hooked up to it, and four windows. There was also this little door in an upper left corner of the room.

"Is that the door that led to the Other World?" I asked, pointing at it.

"Yep," Coraline said.

I looked at it, thinking about what had become of that messed up world on the other side and what had happened to the Other Mother.

"Do you think she's dead?" I asked timidly. "The Other Mother?"

"Well, she did say that without my soul, she would die," Coraline explained. "And that door hasn't moved since the day that I locked it up, so yeah. I think she's pretty dead."

We then looked at each other.

"Why don't we get to defeating Ganon," I said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Oh yeah, right," Coraline said.

She then turned on the Gamecube and we quickly got into the game. I showed her my method of defeating Ganon, and in next to no time, she had done it, which she was thoroughly happy about. We then watched the ending cutscene, with Zelda saying goodbye to Link and sending him back to his own time. As Zelda gave her last few lines of dialogue, I bravely took hold of Coraline's hand …. She didn't flinch; she didn't object. She just went with it. A spark of home flared in me.

"Oh hey, I just remembered," Coraline said when the cutscene ended. "I wanted to show you the old well, if you like?"

"Yeah sure," I answered.

"Great." She then turned off the Gamecube, grabbed me by the hand, and led me into the kitchen.

"Hey Mom, Dad," she said. "I'm going to take Pinocchio up to see the old well."

"Okay," Mrs. Jones said. "You kids be careful."

"Yes, Mom," Coraline groaned.

Then she led me out the back door, down the back steps, and into what seemed like the garden. It was filled with tulips.

"Did you plant these all by yourself?" I asked amazed.

"No," Coraline said. "We had a gardening party and my family and the neighbors all planted them."

"Cool," I said.

We then walked out of the garden and up this really tall hill. Then the path went halfway down the hill and led to this line of apple blossoms. Some of the petals from the blossoms were following.

"Pretty," I remarked.

"I know, right," Coraline agreed.

We soon came to the end of the path at the edge of this cliff.

"Well, there it is," Coraline said, pointing.

The well actually wasn't a well. It was actually a big hole in the ground with some wooden boards all perfectly set on top of it, and it was surrounded by toadstools. We both rested on a nearby stump. We had a good view of the house from up here. As the moon moved from behind the clouds and bathed us in its light, the air of romance began to thicken.

"It's so beautiful from up here, isn't it," Coraline remarked.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It kinda reminds me of those moments in films where people would get up and waltz."

"Oh yeah."

I then got an idea. I got out my iPod and quickly went for my music. I soon found the perfect song. I got up and held out my hand to Coraline.

"May I have this dance?" I offered.

"I-I don't know, Pinocchio," she said shyly. "I've never really danced before. I might not be good at it."

"It doesn't matter if you're good at it or not," I said wisely. "What matters is that you have fun doing it."

Coraline hesitated, then said, "Okay," and took my hand.

I then turned on the music.

"What song is this?" Coraline asked.

"'Love Theme' by Ennio Morricone," I answered.

"Oh yeah. I love this song."

I blushed. I had chosen the right song. We then began waltzing. And it turned out that Coraline was an amazing dancer.

"Wow, Coraline," I said surprised. "You're really good."

"Thanks," she said confused. "I never knew I was this good."

"Do either of your Mom or Dad dance?"

"No …."

There was a moment of curious silence. I decided I should say something nice to make the moment less awkward. "Well, I guess it's one of those random hidden talents we have that we didn't know about."

Coraline blushed. We then continued to dance some more. I did a few under-the-bridges with her and I also picked her up into the air a couple of times. By the end of the song, I couldn't tell who was smiling more broadly or laughing even more. When we stopped laughing, we looked into each other's eyes. It was then I realized how beautiful Coraline looked in the moonlight. She was practically glowing, like some other worldly being. As I looked into her brown eyes, I saw something behind them. Was it the same feeling I had? My question was soon answered as we leaned closer to each other and pressed our lips together. All seemed lost in blissful oblivion. The world around us seemed fuzzy and indifferent, as if nothing mattered more than what we were doing right now. Only one thing was on my mind: I had done it!

You know how in the movie Bambi they talk about being "twitterpated"? Well, that's exactly how I felt after that night. No surprise.

I just couldn't get Coraline out of my head, like all other lovers after their first kiss. In fact, I couldn't get that moment when we were kissing out of my head. Ever since that night, I would have dreams about it. True a lot of the dreams were weird, like the one where I was dressed like a turducken or when I was eating soap before we kissed. But whatever. Coraline and I decided to meet again two weeks later, mainly because she had to help out with a school fundraiser. I couldn't wait.

And soon came the night when I would see Coraline again. I decided to bring her a bouquet of tulips, since she liked those so much. But as soon as I got there, things began to get dramatic.

As I made my way up the driveway, I saw Coraline with some other boy. Surprise and suspicion began to creep over me. Maybe it wasn't what I thought it was. I decided to get a closer look.

I crept into the bushes and got closer to the scene. The boy and Coraline appeared to be talking, but soon it got into this heated argument. The boy threw his hands up into the air exasperatedly and turned to leave. Now was my chance. But as I stepped out of the bushes, Coraline put her hand on the boy's shoulder. It looked like how those couples did in those romantic movies. My entire body stopped. I felt my heart rip into two and shatter into a million pieces. Tears began forming in my eyes. Coraline and the boy then spotted me. As soon as she saw my tearfilled eyes, she looked as though she suddenly got the message. I dropped the tulips and stamped them hard. I then turned around and began running down the driveway, tears cascading down my face.

"Pinocchio, wait!" Coraline called, but I didn't hear the rest.

I wanted to run away from that town. I never wanted to go back. I never wanted to have anything to do with love ever again. Or adventures or Legend of Zelda or flowers or Ennio Morricone or anything else that attributed with my time with Coraline. I just wanted to get out of there and hopefully die in my sleep.

But, unfortunately, I wasn't watching what was happening. It wasn't until I had crossed the street in town that I noticed that Coraline had followed me. She was calling to me on the other side of the road. She began to cross it, but as she did, a car came barreling down. I started spinning my tail like a propeller and I flew over as fast as I could over to her. I grabbed her just in time and we both came crashing onto the sidewalk.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry," Coraline said, "it's just-"

"It's just what!" I said heartbroken. "It's just that this was nothing but a facade to you! WERE YOU JUST DOING THIS OUT OF PITY OR SOMETHING! I'M JUST A BIG LOSER TO YOU, AREN'T I! AND YOU JUST-"

"What the heck's going on here?" came someone's voice from behind.

I looked and saw it was the same boy from before. Rage built up in me.

"YOU!" I screamed.

I made my way up to the boy and was about to strangle him, but then Coraline pushed me down on the ground.

"Pinocchio, it's not what it looks like!" she shouted. "This is Wybie! The boy I told you about. He was just asking me about a part of our homework."

I stopped, embarrassment coursing through me like a fever.

"Oh," I said. Coraline then got off me and I stood up. "So you both aren't?" I pointed my finger to Coraline and then to Wybie.

"What? No!" Coraline said in disgust. "We're just friends." She then put her hand on my shoulder. "Pinocchio, I like you. Like a lot. You're one of the coolest guys I've ever met. You're funny, smart, kind, and, I must say, a master at video games. I would never hurt you in any way ever." She then kissed me on the cheek.

I felt like I was going to be sick with embarrassment. "Oh man," I groaned. "I'm so sorry; both of you."

Coraline put her hand on my arm and gave me a forgiving look. I smiled and then looked over at Wybie. I finally was able to get a good look at him. He was African-American with brown, curly hair, and brown eyes. He was wearing a black trench coat and gloves with skeleton fingers on them. Geek! He was also slouching a little. "That's okay," he then answered.

"No hard feelings?" I said, holding out my hand.

"No hard feelings," Wybie said, taking it. "So you're Coraline's new boyfriend?"

"Yeah," I said uncomfortably.

"Well I'm happy for you guys," he said proudly.

I smiled awkwardly. Well at least things didn't get any worse.

"You wanna head back now?" Coraline asked in a matter-of-fact way.

"Sure," I answered.

We all then made our way back to the Pink Palace.

Four months had passed and Coraline and I were having the time of our lives. We had gone on several dates, played a lot of video games, kissed a couple more times, and so on and so forth. But soon, I was becoming restless again. I wanted to see more; go on more adventures. I also wanted to test out my time machine. I talked to Coraline about it (I didn't want her to think that I was abandoning her) and she understood. She knew that being an adventurer, I wanted to see more. Unfortunately, she couldn't come. School and stuff. I gave her another inter-dimensional key, though, so that we could stay in touch.

"I promise I'll write to you every week," I said. We were standing on the front porch of the Pink Palace Apartments.

"You'd better," Coraline said sternly.

I looked at her confused.

"I'm just kidding," she then said, laughing.

I smiled. "I'll try to come back and visit."

Coraline smiled. We then shared one last kiss, and then I took off. When I got to the edge of the driveway, I turned back to the house. Coraline was still standing out front. I waved to her, and she waved back.

I turned back and pulled out my time machine. I pushed the button that made it grow to its regular size and climbed into it. The controls inside were top notch. It was like the delorean from Back to the Future. I then put in the coordinates and took off.

Author's Note:

Hi everyone. Well, here's my next one-shot. This actually turned out to be a lot longer than what I had expected, but I'm still proud of how it turned out. There are a few things I need to address, though. One, you all know how I mentioned in my profile having a PinocchioxCoraline shipment. Well, this is it. So don't give me any crap about it. It's my shipping and I like it, and if you don't like it, then read something else. Also, I know a lot of people ship Coraline with Wybie and Coraline with Norman from Paranorman, but personally, I see those characters as friends, all right. So don't give any crap about that either. Okay, now that that's out of the way, I hope you all like it.