Prologue 1: Home Sweet Home
Jiminy's POV
(AN: play When You Wish Upon a Star)
Jiminy: When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires, will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star, as dreamers do. Fate is kind. She brings to those who love the sweet fulfillment of their secret longing. Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.
Pretty, huh? I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that... about a wish coming true. Well, I didn't, either. Of course, I'm just a cricket, singing my way from hearth to hearth. But let me tell you what made me change my mind. To do that, we will have to go way back to the beginning.
One night a long time ago, my travels took me to a quaint little village. Right here in Tuscany, Italy itself. It was a beautiful night. The stars were shining like diamonds. High above the roofs of that sleepy old town. Pretty as a picture. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, As I wandered along the crooked streets, there wasn't a soul to be seen. The only sign of life was a lighted window in the shop of a woodcarver named Geppetto. So, I hopped over and looked in. It was a shame to see a nice, cheerful fire going' to waste. So what do I do? I go in. I looked around. Of course, being in a strange place like that, I didn't know what to expect. A cricket can't be too careful, you know. Soon as I saw there was no one about, I made myself at home. As I stood there warming myself, I took a look around. Well, sir, you never saw such a place. The most fantastic clocks you ever laid your eyes on, and all carved out of wood. Cute little music boxes and shelf after shelf of toys ... each one a work of art.
As I went off to admire more of this Geppetto's work, I overheard some mumbling and out of a corner, appeared an old man. Probably Mr. Geppetto himself. I quickly hid behind one of the clocks, as to not be caught for trespassing. As I kept looking at the carver, he began to start working
"Let's see now. If I remember correctly, Ms. Livermore needed a new clock for her new classroom. Okay, time to get to work." I wondered who this Ms. Livermore character was. Sounds like he's got a cutie on his mind. Ah, I remember going after some dames myself. Those were the nights. Anyway, I saw the master carver at work, and I was impressed. He worked like there was no tomorrow. He cut, he shaved, he twisted and turned, and painted with all this passion. It felt like visiting an art museum or watching a magic show. Once he finished, It looked spectacular. Unfortunately, the clock I was hiding in started to go off, revealing little ol' me. I sprung out of there and landed in a jar of paint, in clear view of the old timer.
"Huh? What's this?" Gepetto asked with a curious expression. He proceeded to pluck me out of there and dried me off. "Oh, a little cricket."
"Hehehe, how do you do good sir?" To say I was nervous was an understatement. I felt like I was on trial for a heinous crime. Who knows what this man would do to me now? Immediately, I started to ramble apologies. "I'msorryI'msorryI'llbegoodsodon' -"
"Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down there, little fella. I'm not gonna hurt you."
"What? You're not?"
"Of course not. What gave you that idea?" This was definitely one of the nicest man I've ever seen. He's treating someone breaking into his house like one of his children accidently broke a pencil. I was at ease a little bit, but still felt guilty about the ordeal. "Well, it's just that I sort of invited myself in here for comfort and-"
"Why, if you needed a place to stay, why didn't you say so?" asked the old carpenter.
"Well, I didn't think you were kind to strangers." He then leaned to me with a wink and said, "To tell you the truth, you aren't the only one staying with me." With that, he straightened up and whistled and shouted "CHLOE, ANTONIO! MEET OUR NEW GUEST!" With that, a dog charged up to the old man and started to lick his face with joy. The sight made me chuckle a bit, until I saw a mouse next to me. I was a bit shocked as to why as mouse was here,
"Mr. Cricket, meet my dog Antonio," he pointed to the dog who barked happily, "and the mouse is Chloe. Like you, she also needs a home for her own."
"How do you do?" I introduced myself to the mouse and she bowed in respect. So far, Chloe seemed like a respectable girl. Immediately, I remembered what was going on and went back to talk to Geppetto. "Mr. Geppeto, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to impose."
"Oh, hush. The more, the merrier I say. We're friends now and friends don't abandon each other, no matter what."
I smiled at the man. He offered a home to me out of the goodness of his heart, without a second thought. How could I not accept? Especially now that I gained a new friend. "Well then, Jiminy's the name. Jiminy Cricket." I took out my hand do he could shake it, and he offered his finger as we shook. "Thank you for your offer. If there's anything I can do to repay you, just name it."
"Well, I could use some extra help at the shop. These crafts don't make themselves, you know. It would surely be grand if you could lend a hand."
"Say no more sir. Consider me for hire." I saluted as Geppetto chuckled in amusement. The two of us looked at the clock and realized the time. "Well, looks like it's time for bed. Come Jiminy, I'll set up a bed for you." I hopped happily onto his shoulder.
"I got a good feeling about this partner." I said with great certainty.
"Jiminy, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship." Geppetto replied as we headed of for some R and R. And boy he was right. From that day on, we created a bond so great, nothing could tear us apart. I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but that's what friendship is like. But little did we know, that our little family was about to become greater than we could ever imagined.
TO BE CONTINUED...