Maria was a girl who was generally sweet and caring. However, she did have her moments of defiance that would normally be expected of someone her age. She even had a partner in crime; someone she knew she could count on no matter what. He was a neighbor, and long time friend of Maria's family. Geppetto was his name, and he was an ancestor of a carpenter with the same last name.
Maria and Geppetto had a nice relationship, it was one that at first glance you'd think they were father and daughter. For no particular occasion at all, Geppetto made Maria a wooden doll just a bit taller than her, and fashioned as a boy. It starts like a story you've heard before, and it may be, but it's different all the same. Because Maria and the doll share a very special adventure that no other had before them...
"Stupid glasses!" Maria declared, taking off her reading glasses and tossing them on the table. "Can't stay on my stupid face to save the world..."
"Maria, stop scolding your glasses." Maria's mother, Teresa told her.
"They don't fit my face Ma!" Maria whined. "I think the glasses maker made them too big."
"You'll grow into them." Teresa assured.
Maria muttered something her mother didn't catch, and banged her head of the table in frustration. Just then, the doorbell rang. Teresa answered it.
"Hello Antonio, what is... that?" Teresa said to the person at the door.
"A surprise for Maria. Is she home?"
"Yes she is, in the kitchen in fact. Come in, come in, and enjoy yourself."
The two walked into the kitchen and Maria saw who was at the door.
"Geppetto!" she squealed. Then she noticed a package he was holding that was bigger than her. "What is that?"
"A surprise." Geppetto told her with a smile. He put the package on the table and Maria got a closer look at it. Slowly, Maria started to unwrap the package that was nearly as large as she was. When she finished carefully disassembling to box, Maria stood back and looked in amazement at a wooden puppet that was beautifully detailed. Teresa held her heart in amazement.
"Antonio, the puppet..." Teresa slowly said in disbelief, "He's so handsome. Did you make him yourself?"
"I did." Geppetto triumphantly agreed. "I carved him out of an old tree that they had cut down in the park. The tree had been around of ages, some citizens would have sworn that it had some bit of magic in it."
Maria thought about this as she peered over to the puppet to give him a closer look. As she looked the puppet in the eye, he blinked at her. Maria instantly jumped back in surprise. The puppet then sat up on his own and looked at Maria with curiosity.
"Fairy Nilambari?" he asked, "Is that you?"
Maria and her mother stared at the puppet with wide eyes and looked at Geppetto, who was chuckling lightly.
"Girls, meet Pinocchio." Geppetto said with a smile, "The bit of magic that surrounded the tree went into Pinocchio, it made him alive."
Teresa clutched her heart and tried not to faint while Maria just kept staring at the puppet, now known as Pinocchio. Pinocchio stared right back at her.
"Fairy Nilambari, why are you ignoring me?" Pinocchio asked Maria, this time slightly angered. Maria shook her head.
"My name isn't Nilambari." Maria told him carefully. "It's Maria. Maria Cherrywood."
"Well, you look a lot like my Fairy Nilambari." Pinocchio said in a matter-of-fact tone, it made him sound younger than what he was designed to be. Maria tilted her head.
"Well, I assure you, I am not a fairy, nor am I named Nilabari. I have never been named that in my life." she told him.
"Polendina," Teresa finally said, finding her words, "Are you MAD?!"
Geppetto laughed at Teresa and took her aside.
"After I completed Pinocchio, he requested to see a fairy in blue. I didn't know what he meant, but he also expressed a wish to be a real child." Geppetto carefully explained to the petrified lady. "As Pinocchio went on, I found that he might have his answer in Maria. Teresa darling, Maria may be able to fulfill Pinocchio's wish."
"How?" Teresa asked. "My daughter isn't a fairy in blue!"
"Maybe not," Geppetto agreed, as the two looked over at Maria and Pinocchio, who were now talking with each other, "But she has... something in her that makes her different. Bear with me on this Teresa darling, just this once."
Teresa let out an uncertain sigh, but agreed nonetheless.