Morning came much too quickly for Geppetto and the first rays of dawn that spilled down over the mountains to chase away the night shadows found the old man quietly cutting up some fruit for his children's breakfast. His hands trembled with growing apprehension.
The rest of the occupants of the woodshop slept on. Cleo was noiseless in her underwater palace and Figaro was tightly curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed, one paw covering his nose. Jiminy Cricket was snoring softly in his matchbox and the two children were sleeping peacefully under the covers.
Geppetto lazily reach into a barrel of apples and pulled out several juicy-looking ones. He took a knife to one before pulling back in disgust—worms! He tired another and another with the same result. Finally, he peered into the barrel and saw that the whole batch was spoiled, with worms sliding freely about. With a furrowed brow, he picked up the barrel and moved to throw the bad fruit outside when he heard a loud yawn coming from the bed. He turned to see Pinocchio stretching.
"Shh, Pinocchio," Geppetto gently warned, "Rosa is still sleeping." He set the barrel down and turned back to get a plate of food ready for his son.
Pinocchio looked down at his sleeping wooden sister and figured that things would be easier for him if she woke up. He shook her shoulder a little roughly and her eyes flew open.
"Pinocchio!" Geppetto scolded, just too late.
"Yes, Father?" Pinocchio asked innocently.
"You should've let Rosa sleep, my son! We all had a busy night last night."
Rosa, who was instantly wide awake, sat up and looked around with great interest. "That's alright," she said, "I wanted to get up early so I could see all there is to see." She stretched out her arms to their full length, accidently bumping Pinocchio in the process, "I've got to see the whole world today!"
Geppetto laughed joyfully, failing to notice Pinocchio's annoyed expression, "Oh, Rosa, the world is much too big to see in a day."
"How about two days?" Rosa asked, her joy for living unsuppressed.
"No, no," Geppetto continued laughing and started to explain, "The world—"
"You can't see the whole world" Pinocchio interrupted scowling. Rosa turned to give him a dumbfounded look, quite speechless at her brother's announcement.
"Pinocchio!" Geppetto shook his finger at the little boy, "That's not a nice thing to say!"
"Well, it's true," Pinocchio stubbornly insisted, with his arms crossed over this chest and a pout on his face.
"Pinocchio…" Geppetto warned again.
"That's alright," Rosa recovered her enthusiasm, "I'm going to be the first one to see the whole world!" She spread out her arms, once again bumping her brother. Pinocchio stuck out his tongue.
"Now, Pinoc—" Geppetto started to warn, but stopped at the sound of someone's cheery whistle coming from outside. Muffled footsteps were heard and then a loud knock hammered the wooden door, shaking it. Geppetto's face turned slightly gray.
"Hello, in there!" boomed the cheerful voice of the town baker, from the street, "Is there anyone awake?"
Cleo's eyes popped open at the noise and she quickly vanished into her palace. Figaro's head popped up, his eyes wide with alarm, and he scrambled for cover across the room. Jiminy's eyes popped open and he scrambled to get dressed before the visitor appeared.
Pinocchio scrambled from the bed. "I'll get it!" he shouted, narrowly missing Figaro's tail, as he jumped from bed and ran toward the door.
"Me too!" Rosa cried and leapt out of bed, thinking the whole thing was some sort of game. Both children reached the door together, but Pinocchio was quicker to open the latch; the two children looked up into the face of a very shocked man, who recognized the little wooden girl as the once-upon-a-time gift for his daughter's tenth birthday.
Geppetto came quickly to the door, wiping his hands on his apron, and hastily tried explained as best he could, "Marco, I'm truly sorry—the Blue Fairy came last night, and—"
"But I wished for a little brother," Pinocchio interrupted, wanting to make that part very clear.
"But the Blue Fairy said you needed me!" Rosa responded to her brother's statement and Pinocchio stuck out his tongue again.
"Pinocchio!" Geppetto admonished with a frown, shaking his head.
The baker looked back and forth between the two children, and his booming laugh sounded again. "Well, who am I to contradict the Blue Fairy?" he asked. Then, with a flourish, he produced a fresh loaf of bread from behind his back, "Here you go, Geppetto, you'll need this to feed your growing family!"
"Oh, but I can't!" Geppetto pushed the loaf away, "I didn't—"
"I insist!" The baker handed the loaf to Pinocchio's outstretched arms.
"But—"
"Why what better gift for Emilia than a little friend? She'll be home from visiting her grandparents this afternoon, and she'll love your little one!" He turned to leave with a wave, "I must hurry and get the bakery opened up, we have a very busy day ahead of us—what with the mayor's birthday party tomorrow—and I suspect we'll be up late tonight—but Cella will stop by later with another parcel—no, no, Geppetto—don't speak—it will is a pleasure! Good day to you all!." He saluted them and started down the cobblestone street.
After the door closed, Geppetto gave a weary sigh, then hurried forward when Pinocchio drew the large knife to cut the bread. "No, no, Pinocchio—let me do that! You two must get ready for school!"
It was not too long afterward that both children stood by the door—Pinocchio smiling because he was in charge. Jiminy Cricket sat on Rosa's shoulder hoping that this first day of school would go better than the last time. All at once, Pinocchio remembered that Rosa needed an apple for the teacher on her first day of school. He climbed up to look onto the barrel and was rather intrigued by the wriggly little animals sliding around. One of them climbed onto his fingers and he quickly pocketed it. Then, hearing Geppetto behind him, speaking quietly to Rosa, he quickly grabbed an apple and scurried back to the door.
The bell had not yet rung when Pinocchio guided Rosa, who nervously clutched his arm, toward the school's courtyard.
"Hey Pinocchio!" one for his friends waved for him to come over. Pinocchio headed that way, but suddenly stopped when he realized Rosa was still attached to his arm.
"Now, Pinocchio," Jiminy reminded him, "don't you think you should introduce your new sister to your friends?"
Pinocchio looked surprised that Jiminy would suggest such a thing. He shook his head.
"Now, Pinocchio…" Jiminy admonished, but stopped short when the sound of high-pitched girlish giggles erupted from across the courtyard. Rosa looked intrigued as she stared at the source and Pinocchio saw his opportunity. He pushed her toward them, explaining to Jiminy, "Wouldn't she have more fun with those girls anyway?"
Jiminy glanced over at Pinocchio's friends, who were having an impromptu wrestling match, and began to waver, "Well, maybe…"
"And you'll be there to help her." Pinocchio reminded the cricket, "You're an official conscience." He added, trying to seal the deal by playing to Jiminy's sense of self-importance.
"Come on, Pinocchio!" The boys called again, and the former puppet gave Jiminy a pleading look.
"Well, alright," Jiminy puffed up a little, "Come Rosa, let's go talk to those girls."
Rosa put on a wide smile and skipped over to where four girls were playing. They stopped their game as she approached, and gave her appraising stares. For the first time, Jiminy realized that these girls were a bit older than his wooden charge.
"She looks pretty," he heard one of them whispered to the others, "We could ask her to play with us."
The official conscience started to have an uneasy feeling.
The girl who had just spoken was obviously the leader, and she led the pack while the others trailed closely behind. The leader began the process of introducing herself and the others when her eyes spotted Jiminy sitting on Rosa's shoulder.
Ewww," she squealed, pulling away, "She has a bug on her dress." The others immediately kept their distance.
Both Rosa and Jiminy spoke together.
"I'm not a bug, I'm a cricket, and if you had a brain, you'd know the difference!"
"Oh no, he's not a bug, he's my conscience."
The four girls' eyes got big as saucers, "You talk to bugs?" The leader hissed. All four girls started shrieking, and Rosa looked as if she might cry. Then the bell rang.
"Come on, Rosa." Jiminy whispered quietly in her ear, "School is starting and I promise that things will get better. Let's find Pinocchio."
Rosa quickly joined her brother, and just as they headed through the door, Pinocchio remembered the apple in his pocket. He handed it to his sister with instructions to give it to their teacher—a big round man with a ring of fluffy black hair around his otherwise bald head. The teacher accepted the gift, oblivious to a new student, much less a new wooden student, and patted Rosa's head.
Jiminy thought that the morning went extremely well. Rosa sat away from the older girls that had made fun of her in the courtyard and the girls that sat around her pretty much ignored her, so there was no more drama. Finally, he slid off her shoulder to find a less conspicuous place to sit, believing that he wouldn't be needed for a while.
However, things changed for the worse, about lunchtime, when the teacher decided to make a quick snack of the apple sitting on his desk. He bit into it with a juicy crunching sound and his face promptly paled. He dropped the apple and scurried to the wastebasket to retch a few times. The apple, now spinning on the floor, revealed its secret as it finally came to rest with the bitten off piece facing the class—a half a worm sticking out of the juicy center like a sore thumb.
The room erupted with shrieks from the girl's side and laughter from the boy's side. Rosa, believing that the melee was somehow her fault, buried her head in her hands and ran from the room before anyone could stop her.
~*0*~
Geppetto hummed merrily about his work in the shop, grateful for Marco's understanding of the whole unexpected situation. He was so pleased to have such great friends, but now he scurried to make something for Emilia's birthday. After all, why should she go without just because life had thrown in an unexpected twist?
The sound of hurried feet came from the street and as he turn around the workshop door flew open to reveal, Cella, the baker's wife, her black hair wrapped up in an old tattered scarf and her shadow coming into the room before her. Cella's arms were laden with baskets of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, and pastries and her face was red and sweaty from working in front of hot ovens all morning. Geppetto hurried to relive her of her burdens.
"Oh Cella, you shouldn't have!" he admonished.
"Nonsense!" she shot back, "Utter nonsense!" Then she teased him, "Why it's our pleasure to help you feed your growing family—don't you dare deny me this pleasure, old man!"
Geppetto gave her a small grateful smile, unable to find the right words. "Well, I am grateful," he finally managed.
Cella gave the old woodcarver a knowing smirk. "Of course, you are, old man! What does an old bachelor like yourself know about raising little girls?" she asked, "Oh, you're getting along alright with Pinocchio right now, but what shall you do with yourself with Rosa?" She laughed joyfully at seeing his befuddled expression and gave a little applause, saying, "Well, at least, you know enough to be scared witless!"
Then she ceased her teasing and laid a gentle hand on his arm, saying, "And I've come with a solution, my old friend—I haven't raised five children and come out of it witless, after all—I'll be here whenever Rosa—or Pinocchio—need the advice of a woman. They will both need that, of course; a child needs both a father and a mother for them to grow up properly in the world."
Geppetto smiled gratefully again as a few tears spilled out of his eyes, making him take off his glasses and rub them on his shirt. Cella laughed again.
"Thank-you, my dear," the woodcarver whispered, but before Cella could respond, the workshop door burst open, and a wild-eyed Pinocchio flew though the opening, with Jiminy only just hanging on to the collar of his shirt.
"Rosa's run away!" he yelled excitedly.
Many hours later, it was getting dark and chilly as Rosa wandered though empty streets, anxious and lonely. She turned onto a street that seemed familiar and for about a half a block she looked forward to relaying her afternoon adventures to her father and brother. Then it began to sink in that the street looked familiar because she'd wandered down it just a little while ago. Finally, she sat down and resigned herself to never seeing her family again.
Sometime later, footsteps scurried past her, before pausing in the darkness.
"Why hello!" a cheerful girl's voice greeted her, in a somewhat bewildered tone, "I don't believe I've ever met you—and I know everyone in town!"
"No, I just came last night." Rosa responded nervously, seeing an older girl and remembering the morning's incident.
"Well, where do you live? I bet I know your father and mother!"
"Oh no, I only have a father and a brother."
"Well, why aren't you home with them? It's late—my mother and father don't let me roam about this late at night—I'm just heading home now because the carriage was late getting into town—I've been visiting my grandparents."
"I'm lost," Rosa responded sadly.
"Well, come on," the older girl said, offering her hand to the little wooden girl and pulling her to her feet. "I'll bet my father will take you home—or one of my brothers—they'll all be getting food ready for a big party tomorrow, but I'm positive that someone will take you home!"
The two girls hurried, arm in arm, through the narrow streets, until they came to the bakery, standing dark and empty. Emilia stopped short and stared, mouth gaping at the sight. "No," she whispered, in a stunned voice, "It's not suppose to be dark yet—they couldn't possibly have all the food ready—no, no, no-"
A/N I want to thank WritingMagic for giving me "Favorite Author" status! That's very kind of you. Thank your adding this little story to your favorites too!
I'd also like to thank Guest for the review! I'm glad you like this one!