Three - Working on the Puppet
The next day, Gepetto and Maria sanded off staggering splinters on their little marionette, and then smoothed things out a bit. After that, the old man picked up a smaller block of wood and appeared to carve out a little triangular prism. "What are you making now, Papa?" Maria asked.
"A little hat for our new boy, of course!" responded Gepetto, "After all, if he's going to meet someone new, then he should be able to tip a hat to them!"
"Good point," Maria agreed with a smile, "And maybe he could have a little feather in his hat?"
"We'll glue one in after the hat is finished, okay?"
Maria nodded and allowed for the old man to continue working on his puppet's hat. While doing so, Maria hummed a merry tune that she remembered from her father singing once when she was little. "I'd say, Maria," said Gepetto as he looked at her, "Do you know the name of that merry tune?"
Maria thought for a bit and then admitted, "I don't remember what it's called, but my real father used to sing it to me once in a while." An idea then popped into her head as she exclaimed, "Hey! We can borrow that melody and sing it to our marionette when it's finished!"
Gepetto gave a thoughtful look and then chuckled, "Oh, yes! Why not? After all, if he's going to be part of our new family, then we must have a welcoming celebration." So then Maria walked over to the main bedroom to check on Figaro and Cleo.
When she saw her two animal friends, Maria was surprised to see that Figaro wasn't like other cats when it came to bowls of goldfish – he didn't look at Cleo with hungry eyes, and he didn't attempt to stick his paw in the water, either. Instead, he sat by and licked his tongue against Cleo's bowl, making the little fish blush and swim a little dance for him. "Wow, Figaro!" said Maria when she saw this with delight, "You sure aren't like other cats I've seen. There's something very special about you. No wonder why Signore Gepetto chose you and Cleo both!" Figaro meowed, and then jumped off the table where he and Cleo were sitting on into Maria's hands; he let out a contented purr, and Maria blushed, too. Just then, the girl heard Gepetto calling for her to give him some assistance. "Alright, Figaro," she said as she placed the kitten on Gepetto's bed, "You and Cleo be good now, and stick around for what we have in store tonight!"
When Maria returned to Gepetto's work room, the old man smiled and asked, "How would you like to help me paint this little fellow, Maria? You may choose whichever colors you'd like!"
Maria's face lit up as she cried, "Me? Choose the colors for the puppet? Oh, Papa, I'd love to!"
Gepetto chuckled, "Oh, all right, little Maria! I have some colors for you to choose. You may pick out three!" He held up five pots of paint with red, white, blue, yellow, and black colors.
Maria looked at them thoughtfully and then decided, "I choose black, because of my hair color; blue, because of my eyes; and red, because of the color of love – I love working on this project as if it were my real job!"
Gepetto laughed and said, "Very well. I will let you have those colors while I have yellow and white."
"Grazie, Papa, grazie!" said the girl, who began painting the top of the wooden boy's head for his hair.
About an hour later, Gepetto and Maria had finished most of their painting. The marionette gave a clear image of a little boy with black hair and blue eyes similar to Maria's; he also wore a yellow shirt, white gloves, red pants with a yellow stripe on each leg, reddish-brown shoes, a blue bowtie, and the triangular hat, which was now yellow with a little red feather. The only things missing now were his eyebrows and mouth. "Now, Maria," said Gepetto, "We will let him dry for a couple of hours. Then, later tonight, I shall paint on a pair of eyebrows and a happy smile for a mouth. How does that sound?"
"That sounds good, Papa," Maria said with a small smile; she was happy to be nearly finished with the marionette, but she was sad that she had to let the paint dry for a while and not use her new friend right away.
"Oh, don't feel down, child," Gepetto said as he put his hand on the girl's shoulder for comfort, "In the meantime, you may help me with preparing for another day of business tomorrow. Even though tomorrow you have school, that doesn't mean you can't still help me a little."
The corners of Maria's mouth turned more upward as she replied, "Okay, Papa. Let's go!" So she and Gepetto happily walked over to the main area of his shop to tidy a few things up.
