"Why didn't he transform completely?" Stromboli shouted in a very angry tone. Pinocchio was in the middle of him, Laron, and Fariba as they stared at him like an animal in a petting zoo. Half donkey and half puppet, Pinocchio stood awkwardly on all fours with a wooden tail, ears, and hoofs that were once hands. He was still wooden, give or take, but his tail did have some donkey hair at the tip.
"No one is going to buy a wooden donkey like THIS!" Stromboli thundered. "What were you two idiots thinking!"
"We thought that since he acted like a normal boy, then he would be a jackass like the other boys!" Laron growled. "It's what YOU ordered us to do!"
"If anything," Fariba hissed, "This shows us that living puppets can not make jackasses out of themselves from a show of puppets to begin with!"
Stromboli laughed in a very crude way, then looked at Pinocchio.
"What are you thinking of puppet boy? Who are you thinking of this moment that's stopping your transition?" Stromboli asked, leaning close to Pinocchio enough so he could smell the cruel man's fowl breath. As if on cue, a figure in the background tripped over something and the three villains immediately turned their heads to see what had happened. Pinocchio even craned his neck to see what had happened.
"Maria!" he exclaimed happily, half braying, half speaking in his normal voice.
"That's the girl that was with him when we found him." Laron told Stromboli as the villains circled her. Stromboli smiled.
"Well hello dear," he said with a cheesy smile and a formidable bow, "What brings a lovely girl like you here?"
"I want my brother back." Maria said, pointing at Pinocchio.
"Oh, he's your brother?" Stromboli asked.
"Yes. I owned him first and your goons stole him from me. So now I want him back."
Maria and Stromboli looked each other directly in the eye for some time before Stromboli asked,
"What are your affairs in the world? How high does your family rank in society?"
Maria stiffened, not truly wanting to say anything to a man that is known for doing terrible things.
"Well?" Stromboli asked, Laron and Fariba stepped closer. Not wanting to go through what happened earlier, Maria said,
"We are very poor... sir. Our father, Geppetto, is a wood carver for a living. He fashioned a brother for me because I wanted one so badly, but our mother wasn't the same after I had been born. She can never bear a child again. Recently, after the completion of my brother, our poor father got a decent amount of sawdust into his lungs. It is so bad that he is now in the hospital. And with the news of my brother lost, it has only made his condition worse. He's not going to make it much longer."
Pinocchio, hearing this, believed every word true and felt a horrible feeling take over him. Again, he couldn't understand it, but he knew that Maria would. Meanwhile, Stromboli thought this over, then sneezed three times. Maria jumped back to avoid being sneezed on while Laron and Fariba looked at each other nervously.
"Go." Stromboli said, now sneezing more often. "Take him and GO!"
Maria stood still for a few moments but Pinocchio reacted fast enough to trot over to her. With a nod, they both left the building as Stromboli sneezed faster and more often. Laron and Fariba backed away from him and looked at each other. They both knew the same thing; he felt sorry for the 'siblings.'


Several blocks away, Maria and Pinocchio stopped to catch their breath. Maria looked at Pinocchio sadly and held his head lightly. Pinocchio tried to feel how warm or cold her hands were, or even be able to tell if they were trembling, but he felt nothing. It made him feel hollow inside as he looked Maria in the eye.
"Pinocchio," she started, "You know I didn't completely lie back there, Geppetto really is in the hospital. He really isn't... isn't going to make it."
Maria's eyes started to water. It hurt Pinocchio to see it, but he didn't know why.
"I'm not sure if you can understand your emotions or not, but this is serious." she said. "I can't take you to him looking like a donkey. He's going to die without us there... and... and I don't know..." Maria didn't finish, she was fully crying now. She slowly put her arms around his neck and wept. Pinocchio didn't know what to do. If anything, he wanted to comfort her. But with donkey hoofs, how was he able to? However, slowly, as her tears dripped onto him, Pinocchio realized he was able to move his fingers individually once more. Her tears were turning him back into a puppet.
When he knew he had control of his arms and fingers as he would have normally earlier, Pinocchio gave Maria a hug back. This made Maria look at Pinocchio in surprise and found that he was once more a puppet. Quickly, she dried her tears and lead him to the hospital where Geppetto was. They were greeting by Teresa , who was nearly a hysteric mess herself. A family friend, that was nearly family himself, was dying and there was nothing anyone could do.
Slowly, as if moving in a dream, Maria took Pinocchio's hand and led him into Geppetto's room and to his bedside. The old man smiled weakly at his son and his friend.
"Maria..." Geppetto said softly, tears started to form in her eyes again, "I've known you since birth and you are capable of so many things. My time on Earth is almost over, but yours my dear has only just begun. I want you to make sure Pinocchio becomes a real boy."
"But..." Maria started, but was stopped by Geppetto with a shaking hand.
"Only you can help him Maria. Don't try to convince me otherwise." he said coughing horribly a few times. "He was made for you, he asked for you when he was first conscious, it can only be you."
Maria nodded, but said nothing. Then Geppetto turned to Pinocchio.
"My son," Geppetto smiled weakly, "You have filled my life with a wonder that I thought only Maria could bring, and in such a short time as well. Your story has only begun as well. Never lose Maria, not even for a second. One day, you will be a real boy like you wish. But you must first obey orders from those who care. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Father." Pinocchio agreed solemnly. "I do."
Geppetto smiled weakly again.
"After I pass, Teresa has agreed to house you until the time comes when you are old enough. I want you to treat her as your mother, understand?"
"Yes Father, "Pinocchio agreed again, "I will."
Geppetto smiled one last time as he closed his eyes. What happened next went into a blur as the heart monitor let out one long beep to show his heart stopped. Soon after the nurses and doctor tried to unsuccessfully revive him. The entire time, Pinocchio held Maria's hand as she tried hard to comprehend what was real anymore and what wasn't. Her friend, her neighbor, her father; gone. Dead, died, gone. Never to come back. She closed her eyes and felt her knees weaken. Pinocchio, who had no idea what else to do, helped Maria keep her balance and escorted her back out to her mother. One look from mother and daughter, and they both started to cry and hugged each other for comfort. Pinocchio took his father's hand one last time as the doctors rolled the bed out, but he couldn't feel how cold it was now or how clammy it should have been. He couldn't feel anything. Puppets can't feel anything.