Meanwhile, back in the village, it was time for Maurice to present his invention. Maurice began by instructing his daughter to take a piece of thick wood and place it in the holder. The three judges watched with curiosity. Then, Maurice pressed the red button in the center of the machine and the inner rotating axels began to spin- causing the sharp blade of the cutter to move at high speed. The cutter head stretched down towards the thick wood, cutting it through the middle with ease.
Everyone watched in admiration, including the judges- who were taking notes of what they saw (like they did for every participant). The watched as the machine chopped through the wood every time Belle placed a new piece in the holder. once they were finished and Maurice turned the machine off by pressing the same button, the crowd around them irrupted in amazement. Maurice and Belle bowed/curtsied.
The judges then continued to observe the rest of the participants' inventions. After an hour and a half of observations, everyone was called to the town square with their inventions. Belle and Maurice moved to the closest spot in order to hear the final award-winning announcement that was about to occur. When everyone arrived at the town square with their inventions as well as the rest of the villagers, they could see that the judges were still discussing who would win the fair and the golden trophy that was sitting next to them incased under the glass dome.
Belle and Maurice among the crowd; waiting patiently. The judges seemed to be having a long debate about who the winner should be. After a five-minute debate, they came to their final decision. They then walked up to a podium at the center of the fountain where the trophy shown brightly under the sun in its glass dome.
The first judge began, "May we have your attention, please." Everyone then stood in silence as they listened carefully. "First of all, we would like to thank all of you for participating in our annual invention fair. I know all of you had worked really hard on your inventions, which may be worthy of winning the fair. But as you all know, there can only be ONE winner for this year." Everyone stayed silent. They were all nervous, especially Belle and Maurice.
The second judge continued on. "But, before we announce the winner, let us reward the third and second-place winners with these bronze and silver medals." So, the judges presented the bronze medal to the owner of the pudding-serving invention. Although it looked fascinating, it didn't really work properly during the demonstration for reasons unknown. The silver medal was presented to the villager who had invented a bread slicer. It seemed to work better than the pudding-serving invention. However, the judges believed that anyone could slice a piece of bread with a knife. The two villagers who won second and third place were called up to the front in order to claim their medals.
As Belle and Maurice heard and saw the judges presenting the bronze and silver medals to the two villagers, they could already feel themselves trembling with nervousness, excitement, and suspense as they anticipated for the award-winning announcement for the first place winner. "Belle, did you hear/see that? The judges had just presented the bronze and silver medals to those villagers. That means we still have a chance at winning this year and receiving the trophy," said Maurice as he grabbed Belle's hands in excitement. "I know, Poppa. We just have to wait until the judges make the winner's announcement," Belle added.
After the judges presented the two medals, the time had finally come to announce the first-place winner of the annual invention fair. The first judge said, "And now, the moment you have all been waiting for; the time has come to announce this year's first-place winner. But before that, I would just like to say that this person had really put in a lot of his effort and persistence on designing his invention. It is the most remarkable piece of machinery we have ever seen, and we are honored to present this beautiful golden trophy to him."
Everyone anticipated in suspense, especially Belle and Maurice. Then, while the third judge was carrying the trophy. the second judge handed an envelope that contained the winner's name within it to the first judge who said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this year's annual invention fair winner is... Maurice and his invention of the Wood-Chopping Machine! Congratulations!" Everyone gasped in shock, but still clapped and cheered. Belle and Maurice were overjoyed at this news.
"Oh, Pappa, you did it! You really did it! I knew you could," Belle gushed with happiness as she hugged her father tightly. Then, Maurice stepped forward to claim his prize. "Congratulations to you, Maurice. As an additional award, we would like you to share your inventions with the whole world. You will be well-known and become one of the most famous inventors in all of France. If you accept," the first judge said. Maurice was delighted to hear this news, as it was his dream to one day become a world famous inventor.
"Thank you so much, sir. I would gladly accept your offer. But, you must know that I couldn't have accomplished this alone. You see, without the moral support from my one and only faithful daughter, Belle, I could not have had the courage to to continue trying. She gave me the hope that someday, I would win," Maurice explained to the judges. The judges turned towards Belle and said, "Young lady, you must have been raised well in order to constantly have faith in your father. You must be so proud." Belle smiled at the judges' compliment and thanked them.
That evening, when everyone from the neighboring villages including the judges had left, Maurice and Belle were in their cottage. Belle was getting ready to go back to the castle just as she had promised Prince Adam. As she was doing so, she stopped for a moment only to see her father looking at his prize deep in thought. He was thinking of keeping it somewhere safe. But he couldn't decide where.
"What's the matter, Poppa? Are you not happy that you won the inventio fair?" Belle asked in confusion. Maurice then snapped out of his thoughts and replied, "No, of course I am happy that I won the invention fair. It's just that I can't decide where to put this magnificent trophy." Belle looked around at all the things in their house and quickly caught on to Maurice's point. "Oh, I see what you mean," she said with a sight.
They stood there, looking at the trophy and trying to think of ideas. Suddenly, Maurice had an idea. "I know. You could keep it safe at the castle. And whenever I come to visit, I can see it." Belle was honored to do so and said, "I would love to, Poppa."
Just as Belle was about to leave for the castle, Maurice thanked her for all her help and all that she had done for him. Belle smiled and said, "Goodbye, Poppa. Don't worry, I promise to that I will keep the trophy somewhere safe for you at the castle." She then hugged her goodbye for the last time. The, she sat on Phillipe and headed back to the castle with her things and her father's trophy. After seeing his daughter go, Maurice began to hope that one day, he would indeed become the famous inventor he always dreamed of.
Meanwhile at the castle, Adam was doing a final check on preparations for tomorrow's surprise for Belle. Once that was done, he took the time to relax by the fireplace, thinking of how Belle would react. He hoped that Belle would like what he planned tomorrow. Moments later, it was almost dinner time. And at that moment, Belle had just arrived at the castle after she led Phillipe into his stall. She entered the castle with her things and called out, "Hello. I'm home." Everyone heard Belle's voice and tried not to show their excitement for what will happen tomorrow, especially Chip. But they decided to distract themselves by getting ready for dinner. During dinner, Belle was telling everyone all about the invention fair.
When everyone heard that Maurice had won, everyone was very happy for him and gave him their 'congratulations'. After dinner, Belle displayed her father's trophy on a shelf with a glass case so that everyone could admire it. Later, she went straight to bed. in the end, Maurice finally got the recognition that he deserves. At last proving that with hard work and kindness, you can accomplish great things and your kindness will not go unrewarded.
And everyone lived happily ever after. 💗😀🌹🌹
THE END