Lampwick Pinocchio, Geppetto , and Jiminy Cricket headed up to the old wood carvers' place. The breeze swayed Lampwick`s sopping wet red hair and made the toga he was wearing flap up . Lampwick kept on trying to make it stay still .It was getting towards the end of the day and it was cooler now than it was in the afternoon. Still the sun was very warm in Italy and it was betting on his sore whipping marked back . Lampwick was bothered by his feet not being covered by shoes and he didn`t like having pebbles stabbing his feet. Still Lampwick enjoyed looking down and seeing them , for it relieved him for trying to make this seem more than a dream.
As they came closer and closer to the village Lampwick began to feel excited. When he was a donkey he was cut off from civilization and he was placed in a cruel world of the salt mines . Now thought , three years later, he could be around other humans .Lampwick couldn`t help but stare in amazement at the buildings , seeing them in a new light and considering them a privilege
People began to stare blank glares at the 14 year old who was gawking around at the sights of the town, sharing comments with each other ("What is he WEARING? ", "Odd thing to be washed up from the ocean.") .Lampwick tried to blank out the comments and focused on the splendor of being a human again , but even if he was mute he could still hear perfectly .
The approached a small little store at the corner of the street. It`s windows where filled with toys and woodcarvings. Magnificent music boxes where on the main display , and each one has its own theme. Lampwick looked up at the sign on the door , and the brass plate read : "Geppetto`s Woodcarving".
They stepped onto the broad porch made of cobble stone , as Geppetto dug through his pocket of his trousers. "Key, key," he muttered ."Ahah!" He pulled out a rusty old copper key and placed into the lock. He opened the oak door and lead them inside.
Lampwick thought the window display was amazing , but the main shop was outstanding. From wall to wall of the main room , their where clocks, toys , music boxes galore. The clocks where in singrounczed tick-tocks and it amazed Lampwick that Geppetto had made every single one. They were painted with magnificent colors and beautifully carved.
"Nice huh ?" Geppetto asked . Lampwick nodded . Lampwick was amazed and walked around getting a better look at each one . Just as the hand got though the hour mark Lampwick almost laughed at each of clocks reaction . Almost.
When Lampwick tried to laugh , it only came out as a dry and raspy cough . I guess I lost that too he thought , his happiness brought down by this discover.
Geppetto went into the next room , the kitchen , and pulled out an old , rusty bath tub. He warmed some water over a hearth and the poured it into the tub.
Pinocchio had to give a bright smile every time he looked at Lampwick , but then he realized something after giving a full look over at Lampwick. Lampwick was no longer the Lampwick that Pinocchio use to know. He no longer had that look of curiosity in his eye and that wide , child like grin. No, he had a small ,serious smile and his eyes were filled with remorse and sadness, as though he had seen horrible things and endured pain. His build was no longer the thin candle like build like he had as a child. Sure Lampwick was always thin, but now he was just boney , and with his skin being so pale and sickly , he resembled a walking red-headed skeleton.
Soon Lampwick felt something fuzzy circle around his legs. He realized that is was in fact a small , black kitten , with wide eyes that seemed to say "Why did you bring this boy here?" The cat meowed and starched up Lampwick`s legs. Pinocchio picked up his pet and showed him to Lampwick. "This is Figaro! We gotta fish too!" He spun around to a golden yellow fish in a small little bowl that contained a little stone-carvered castle.
"Let`s get you cleaned up and I`ll get you some clothing." Geppetto said from the kitchen as he motioned to the tub.
He allowed Lampwick some privacy as he tore away the sail toga and got into the bath.
When Lampwick sunk into the tub he felt calm and pleased to have a bath again after being dirty and smelly for 3 year . He didn`t particularly like baths when he was younger , but after realizing that he had been rolling around in his own filth for three years , it felt nice to be cleaned up.
While Lampwick washed himself in the bathtub Jiminy sat upon a shelf. "Pinoke I`m not all that sure if we should be allowing Lampwick to stay." He said quietly to the little boy. " He`s a bad influence."
"But Jiminy!" Pinocchio protested. "Lampwick is a person who needs help! He needs food , he needs clothing , he needs a place with somebody to care about him! Most importantly he needs a second chance at life. Maybe he won`t be so bad. Maybe he`ll do the right thing!"
"I don`t know," Jiminy replied , wringing his hands. " I just don`t feel sure about this." He gave a sigh as he turned a music box of a mermaid on a rock around as it played a little tone.
When Lampwick was done with his bath , he draped himself in a fluffy towel that Geppetto had provided , and walked into the bedroom. Geppetto rubbed his chin as he rummaged through a dresser. "What do I have that could fit you?" He eventually pulled out a white shirt , underwear , a undershirt, blue pants , and a blue vest . After Geppetto went back into the kitchen , Lampwick changed into those clothes . He was relieved that for once, he had something to cover himself in rather than go around naked. He could not help but feel humiliated when he was a donkey for not having any clothes.
To his surprise he found that the clothes where very ill fitting , and quite loose in the waist . That showed him how much weight he had lost in the time of being a donkey , because of being so underfeed. You could see his rib cage show through his pale skin .
"But Luckily he found a fine leather belt sitting on the dresser, which made the clothes better . "There ! You`re all set ." Geppetto said as Lampwick walked back into the kitchen. Pinocchio saw sitting at the table and gave a hearty "Hello!"
Lampwick nodded , as if to say hi back . "Well ,"Pinocchio said. "I guess the next thing is to figure out how you became human .But I guess that might not be possible. "Then a idea flickered in the little boy`s head . "Do you reamber how to write ?"
Lampwick puzzled for a moment , biting his lips with his buck teeth . He nodded insecurely. Pinocchio then pulled out a slip of parchment and a pencil from a drawer in the cupboard and then he laid it on the table .
Lampwick picked up the pencil and looked at it. Had he retained his ability to write from all those years as a donkey? Her just had to find out.
At first, his hand shaking with insecurity . But in the end , he wrote everything down. When he was done it went :"When I was a donkey I was whipped until I bleed. But one day when I was pulling a cart from the salt mines I fell into the water and a Fairy woman came and changed me back into a human , but she took my voice so I that I had to learn to be a better person. She said I must be "Brave, Truthful, and Unselfish. I swam back to shore and of all things I ended up at your village."
"Gee!" Pinocchio said as he read over it. "That`s terrible! I`m glad the Blue Fairy saved you. Something awful could of happened to you! Now I`m glad that you`re safe!" He hugged Lampwick, and Lampwick smiled.
He was pleased to know Pinocchio still cared about him. He thought that Pinocchio might of moved on with his life and not care if Lampwick died. Being embraced by Pinocchio felt like somebody loved and cared for him. All that time as a donkey he so lonesome , and even before that he felt quite lonely.
Now he could be part of the human world and feel like he was wanted.
***
Dinner that night was tasty. Geppetto had prepared fine dinner of pasta and bread. Lampwick could not help but notice that Geppetto had given him a larger plate than Pinocchio and Geppetto had. He felt that Geppetto knew that Lampwick had insufficient nutriment for that last few years and decide to make that up. Still Lampwick gave said nothing about it (how could he?) and ate what he was served.
After dinner , Geppetto gave Lampwick a night shift to borrow. He allowed Lampwick to sleep in the attic , which had a nice bed amongst the old dusty trunks and heirlooms.
As Lampwick prepared for bed , he heard a faint knock at the door. It was so quite , that it could almost not be heard. When Lampwick opened the door, he was shocked to see that Jiminy Cricket was standing there instead of Geppetto or Pinocchio.
"Hi Lampwick," Jiminy said ,wringing his hands once again. He cleared his throat and said, "I need to talk to you." Lampwick looked curiously down at the bug , but opened the door wider anyway. He walked to the bed and watched Jiminy hope n the trunks to besides the bed.
"Well, I know I seemed mad at you this afternoon. And I sortta was. It`s just I was so angry at you for calling me a "grasshopper." And it wasn`t just that. I felt like you where leading Pinocchio into some serious trouble. As a conscience , I felt like I need to protect him from the evils of what you were doing. It was just instinct. And if preaching at you was the only way I could get you to stop it and start acting like a good kid, that was what I needed to do.
"But now I can`t hold a grudge against you. You need help , and I`m the Conscience for the job! Now, Lampwick, I can help you sort out whatever thing that sent you from straying from the straight and narrow path. I`ll be able to help you get the tools to prove that you want to have your voice back and stay human rather than be a jackass.
"You gotta be tough against temptation! You gotta be willing to give up something you love to do, because they aren`t right for a boy of your age! You gotta... Lampwick are you still paying attention?"
But the boy couldn`t off. He had already climbed into bed underneath the quilt and fallen asleep. Even thought the boy was asleep , he still had a fairly large grin upon his face. Jiminy`s scold melted as he glanced at Lampwick sleeping so contently into a soft smile.
"Poor kid," He said somatically as he hopped on the pillow next to Lampwick. " He`s been through a lot today. It`s best just to let him sleep and leave the becoming a real boy stuff for tomorrow." Jiminy smiled again as he said." You`re a hopeless case, Lampwick, and my greatest challenge. Have I ever told you that?" He blew out the candle and jumped off the bed and tiptoed down the stairs to his matchbox bed.