Finally the ending has come . I`ve waited forever to write this , it`s been in my mind since I started writing the first chapter . I also changed the rating to T `cause there is more violence and uses of the term jackass than originally planed .
Lampwick and Pinocchio sneaked out of the pool hall. Pleasure Island was in ruins, the other boys had really done a number on it . Pure silence sent shivers up Lampwick`s spine . The deafening cries of joy still lingered in the air as well as the faint breeze of cigar and cigarette smoke. The aroma of junk food vanished in the night along with the boys. A soft summer breeze made cigar ashes spread all through the park. Trousers and shoes cluttered the dirty walkway of the Midway. Only the light of the moon and stars above kept the park illuminated. Softly the sea swished along the shore.
The threesome reached the mysterious doors of the park. They were rather large ... and locked . A tall stone wall surrounded the park . Lampwick knew what that wall was meant for , to keep the boys from escaping. Pinocchio tried unlocking the heavy doors , but the rusty lock wouldn`t budge .
"I`m sorry son , but only I can get in there. The door has several open holes, small enough for a cricket like me to get through" Jiminy said, shaking his head .
"Well maybe we could try the old way out. The way we escaped the island the first time", Pinocchio said desperately and frantically .
"No, that`s a cliff and it only leads to the sea. We`ll be drenched and they`ll see us coming", Jiminy said, peering into a crack of the wooden door. He shook his head again.
Just then a thought clinked in Lampwick`s head . He saw a crate covering a section of the wall , as Lampwick walked over to it he saw that the crate was covering a crack . Pushing it aside he saw a rather large crack , just big enough for him to get in . Smiling he whistled over to his best friend . He motioned them towards the wall and pointed to the crack. "Perfect " Pinocchio said .
The two squeezed in and they were on the dark side of Pleasure Island . Before them a wall of crates , some filled with tiny braying , weeping donkeys . Lampwick could hear the Coachman `s demands to his cloaked henchmen over the brays of the boy-turned-donkeys . "Keep it moving , you Blokes ! We haven`t got all night !" Pinocchio was horrified hearing it for the first time . Lampwick simply nodded , meaning "This is the fate for everyone who doesn't escape ." Lampwick began to climb the wall of crates to look out and see how he could trap the Coachman .Looking over the vast sea of little crates and crying donkeys Lampwick could spot the coach with the donkeys that pulled it up all harnessed . Lampwick could see Alexander looking remorseful but yet hopeful . Lampwick knew Alexander and the others were waiting for him to free them from their cursed bodies. Sighing Lampwick saw the Coachman`s dark and cloaked assistants pull donkey boys from a line and place them in front of their cruel enslaver ." And what might your name be ?"he asked each of them and the poor little donkeys brayed in reply , only making their fate worse. After each little donkey brayed the Coachman laughed maniacally and striped the poor unfortunate donkey boys of their former human clothing.
Lampwick had flashbacks of when he was pulled into line and knocked in to a crate for the salt mines . He knew what those boy s where going through , he knew it all too well . He was nothing but a mere animal just a year before , but inside he was nothing short of a human 13 year old . I gotta go through with this he thought twiddling with his thumbs .
They had reviewed the plan during the time they were in the pool hall , and Lampwick had to say it was a good plan . But it wasn`t exactly fool proof . The Coachman might catch them and turn them into a donkeys . Lampwick feared this , he didn`t want to be a donkey ever again .
Pinocchio who had climbed up looked out and was even more filled with shock .After a few minutes he winked towards Jiminy "You know the plan Jiminy ." Jiminy nodded and left hopping down the crates , determined to help the boys from their horrid fate. Pinocchio then turned to Lampwick and said " Let`s go save those boys . "
Lampwick sighed - once , twice , three times - and leapt down from the top crate , cringing at the sound of each donkey`s bray . He finally got to a level of the sea of crates where it was filled with little jacks , weeping for their mommas. When they saw a human teenage boy they brayed in happiness and envy . Lampwick nodded and placed his finger to his lips . They donkeys immediately understood and shut up as Lampwick flipped the switch of the crate`s lock . Jiminy explained what the donkeys where to do next with their newly unlocked confinement as Lampwick left to help another crate .
Lampwick got to another crate and repeated the process - shutting up the newly transformed donkeys , unlocking their prison - and he was quite successful until he reached one at the bottom level .As he opened one of the crates he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder - the Coachman . Lampwick , fear clearly in his eyes , looked back at his nemesis . "You missed one !" The Coachman said . Lampwick threw the Coachman's hand off of his shoulder and began to run around the loading area , but every where he looked someone was there to catch up with him . He was about to climb another wall of unfilled crates until he tripped over a shoe lost by one of the boy-donkeys and knocked down on the dirt ground.
"Well ,well ."The Coachman said shaking his head . "A donkey in human clothing . She does well to masquerade you , but she cannot fool me ." Lampwick began to edge closer and closer to the crates , the only way out . The coachman shook his head again muttering "Tut , tut . " He picked Lampwick up by his white and very loose shirt . Lampwick feared for what was going to happen next , and closed his eyes . The Coachman then sighed and threw Lampwick against another wall of crates labeled "Sold to the Salt Mines " with a bang . Lampwick had hit the wall so hard his head began to ache . Looking down at his bare feet , to his horror , not to human but hooves of a donkey .He got up on his feet and saw he had a tail . In panic he looked at his hands and they melted away into two shiny black hooves . Lampwick felt as a two-edge sword was cutting through him ,his transformation back into a jackass more painful than the first . All this time the Coachman and his assistants laughed manically at the helpless boy who couldn`t even scream for help .
When he reached to the position on four legs , he felt agony of losing his humanity - again . He had made so much of effort to prove that he wanted to be a boy more than anything . He got good grades in school , worked hard as an apprentice , and he didn`t fall into his urges . But nothing could save him now , the Coachman had found out and Lampwick was a donkey again .
Meanwhile , as Pinocchio saw his best friends transformation back into a donkey , he unlocked more and more of the crates , telling donkeys that when he shouted "Attack " everyone was supposed to jump out of their crates and attack the evil henchman . Jiminy was doing the same . Pinocchio and Jiminy knew their friend was in trouble so , hiding behind the wall they each took a deep breath and shouted on the top of their lungs "AAATTTTAAAAACK!!" The henchman and Coachman raised their heads only to be trampled by jackasses angry with their in slavers . "Get off ! Pathetic asses !" The Coachman yelled as a donkey began to trample like it was the Rough House all over again.
Donkey boys began a raging war on the henchman . All of them using their newly transformed bodies as weapons , their powerful hooves to kick , fore hooves to push , and heads to butt like a goat. Pinocchio allied the donkeys and began stuffing henchman into crates - and locking them .Occasionally , a few of the boy-turned donkeys where captured by the henchman , so Pinocchio and a few of the others had to open the crates again. On the Coachman side it grew fewer and fewer as the cloaked men began to be place in their prison . Lampwick joined in the raging war on Pleasure Island , the only mute donkey that was still in clothing . Lampwick couldn`t bray a piercing bray like the others , but he was much stronger than the others and kicked twice as hard .
Pinocchio began to attack the Coachman along with three or four donkeys . But he was much stronger than the henchman and used his whip in self defense . He banged the whip against each donkey and they all brayed in pain , but it was when he used the whip against Pinocchio that scared Lampwick the most . An ear piercing , haunting scream filled Pleasure Island , the same scream Lampwick wanted to scream when he was first whipped in the salt mines . Lampwick aboned the fight against one of henchman and ran over to his best friend to see if he was okay . Pinocchio`s white shirt drenched by blood and the cloth ripped into two halves to revile a raging red whipping mark.
Now Lampwick was really angry . First the Coachman trapped poor naive boys , then he made Pinocchio suffer through the pain Lampwick felt while being a donkey . It was too much to handle . Lampwick began to charge against the villainous Coachman , and deplete his weapon , his donkey hooves . The hooves pushed the Coachman back , but not fair enough to be mobbed into a crate . Frustration blurred the anger out of Lampwick`s mind , he was frustrated on how this villain wasn`t gonna fall into the trap .
The other donkey boys joined in with Lampwick but the Coachman was too strong to fall in the hands of a couple of jackasses . Lampwick , as a final resort , bit the Coachman `s glove cover hand with his buck teeth . For once , Lampwick thought , having an over bite really helps . The Coachman yelled in pain as Lampwick ran off . "Ass " he breathed . "Good for nothin` jackass . " The Coachman began to follow the donkey that bit him with his dagger in hand , ready to kill off the unwanted pest.
Lampwick ran in panic , up to the mountain of empty crates where he transformed back into a donkey . The Coachman was gaining on him , and Lampwick had no choice but to climb the mountain . It was much hard as a donkey without hands to grab the crates , but Lampwick began to hop up . Higher and higher they went , up to the very top . Dagger at hand , the Coachman was about ready to strike the little donkey . Lampwick , who had no weapon beside his powerful donkey body , was scared for his life . .
Lampwick panicked . He could hear his heart banging against his chest , partly from his newly transformed sense of hearing . Walking backwards he felt his foot leave the crater`s platform and become suspended in mid-air. The Coachman came close , his dagger for lethal intent . "Now I got you , pathetic donkey ." The knife jammed the air , and by some way , Lampwick was safe for now . If only there was a way Lampwick could get this Coachman once and for all . Lampwick got on his two hind legs , standing almost like the human he was inside . He pushed the Coachman right as he was going to stab Lampwick again . The dagger only scrapped Lampwick`s chest , making him bleed . The Coachman then lost his balance and began to tumble down the side of the mountain of crates . An avalanche of boxes followed behind him ...
Lampwick swiveled on the top crate , he was going to fall .. He soared down the crates as they tumbled after him . He banged his head on the solid ground . Hidden by crates he lost consciousness and the world blacked out .
As the Coachman finally reached the bottom of the mountain , donkeys and a little boy greeted him by kicking him in the face . Pinocchio grabbed the Coachman by his red coat . "No ! I can`t be deafted by a bunch of jackasses ! It can`t be done !" He cried as he was dragged into the crate . "Get me out of here you filthy donkey !"He said pointing to Alexander .
"I`m not a donkey ; I'm a boy !" Alexander said mightily kicking the Coachman into he face . "And I learned my lesson .You gotta work hard for anything pleasurable!" The crate`s door shut and it was locked imeadtily by Pinocchio .
Pinocchio and the rest cheered with joy over the shouts of the Coachman and his assiants . "Lampwick! "Pinocchio cried panting after he and the others jumped and danced in happiness of defeating their hated enemy. "Lampwick we trapped him ! We won! And it was all because of you! ...."
Pinocchio was to happy too notice his best friend hadn`t moved since he had dropped of the crate . "Lampwick ?"
Pinocchio cried out Lampwick`s name frantically throwing fallen crates this way and that in search for his toungless best friend friend . Donkey boys and Jiminy behind him . Pinocchio found the limb and lifeless body of his pal. "Lampy ? Are you okay ? Blink if you can hear me ! ..."but Lampwick`s eyes were clearly closed , shut tight , forever. Jiminy hopped up on Lampwick`s bloody chest and pressed his head to the fur . It seemed as if the entire island had fallen silent , waiting for the answer ...
Jiminy lifted his head from Lampwick`s body and sighed stating "I can`t make out a heartbeat ..."He sighed .Pinocchio clasped his hands around his mouth , shaking his head in disbelief , and tears staining his pale white face. "No! No! I He can`t be !"
Jiminy nodded . "He isn`t breathing Pinocchio ..." then the conscience sighed again . Sure Lampwick was a jackass when he met him , but Jiminy knew one thing that many people forget to remember ... people can transform for the better . Bad boys can become good , and that what Lampwick was ... he was a good kid . He had grown studious and kind , knowing the error of his ways . Lampwick had really deserved this , he deserved his second chance as a boy .
Pinocchio kneeled down by the unresponsive and cold donkey body that was once his friend`s ,tears rolling down his checks to a puddle on the ground. He placed his head against Lampwick`s chest ,bloody and no heartbeat heard , and wept silently.
Lampwick was Pinocchio`s best friend . Pinocchio never got to hear his friend`s voice , for he traded it to be human again .All that year Pinocchio relied on head and hand gestures to know what Lampy was thinking, and he wished that could change . Pinocchio knew the Blue Fairy would of rewarded Lampwick for his noble deed with his voice , but now all chances where gone . Lampwick was gone , forever .
Jiminy took of his hat , and the donkey boys knew that Pinocchio had lost some one very dear . They drooped their ears in mooring , weeping for Pinocchio .
But Pinocchio and the rest where to busy mooring the death of Lampwick to notice that a blinding white light surrounded Pleasure Island , and Lampwick and the others` bodies changing ....
Now do you really think that I would want to keep the hero of this story dead ? Heck no ! Next chapter is coming right up after I finish the edits ...