Camila had never felt so much pressure in her life. She had been in the Principal's office for less than ten minutes, but that seemed to have been enough to destroy the fighting spirit that she had always had and that she had never had any scruples about showing. She knew very well that the Principal had no children and that he actually knew nothing about the correct way to raise a child, and that he only behaved that way to satisfy his narcissistic desire to make the children all equal and fit to contribute to society, but despite this she couldn't help but feel oppressed by him. Maybe it was his authoritative voice, maybe it was his size, or maybe it was because of the light in the room as the man's oil lamp barely illuminated leaving the Principal almost completely in shadow and making him seem like something dark; she didn't know, she just knew that the longer she stood there listening to him, the more she felt like a weight was being placed on her shoulders.

"... a good mother would never allow certain behaviors of her daughter. Such mistakes are not tolerable. Order, discipline: this is the basis of an efficient society, and this is what a parent should always teach..."

Camila would have gladly punched the Principal, but she knew that in that case he would take the opportunity to arrest her for assault on a public official. The Principal was a very sneaky and slimy individual. But she also knew that if she continued to stay there and passively suffer his harassment she would end up believing the nonsense he was saying. The Principal was very good at getting into her head... she had to find a way to get out of there, before...

Suddenly someone knocked on the door eagerly, and a very deep voice was heard from the other side: "Urgent missive for you, sir" and a piece of paper passed from under the door.

"Mh. Let's see what it's about" the Principal grumbled, getting up and going to pick up the letter, and when he read it he almost tore the paper. "What!? A fight in my town!? Unheard of! The museum... I bet it's that Jacob Hopkins' fault again! Now, that's the perfect example of what a person who hasn't been raised properly becomes from the parents!"

Camila raised an eyebrow: the Principal was speaking angrily, but at the same time he was also smiling, as if he was happy that someone was making trouble in the city. She wasn't even surprised: a person like him probably couldn't wait for such an event to happen. "Uh... are there some problems?"

"Yes, yes, but I'll solve them in a flash" the Principal replied quickly putting on his uniform. "As for you, you are free to go. Your daughter's transgression wasn't that serious after all, so I'll turn a blind eye this time. Just make sure it doesn't happen again!" and with that he rushed out of the office so quickly that it almost seemed as if he had disappeared.

Camila breathed a sigh of relief: those ten minutes had seemed like ten years to her. Finally she could go home, so she quickly left the police station and as soon as she was outside she took a deep breath of air. But she hadn't taken three steps when a voice she now knew well called her: "It worked! Mom, are you okay?"

"Luz?" Camila murmured as she saw the puppet appear at her side. Was it her impression or had she seen her go out of a window out of the corner of her eye? "What are you doing here? I told you to go home!"

"Sorry mom, but I couldn't leave you in the clutches of that brute! I came to help you!" Luz answered, and as she said it something very small made a buzz and jumped next to her ear. The puppet blushed: "Um... I meant... we came to help you"

"Are we? Who... uh, it's you!" Camila exclaimed as she recognized the spider and the cricket that lived in the plant she kept in her shop.

"Are you surprised? We certainly couldn't abandon you!" Gus said waving his little legs, and even though Camila could barely hear him given the distance and size of the arachnid, she still understood what he said and let out a smile.

"Yeah! We would be really bad guests if we would leave our hostess behind!" Willow said flying onto her shoulder, albeit rather awkwardly. "And by the way, make sure to discipline this girl. I'm not saying she's evil, but she seriously needs an earful"

"Hey! Look I can hear you!" Luz exclaimed angrily. "Should I get the hammer back?"

"Calm down. Let's go home now, everyone" Camila said. She didn't want to know what the hammer thing was. "There you will explain everything to me"

This time fortunately Luz obeyed her and followed her without making a fuss. They then returned to the shop and there Gus and Willow returned to their plant, while Camila and Luz sat at the table and the puppet explained to her what had happened. When she finished, Camila felt quite conflicted: she was touched by the fact that Luz hadn't hesitated to come to her rescue as soon as she learned what kind of person the Principal was, but otherwise she had done a lot of very morally questionable things. Camila knew that even though she just wanted to hug her daughter and thank her, she had to be a little stern at that moment. "Um. Luz, first of all, this is called fraud, and it's a crime" she said. "Second, you were very, very rude to Gus and Willow. Third, you trespassed on public property. And worst of all, you disobeyed me twice; first this morning, and then after too since I told you to stay here. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you coming to help me, but from now on you're grounded"

The smile disappeared from Luz's face, but instead of acting in the capricious way she had shown that morning, this time she actually looked sorry. Or at least embarrassed. "Yes... I shouldn't have disobeyed you. I'm sorry if I made you angry, mom" she whispered.

Camila felt a little guilty at the sight. Maybe she had exaggerated a little... Luz wasn't evil after all, just a little naughty. She put her hands in her hair and rubbed it a little: "I'm not angry, I couldn't be after you came to help me. But I have to punish you for your own good. Therefore, from tomorrow you will take care of all the domestic chores in the house and You won't come out to play until I say so. Oh, and you'll have to apologize to Gus and Willow for your behavior"

"No need, she already did it" Gus said as loudly as he could, even though Willow was clearly trying to silence him.

"Huh? What did you say?" Camila asked turning towards the plant. She knew that one of the two arthropods must have screamed something, but she couldn't hear it well due to their small size.

"He said I already apologized to them so I don't have to do it again" Luz answered on Gus's behalf.

Camila raised an eyebrow. "Really? How did you hear that?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm made of wood. My ears amplify sounds better than yours" Luz explained. "If I pay close attention, even from this distance I can hear what Gus is saying"

Camila's eyes widened in surprise. It didn't seem like Luz was lying: she even managed to say exactly who between Gus and Willow had spoken. She turned her gaze to the plant in the window and clearly saw Gus signaling to her that what Luz had just said was true. A smile formed on her face: "Well, that's good. It means you realized your mistakes on your own and apologized. I'm proud of you"

Luz's eyes seemed to become as big as two bowls. "Really?" she asked, with a smile so bright that for a moment Camila feared she would be dazzled by it.

"Yes, but you're still grounded" the woman said. "And by the way, starting tomorrow you will also go to school"

"School?" Luz's smile faded. "Do I really have to? School seems really boring..."

Well, technically the first person Luz had heard about school was the Principal, so she mustn't have had a good first impression. "It's important for your future" Camila said. "This is a non-negotiable choice. And after all school isn't as bad as it seems: you learn a lot of interesting things there. Writing for example, so next time poor Willow won't have to immerse herself in ink again"

Luz seemed a little reassured by this, although she still didn't seem totally convinced. "In that case... I want to give the school a chance!" she declared smiling again.

Camila felt her heart warm every time Luz smiled. It looked like that girl had the sun instead of teeth. How could she be angry or harsh with her? She just couldn't, even though she knew she should. "Now, how about you make lunch with me?"

"Yeah! Let's eat!" Luz exclaimed, getting up from her chair with an enthusiasm Camila had never seen in any other girl. "I propose to make buns!"

Camila knew that she would soon have to explain to her again that the buns were expensive and therefore it was better to keep them, but despite this she couldn't stop smiling. Managing a daughter wasn't easy at all, in fact it was definitely the most difficult challenge she had ever faced in her life, but despite this Camila felt that she would have willingly traded every single peaceful day of her previous life to spend even just a minute with that one chaotic and capricious puppet. By now Luz was truly her daughter in her heart, and she had discovered that, despite all the problems that she caused, she loved being her mother.

The next chapter will start with a narrative that is more faithful to Collodi's novel. I hope you enjoyed these two chapters of my total invention.