Today's #flashfiction #TheSculptorsPinocchio

“Pull my finger.”

Miss Manners* #quote

Today I followed the yellow brick road. They didn't need to paint the bricks, they would have been fine red or brown.

The Sculptor's Pinocchio

       Geppetto got Pinocchio and Jennifer got Daniel. But Jennifer was a sculptor who made a living statue instead of a living puppet like Pinocchio. Daniel didn't want to be a real boy like the living puppet Pinocchio. He wanted a brother. A statue's instincts made it not want to be alone. The statues that are abandoned are the ones that are alone and out of galleries so Daniel out of his natural needs wanted a brother.

       So Jennifer made a brother and prayed to whatever force gave Daniel life to give the brother life too. Her wish is granted and a brother is had. But instincts are instincts and now both Daniel and brother want more siblings. When Jennifer made another body for a sister for the two boys the being that gave life to Daniel would have ignored just Jennifer but all three of them were praying for life for the sister. The mysterious force gave life to the sister too. The sister wanted a sibling too.

       The family expanded and expanded as the being always took pity on them when they begged for their family to grow. Though the fellow people in the village started to find it strange when Jennifer decided to make herself a bigger and bigger home so spontaneously. And she used to sell so many pieces! Now she hoarded them.

        One sculptor named John grew angry when he noticed some clay missing. He thought that Jennifer had grown so compulsive that she couldn't afford to buy supplies. He thought she stole his. He looked outside and even saw someone running off in the distance to her house, which looked more like a barn, with incredible speed. He barged into Jennifer's home.

        “My God.” He looked at the house to see it filled with the statue children. “This is what she's been making? And all the stolen clothes and toys around town...”

         “A guest!” They all shouted. “We've never had a guest!”

         “There are hundreds of them.” John tried to count them but the children practically stacked on top of each other and climbed on the cabinets and Jennifer had apparently added a basement that they were pouring out of.

         “Come here!” The children shouted. “You can stay for dinner!” The children started to climb on him and drag him into the house.

         “No! I just wanted my clay back!” John tried to fight them off. “Let me go!”

         One of the statue children smiled at them. It was one of the ones dragging his left leg. “You mean the clay Daniel stole to make our next brother? Maybe we can name him after you!”

         “That wouldn't work though,” Daniel said as he stood on the kitchen table and the other children dragged John into the room. “Unless we want the brother named John Jr. I just wanted John to be our new Dad. Then again he's a sculptor just like Mom so we can have more and maybe even better brother and sisters made!”

         The children lifted John high as they cheered. And at the end of the cheer the children all the froze in place. The being that gave them life couldn't let that happen to John and feared what would happen when both John and Jennifer died so the being pulled the life force from the statue children.

       When Jennifer returned home from getting food for herself to see the frozen children and John held up high she dropped to the ground crying.

       “You monster. You did this to them didn't you?” While Jennifer cried over her statue children faraway in another place Pinocchio had just become a real boy seconds before.