Pinocchio

from rainy - Monday, April 07, 2008
accessed 458 times

I was reading my little boy Pinocchio (the Disney version, he's not old enough yet for the original) tonight, and I was struck by the similarities of that story and ours...

You take a bright little puppet like me at, say, five. All I want is to be a Real Boy (normal kid) and go to school. That's about my entire ambition. I love my parent(s) and I'm just so excited about life.

But, Oh No. It can't be that simple. Heavens no. Clever Uncle Honest John and Uncle Gideon decide that I should perform on stage rather than go to school. So off I go, performing on stage, earning lots of money (donations) because I'm so cute and it's amazing that a little kid has such big concepts down pat. (No strings, see?)

But what the public don't see is that I'm locked safely in a cage at night until I can earn more money the next day. I'm now such an expert at lying that my nose (my personality)has grown strange branches until I'm nothing like a "real boy" anyway and would probably be laughed out of school.

My inborn conscience comes to my rescue and I attempt escape. But I'm lost, and afraid I've miserably disappointed my parent(s). Uncle Honest John and Uncle Gideon find me again and introduce me to a strange pleasure-centred environment that just feels wrong. I can't even find my own conscience anymore. Slowly I begin to see this environment changing my friends into stupid creatures, slaves who can't speak for themselves. As I begin to sprout ears and a tail I know I have to get out of there before it's too late.

Leaving is the hardest thing I've ever done. I jump into the sea, even death is better than living as a donkey-slave. In the sea, I have angered the mighty Monstro. It's time to blow this thing apart and save those who are most important to me. I start a fire. Nothing's gonna stop me now. The fire gets hotter and brighter and...Thar she blows.

I'm free from the monster and the island and Uncle Honest John and Uncle Gideon. I might never quite heal from almost drowning- but I'm a real boy!!!!