11 Pinocchio Promises to Be Good

CHAPTER 11 Pinocchio Promises to Be Good Because he was only a puppet, Pinocchio never aged. But oh, how Fairy had grown up. Before, she had been only a little girl, something like a sister. Now, through some sort of magic, she was a beautiful woman. "I want to grow," Pinocchio cried. "I want to be a real little boy, who turns into a young man, and then, someday, an old man. I am tired of being a solid piece of wood."

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"There may be a way," Fairy suggested mysteriously. "For all of your bad behavior, I can see that you have a good heart. If you try to be a wellbehaved child, and study and work and tell the truth, you may just get what you wish for." "From now on, I'll be different," Pinocchio vowed. He held his breath, looking down at his wooden limbs, hoping he would instantly turn into a real boy. Apparently it would not be that easy. Pinocchio sighed. "Will you tell me, dear Fairy, where my father is?" Fairy didn't know, but she was sure that Pinocchio would see him again. "For now, however, since I have grown into a woman, I will be your mother instead of your sister," Fairy said. "Lovely!" Pinocchio cried. But Fairy had some conditions.

"You will listen to me and go to school." Pinocchio frowned. "Eventually, you will get a job." Pinocchio groaned. "What's wrong?" Fairy asked. "I don't know," Pinocchio said. "I tried to get excited about those things before, but I am afraid that I am back to feeling that school and work aren't very much fun." "My dear boy," said Fairy. "People who say such things usually end up in prison or the hospital. Every person must do something in this world to try to make something of himself. You have to fight your laziness! Didn't you say just one minute ago that you wanted to become a real boy?" Pinocchio nodded, remembering. He did want that desperately! He would try to be good! And he would get things started by going to school the very next day.

But things at school did not go smoothly. Everyone laughed at him when he, a puppet, walked into the room. They played mean tricks on him, stole his hat and coat, and tried to paint a mustache under his nose. One kid even tried to tie strings to Pinocchio's hands and feet to make him dance. Pinocchio tried to reason with them. "I will treat you with respect," he said, "and I expect the same." But this simply made the kids laugh harder. One boy reached out and pulled Pinocchio's nose. Pinocchio kicked the boy in the shin. "Ouch!" the boy cried, surprised. Wooden feet were hard! Another boy got an elbow in the stomach. Wooden elbows were even harder. Well, as you might imagine, that was the

end of the teasing. The first day of school was followed by a second day, and a third, and so on, and Pinocchio did surprisingly well. He showed up on time and didn't fall asleep in class and even did his homework. That puppet was well on his way to being the teacher's pet! If he had one fault, it lay not in himself but in his friends, some of whom were well- known troublemakers. The teacher and Fairy both warned him. "You are doing well and are finally on the right path," they said. "But if you are not careful, your friends will lead you astray." Pinocchio dismissed the warnings. "I'm too smart for that," he said. One day as he was walking to school, some of his friends ran up to him with exciting news. "A shark as big as a mountain has been