Walking down the small cobblestone street the smell of fresh baked bread wafted through the air, making them turn to look back at a small bakery. There were many quaint little shops along the old street. All worn looking and many earth colored, the buildings had so much character. Intricate architectural designs up their walls added to the effect.

Skylar and Andrew strolled down the street basically window shopping. Cheery Italian music was being played somewhere nearby and there were gelato shops on almost every corner. There were few townspeople but they were here and there going about their business. Among them were school children, all romping to the school house in uniform.

The children had a surplus of energy and were excited, despite their destination. Each carried shiny new books of literature and mathematics, also there was the occasional apple to present to their teacher. Some skipped or sang a happy tune, ready for the first day of learning.

Naturally, the two teenagers followed them, close behind a group of rowdy boys. Everyone began to hear a weird little clunking noise, it happening to a rhythm, two at a time. Clunk clunk, clunk clunk, clunk clunk. It almost was like a piece of wood being hit on something over and over again to the beat of their steps. It actually was a piece of wood, and that piece of wood was taking steps on the cobblestone road.

This little piece of wood had a name, Pinocchio, and it, now a he, had been carved into a puppet. He, like all the children, was bursting with energy and looked very eager to get to school, walking quickly with his wooden feet that made a strange noise against the ground.

The children stared, perplexed at the alive puppet. The two older children, although they'd object to being called children, were not fazed by Pinocchio's appearance , although Andrew was somewhere else in his mind anyway. It was expected that the puppet would be in his own ride and it was already known by the teens that their path was wherever Pinocchio went.

Lagging behind the regular crowd of children, the puppet enthusiastically was going to school as well. Andrew and Skylar followed slowly, so as not to leave him but not seem suspicious either. Out of the blue, a stocky cat and a tall fox stepped in front of Pinocchio, blocking his path. The wooden boy stopped and was easily persuaded to not go to school and instead enjoy and join a puppet show.

In the opposite direction the school children were headed, the two teenagers followed Pinocchio, who was lead by the questionable cat and fox, down a street. They all soon arrived at show which was being performed out of a caravan in the town's courtyard. A banner that hung over their heads said "Stromboli's Puppet Theatre."

Skylar felt queasy reading the puppet master's name, knowing it meant trouble. Andrew still wasn't really paying attention to any of the input from his eyes that his brain processed. He was thinking, really still back in Snow White's ride.

Red curtains drew back and revealed a small stage and a poorly painted background. Music began to play and two puppets dropped down, these ones with strings. The puppets danced to the music, their strings getting tangled more than once. Whoever was controlling them was doing a poor job but the alive puppet, Pinocchio was thrilled at the sight of them. The two animals who had lead him to this dark theatre had left, and he slipped into the crowd of the audience, his followers losing him.

"Now what?" Skylar sighed as the crowd clapped. "Andrew?"

"Yeah?" He snapped to attention for a second.

"Okay, what is with you?"

With a collective gasp from the people looking at the puppet show the whole theatre went dark, and all the street lamps seemed to be blow out too.

When lights were switched back on they were alone in a caravan, Stromboli's caravan. Not only were they alone, which was always a bad omen, they were in a cage. It was the shape of a bird's cage with a rounded top but was big enough for two humans. In the caravan there was a crackling fire, which they could not feel the warmth from. The flames lit up all the faces in the room, the puppet's faces that hung from the ceiling everywhere. Their lifeless bodies were tied up with strings and their faces were emotionless despite many having painted smiles on.

The only reason they had to believe someone lived there was the roaring fire but the rest of the place was very unkempt. Coins were stacked on a wide desk that had a visible layer of dust on them and various vegetables were way past rotting point on the desk as well. On the floor was a collection of empty wine bottles and many puppets parts, miscellaneous arms, legs, the occasional head.

The door rattled and the rusty lock clanked as Skylar tried to push open the door of their cage desperately.

"Do you even notice that we're in a cage!?" She yelled at Andrew as she gave up her effort with the door.

Andrew just looked at her as a reply and she groaned, irritated.

"Ever since you ate that apple--"

"I'm fine."

"The fact you said that, and cut me off, says you are not." Skylar with an annoyed tone.

He said nothing more, despite her furious look. She sat back against the cage's wire bars in defeat.

Their enclosure was only big enough for them to sit in, with legs crammed beside them. It sat on the floor, which they were very glad of because other cages swung from the ceiling. Why a puppet master would have a cage this big was not something they wished to find out.

Skylar took out the iPhone, something she felt she hadn't seen in years. Pressing a button to light it up she saw there were still no messages. There hadn't been in what seemed like ages and that disappointment added to everything else. She angrily turned the screen dark and shoved it back into the bag that was on her lap.

"Someone could come in here any minute." She said, persuading Andrew to talk. "Stromboli most likely."

Her accomplice still didn't speak but surely didn't want the evil gypsy to show up.

Little did they know they had nothing to worry about, in regards to the Italian owner of the caravan. He was not where he ought to have been, but most weren't these days.

•

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•

"What did you ask for?" The man said hopefully.

Stromboli studied him, slitting his eyes.

"I'm only wondering." The man tried to appear casual.

"I signed on for de money of course." The Italian answered cautiously. "No silly business wi'd puppets, no work. It was a simple decision, a great one.... What did you write down den? What was your deepest desire?"

"I--." He was unsure, but had some idea of what he'd asked for at the time. "I wanted--want," The man with blue eyes changed the tense quickly. "the death of my enemy, to put it simply."

"Ah well you never were good at that." The round gypsy laughed with a deep voice.

The man was deeply humiliated, still fuzzy on the details of what exactly he had signed that contract for, sick that he had wanted someone's death so badly, and terrified because he felt the bloodlust coming back. Every since they'd jogged his memory he got bits of himself back, and he scared himself, who was he?

•

•

•

"Just tell me what is wrong!" Skylar demanded loudly for the fiftieth and Andrew couldn't take it anymore.

"I died, alright?!" He shouted back.

"Now is not the time for jokes--"

"I'm not joking." He said with a serious face that shut her up and he continued. "When I took a bite of that apple I died, leaving my body in the castle and the Happiest Place on Earth all together, and going to the one in a hospital."

"Other body? Hospital? Okay I know what's wrong, you've lost it." She definitely didn't believe he had left the Happiest Place on Earth, the place they'd been trying to leave for weeks.

To convince her, although he hated reliving it again, Andrew told her every detail of what had happened, explaining in depth how it felt. At the end she was the speechless one and had completely lost her anger.

Finally she said "I see why you've been silent."

"It adds more questions to the ever-growing list of them." Andrew sighed.

"That man, the one you saw in the hospital next to me, he had blue eyes?" Skylar replied, ignoring the annoying mystery of the place they were in.

"Yeah."

"That was my dad then. He has light blue eyes, like me." She felt slight hope and was glad that her parents at least knew where she was, in a way.

"The fact that we're in a hospital, it's just--- confusing." He thought back on the scene once more and had to prevent himself from shuddering.

"Does it mean we're not really here?"

"Oh we're here." Andrew said pinching her.

"Ow." She complained more out of irritation than pain.

"Sorry."

"So after," Skylar counted silently for a second. "6? rides we'll find out what's going on?"

"When we get out? What makes you so sure that out of here we'll have any more of a clue than we do now?"

"I don't know, I'm just hopeful we will."

"We won't know or get out of here, with the obstacle of this cage in our way." Andrew pointed out.

"Oh you notice now do you?"

"Yes, have a bobby pin?"

"No, and I doubt you know how to pick a lock anyway."

"You know me all too well, I assume you do."

"Not with a bobby pin but other things, yes."

Andrew took his turn at playing with the door but it was to no avail. He too gave up trying to open it and began brainstorming other ideas. The puppet master Stromboli or someone else could be on their way and they definitely wanted to escape before then.

They examined the floor around them but could reach nothing through the bars that would be of any use. Puppet pieces were still scattered everywhere, and it made the vibe in the caravan all the more creepy. The fire still ate away at the dusty log in the back of the long room, it crepitating was the only sound for a while.

Skylar grew tired of waiting and had gotten an idea she now decided to try. Slipping her hand into her pocket her fingertips touched a cool slick surface, the glass of a little bottle. She pulled the bottle out gently and studied it's contents closely. The little white granules of dust moved with the movement of the bottle as she turned it.

It was the little corked bottle of pixie dust Peter Pan had given Skylar as a reward for their magnificent flying. She hadn't known what to do with the odd trinket since then, and now she only hoped it would work some magic to help them escape the cage.

"I don't think flying will help in this instance." Andrew remarked when he saw her analyzing the dust.

"We've got to try something." Skylar defended, not looking up from the sparkling sand-like grains.

"Fairy dust is very powerful but you don't want to use it for this." A silvery voice addressed her as she uncorked the bottle.

Skylar and Andrew looked up to see a woman dressed in a blue sparkling gown that had long sleeves. She had clear round wings, bright blonde hair pushed back with a blue headband, and a tall gold wand. She was the blue fairy in all her glory.

Skylar corked the bottle and put it back into her pocket, feeling that the blue fairy knew what was best.

Both teenagers trusted the fairy to get them out of their predicament and with a wave of her wand she did. The cage that had been around them moments before had disappeared into thin air and they eagerly stood up out of their cramped positions.

The blue fairy beamed at them as they thanked her for the help.

"Your honesty has paid off, always tell each other everything and let your conscience be your guide." She advised them in that same melodious voice.

She smiled again and then in a swirl of light the blue fairy was gone.

Andrew and Skylar left the caravan and stepped down into the mud. It was night and looked like it just rained judging from the wet ground. There was complete silence and they had no idea where to go next until the crack of a whip rung in the air.

Their attention was brought to the silhouette of a coach pulled by six really tiny looking horses. As the vehicle drew closer they saw that these horses were actually donkeys and that the coach, driven by a stout coachman, was full of boys who were cheering and whooping. The boys were all over the coach, inside, on top, even clinging to the back of it. They were the disobedient boys, the ones you would play instead of go to school and who would smoke, drink and destroy things given the chance.

Andrew was going to have to pass as one of those boys, the bad ones. He was still shaken by his death experience and really wasn't up for another plan but Skylar convinced him to go through with it.

"And what are you going to do?" Andrew asked, realizing her plan only involved him.

"I'll find a way there, just go." He turned to the coach as it pulled in front of them. "Hey, are you alright?" Skylar noticed he was still distant.

"I don't know." He answered quietly and went to join the uncouth boys in the coach.

"Hop aboard and go to Pleasure Island where you can smoke, drink and have fun with no one to stop you. Leave the lass and live your life boy!" The coachman had a devilish smirk on his wide face and all the boys hollered in agreement with him. 

"Okay." Andrew said meekly.

He stood on the step of the coach holding onto the door through the window as it pulled away. The boys cheers could be heard after they traveled far down the road and were barely visible to Skylar.

She really had no idea how she was going to get to that island without going on that coach and boarding on a ferry. Luckily, Skylar didn't have to think too long about what she was going to do. Once the coach was gone, and the night was again silent and still, something tiny; minuscule and barely macroscopic, hopped on the ground toward her.

This small thing was calling out her name faintly and as it got closer she recognized it.

The creature that knew her was a cricket, a bright green one that goes by the name of Jiminy Cricket. His wings were folded on his back, and his compound eyes looked in many different directions while focusing on Skylar as well. Although not moving his wings to chirp at all, his voice sounded like a chirp itself.

Although Skylar knew the cricket she was a bit put off by how bug-like he actually was here. This bug was different from others though, because like his cartoon self he wore a little suit, a black top hat, and carried a small umbrella.

"How do you do, miss?" Jiminy chirped up to her.

"Good." Skylar said, finding it strange that a cricket was so formal.

"That's swell! Now I heard you could use some help, perhaps a conscience?" He said, refolding the wings on his back.

"I need to get to Pleasure Island." She said simply.

"Oh you don't wanna go there miss, it's a bad place. They turn yah into donkeys there!" The cricket was very much against the trip to the island but Skylar had expected as much.

"I need to go, to--save a friend there."

"That's a noble cause indeed, but are you sure?" He was shaking his head, his antennae moving with it.

"I'm sure." She answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Well I must say, I do admire you. It's a good choice you picked." He put his umbrella up, suggesting it was about to rain. "Off to Pleasure Island we go."

Skylar was eager to get there, knowing how crazy the island was and what state Andrew was in at the moment. But she really didn't know how Andrew was, right then, on the island. She would have been shocked to see him.

•

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•

"Step right up, get your cigarettes, smoke your heads off, there's no one here to stop you!" A loud voice came though an Indian statue that was tossing out cigarettes.

"It's the rough house, the roughest toughest joint yah ever seen, come and pick a fight boys." A gruff voice called out over another loud speaker.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, see the model home? It's open for destruction and it's all yours boys, it's all yours." Flames were eating up the fancy topiary around the house, caused by lit cigars thrown carelessly around, and just about every stain glass window was shattered that belonged to the building.

Andrew was in one of the many swarms of boys, right now at the model home. They all were tearing apart the once perfect house, all of them. Andrew had still been thinking about where he'd gone after biting into that apple. Everything that had led them up to this point now suggested, not only suggested but screamed, that the reason they were in the Happiest Place on Earth was not something they wanted to find out. There was a group of people a "they" that the people on the other end of the iPhone had mentioned. This "they", this group perhaps, was allegedly the people that had sent them to this magical land and inhibited or controlled the Walt statue. This group had also put them in the hospital, as he'd recently found out. Just seeing the outside world after so many days of fantasy had been jarring.

So jarring in fact that it now seemed okay to be like the boys on the island. After all, it wasn't real, it was a fantasy land they were in. None of these people around him existed, not out in the reality he'd seen only hours ago. Breaking a stain glass window with a rock was fine, it wasn't a real window. Hacking the elegant oak wood dining table with torn lace wasn't bad, it relieved pent up tension, using the ax like that.

Andrew just had to wait until he got off the island, soon someone would come for him. In the meantime he had to do what everyone else did, lest society turn against him. Although peer pressure wasn't the reason at all, it was only another way of justifying the actions he was taking.

So, rocks he did throw and furniture he did hack, helping destroy the model home with the rest of the miscreants. Once the house was completely demolished, which didn't take long, everyone moved onto something else. Andrew hadn't completely lost his mind, and steered clear of the Indian statues throwing cigars in the air, but did go to a giant eight ball building, Pleasure Island's Pool Hall.

There were few people inside but those who were slopped their drinks onto the floor, already long-past the state of being drunk. He walked up to the pool table and took a cue stick off the wall, roughening up the tip with chalk like he'd seen people do in movies. Then, finding an empty pool table that had the pool balls already arranged into a triangle, he pointed the cue stick at the plain white cue ball and hit it. They all clacked around and spread out across the table.

Picking stripes to go first, Andrew played against himself, knowing the basics of the game. He played a whole game, which took a while considering how shaky his hands were. Every time he came to realize the extent of everything that had happened to them, what'd he'd seen, and what they could only speculate about this place, it overwhelmed him until he could stuff it back down again. They'd been through so much, in so little time and he figured they didn't know the half of it.

Suddenly, the game of pool wasn't enough to contain himself anymore. There were rows of mugs on the bar countertop all filled with a frothy drink that looked more and more friendly. He found himself inching toward the countertop, after he'd set the stick down on the green table. The liquid was so incredibly tantalizing, it would be an escape, help dull the thoughts that bothered him so much.

Andrew reached for the mug just barely hanging off the edge.

"What the hell are you doing?" Skylar shrilled from behind him.

Before Andrew could even turn around long brown donkey ears sprouted from his head. The bray of a donkey came out of his mouth when trying to explain himself for the first time and Skylar was not amused.

"Well you went and did it, made a jackass of yourself." She sighed and looked down at a more bug-like Jiminy that Andrew didn't recognize at first.

"I wasn't really going to--"

"Come on!" Skylar said, not wanting to hear another word, or donkey noise.

She practically dragged him out of the bar and up the rocks, sometimes by his ears.

The island had a huge mountain of rocks that Jiminy Cricket led them up. Finally at the top they reached a sharp cliff which the cricket instructed them to jump off before doing so himself. As the little bug dived into the raging sea both teenagers turned to one another.

"Judging by your ears, and now tail, you're not doing so good huh?" Skylar said matter-of-factly.

"I broke some windows." Andrew sighed to himself.

Behind them, away from the sea, were tons of donkeys kicking and screaming in their animal way while being locked up into cages by the Coachman and his lackeys.

"It's all--this, isn't it?" She said gesturing around at everything.

"Yeah, well put, everything."

"Think there's something out there? Something that sent us here?"

"There is a lot of somethings."

"I think we need to find Monstro in order to get rid of the donkey part of you." Skylar said changing the subject.

Andrew looked fully toward the sea, not thinking of the giant whale at all.

"Maybe... there is a beast... maybe it's only us..." He whispered, glancing behind at the braying donkeys one last time.

They followed their cricket guide into the sea, and found it easy to hold their breath for a very long time. Both searched for the whale, although Jiminy didn't know that, and eventually did find the 'Dogfish'.

Monstro's green eye opened up at the presence of them, and he began to suck the whole sea in his mouth, with all the fish and everything else with it. The two humans and a cricket got sucked in as well and found it surprisingly dry on the inside of the whale. Water was up to their waists but on the convenient boat the whale had swallowed they could stand freely.

The water had washed off the unwanted ears and tail, much to the relief of Andrew. Now standing on a boat they debated silently what to do. A fire, like Pinocchio had decided to do, was what they thought was the best shot to get them out of there. Then it was to the monorail, and finally another attraction.

The idea of a code, finding one to use as transportation out of there, came to their minds. Although they soon realized that Pinocchio's Daring Adventure was opened in 1983 and Walt had died in 1966.

Their helper, the cricket, found a match easily and lit it. Excess wood was just lying around, ready to assist in being a giant bonfire that smoked like crazy. In an instant the whale was huffing and puffing under the water and in one big sneeze blew them out.

Skimming on the surface of the water from the force, the humans and their cricket companion reached a beach quite soon. They were covered in sand, from being wet and thrown on the shore with its water absorbent sand. Seagulls circled overheard but flew off when seeing nothing was dead that could be picked apart. 

Jiminy was the first to say anything. "Well golly, that whale isn't any less crazy the second time around!"

The monorail that they hadn't seen in a while suddenly pulled up in front of them, out of thin air, not even on a track. The last time it was used was from the submarine ride on Nemo to Autopia. From then on they had found a code to transport, which had been helpful. The reminders of these codes, messages, or whatever they were was kinda of painful, for Andrew particularly. They still had no idea what their real purpose was.

This ride didn't have a code though, so they could rest their brains for just a moment and ride the smooth monorail.

Before departure, Jiminy Cricket had some words for the two teenagers.

"It has been my downright pleasure to be your stand-in consciences. Be careful now, and watch out for whales." He said the last part with a wink.

The automatic doors of the monorail slid closed and locked with a click. Then it sped away in a blur of colors seen through the windows.

Whatever attraction was next, they couldn't tell.

•

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•

"So you got it then? The money?" The man said clenching his right hand as a nervous habit.

Stromboli was really not liking this topic being brought up again, and wanted to limit his association with the man as much as possible, he wasn't on good terms with them.

"Yes." The Italian moved away from him, the man looked more and more haggard everyday. Stromboli didn't know if this was because they were punishing him, or he was just worrying they would. 

"The--uh-- contract, what exactly did they want in return?" The man's blue eyes looked down to his hands.

"Ah well we work here... but it was one of those tings you know," Stromboli sneered at him. "d'ere were no strings attached."

•

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•

Well, that took me a while to write.

I remember reading the original story of this when I was little, quite disturbing. The part that freaked me out was not the smashing of Jiminy Cricket, or Pinocchio feet burning off or anything. It was when that evil cat ate a bird trying to warn Pinocchio, just all of a sudden, gulp. Yeah, creepy.

What I didn't remember was Fire Eater aka Stromboli being sympathetic and prone to  sneezing when showing it. Just know he's not like that in this story, obviously, or the disney movie.

By the way, in case you were confused, in the original version of Pinocchio, Monstro wasn't a whale but rather a giant Dogfish. I called him that once.

Tune in next whenever-I-have-time-to-write-again for more. I'm really busy with high school but I'll try to update again soon-ish (in the next month).

Vote, comment, or be a silent reader, it's all great. Thanks <3