Melancholia

4 - Melancholia Carnival Circus: The Ventriloquist

Once upon a time in Melancholia, there was a carnival. Among the most famous exhibits was the circus, called the Melancholia Carnival Circus, or the MCC. Even though it seemed bright and nice, it had some dark secrets within it.

It just so happened that on one fateful day, a few kids came to the carnival.

"Hey, where do you guys want to go to?" asked Ben, the leader of their gang.

"Up to you," the others replied.

"Okay then, if it's up to me, then I choose...well I choose the circus!" exclaimed Ben. "I heard that it's a pretty magical and nice place."

"Okay, then let's go!" all of them shouted.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Arnold whispered under his breath.

They then went into the circus together.

"Look at how big the circus is!" exclaimed Catherine. "It looks bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside!"

"Yeah, it's quite big, alright," James said.

"Okay, so where to?" asked Mary.

Suddenly, a clown approached them. "Hi, kids! Are you here for the show? It starts in forty five minutes," she said.

"Well, what could we do until then?" asked Ben.

"We have arcade machines, puppets, a play area, a gift shop, and a hall of mirrors and weird stuff."

"Okay, so where do you guys want to go to?" asked Ben.

"Hmmm... What if we all go to our own places of interest and meet up here forty minutes later?" asked James.

"Great idea," remarked Ben. "Let's do that. See you guys here forty minutes later," Ben said as they went off in their own separate ways.

Catherine went off to see the puppets. "Wow, there are so many different puppets!" exclaimed Catherine.

"Yes, there are," said a voice.

Catherine turned around and saw a chubby man. "Hi, I am Robin, the ventriloquist. I specialize in the puppeteer section."

"Hello, Robin. My name is Catherine," said Catherine. "Hey, don't you think that the puppets really look so life like?" commented Catherine.

"Well, each of them has a story behind their creation," said Robin. "And I know every single one of their backstories."

"You mean that you made every single puppet here yourself?" asked Catherine out of curiosity.

"Yes, indeed I have. Anyway, do you want to see a puppet performance?" asked Robin.

"Okay," replied Catherine. "Why not?"

"What performance do you want?" Robin asked. "A ventriloquist act or a puppet show?"

"I want a puppet show," replied Catherine. "I like puppets more, anyway," she added.

"Same here," said Robin. "Puppets seem to be more life like than dummies. Anyway, please give me a moment while I find my puppet. Why don't you take a seat?" Robin said while he searched for his puppet.

"Okay, I found it."

"Wow, a life sized puppet of Pinocchio!" exclaimed Catherine.

"Yes, I will show you a play of Pinocchio."

"I can't wait for it to start!" shouted Catherine excitedly.

"And it never will end, my dear sweet Catherine," Robin muttered to himself. "It will never end."

"It will start soon," said Robin. "Let me put the puppet on stage first."

"Why doesn't it have any strings?" asked Catherine while pointing toward the puppet.

"Oh, well, since we live in a modern era, I figured that people don't really appreciate old school puppets anymore, so I created puppets that have two modes, which are auto mode and manual mode."

"That sounds cool!"

"Thus, the puppets can be controlled by using a remote," Robin said. "Plus, with the huge size of Pinocchio here, it's hard to control him manually using strings."

"Okay, he's all set up and ready to go. Let me begin the play. There once was a carpenter called Geppetto," Robin said while a puppet man went onto the stage. "He longed so much for a son. So, he carved a wooden puppet boy and named it Pinocchio," he said when he started to move Pinocchio. "Now, Pinocchio was just a puppet, but Geppetto wished so much that Pinocchio would become a real boy. So, the angels sent down Aphrodite. Then, Aphrodite turned Pinocchio into a living boy," Robin said when he switched Pinocchio to auto mode.
"However, Pinocchio got lonely as Geppetto was often busy woodworking. So, Geppetto called upon Aphrodite again to create a companion for his son."

Suddenly, Aphrodite's puppet's eyes shot out two green beams toward Catherine.

"Aaah! What just happened?" asked Catherine in fear.

"You will be Pinocchio's companion, my dear. Take a look at your clothes."

And so, she did and discovered that her clothing had changed. It started to look the same as the clothing that Pinocchio wore. At about the same time, her braids turned reddish brown.

"How could this happen!?" exclaimed Catherine.

"Oh, this, my dear, is black magic," Robin said. "Now that the clothing is done, it is time for you to change. Take a look at your feet, why don't you?"

She looked down in horror as her legs had turned into wood. Soon, she felt a strange feeling in her abdomen. Her body was also turning into wood! The curse was gradually going up to her body, eventually reaching her chest.

"Ah, I feel like it's harder to breathe now!" she exclaimed.

"What's the matter with that? You won't need to breathe anyway," Robin said with a smug grin.

"Aaah! My arms are also turning into wood! Please stop this, please, I'm begging you, Robin. Make me back to normal!" she wept.

"No, I won't. This is your fate and you have to face it, maybe even embrace it. You told me you liked puppets, right? Why not enjoy being one?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Catherine said. "Help! Somebody help! I'm turning into wood!" she shouted.

"Nobody will hear your screams," said Robin. "It's helpless."

"Help me! I am turning into..."

Suddenly, Catherine's screaming stopped. The curse had reached her mouth and she was unable to talk. However, tears still came flowing out of her eyes. She felt helpless as she knew that this would not stop until her transformation was over.

In just a few minutes, her entire face had turned into wood, but the transformation was not complete.

All of a sudden, a tiny door appeared on Catherine's chest.

Robin opened the chest and took out Catherine's heart.

"Now that the transformation is complete, you will be my puppet forever," said Robin.

Suddenly, Catherine could see.
"Hey, I am still conscious," she thought to herself. "Am I really a puppet now?" she asked herself while trying to look at her arms. However, it was to no avail. She couldn't move any of her limbs or look anywhere but in front.

"It is time to activate you, Catherine, or should I say, Pinocchia?"

"Pinocchia?" she wondered. "Well, maybe being Pinocchio's puppet friend wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it's..." she thought, when Robin activated her. She lost consciousness as black magic took over her wooden body and controlled it.

"Hello, Pinocchio," Pinocchia greeted Pinocchio while smiling.

"Pinocchio, here is your new companion, Pinocchia," Robin said to Pinocchio.

"Hello, Pinocchia," said Pinocchio. "Let's be friends forever."

"You will live here, performing with me forever, Catherine," said Robin.