Tales From the Cave-Beauty & the Superbeast

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The following morning, bright and early, Pinocchio happily skipped out down the front porch steps of his home, Jiminy Cricket perched on his shoulder. It was Saturday, which meant no school for the young lad. He was free to spend his time as he wished. Today, he planned to round up some of his school friends for some games in the park and return for dinner before sunset. But an unexpected turn of events would leave his plans unfulfilled.

He had barely hopped down from the final step and onto the cobblestone path towards town when he noticed loud chatter and commotion from behind the house. Curious as always, he ignored Jiminy's well-intentioned warnings and followed the noise around the side of the stone house.

Well, you can only imagine Pinocchio's surprise when he saw the entire village population gathered in his very own backyard, all dressed in their nicest clothes. Not only that, they had set up tables with rich food and rows of chairs decorated with ribbons, and there were pink and white flowers all over the place.

But what really confused Pinocchio were the other decorations. There was a soft long red rug that made a gap between the chairs, leading towards a beautiful archway decorated with bright ribbons and fresh-cut spring flowers. Standing there was Father Mortimer himself, holding a book, and there was even a great big five-tiered cake covered with white buttercream icing and adorned with pastel pink hearts. Perched atop the highest tier of the cake were two tiny figurines, one in a white dress, and one in a tuxedo.

Pinocchio stepped into the middle of the scene, looked all around him, and said very loudly, "What is all this?!", not really caring if he sounded rude or not. A plump woman came over and tenderly patted the young boy on his head. "This is to celebrate the marriage of your sweet sister to our wonderful Wolfe!" Pinocchio's almond-colored eyes grew wide. "Megan's not marrying Wolfe!  What gave you that silly idea?!"

"A-hem." Pinocchio quickly spun around to see Wolfe standing right behind him. He was dressed in a dapper red velvet jacket accented with gold material and decorated with medals that he had earned while in the army. The shiny cufflinks on his flared sleeves were an exact match to the buttons that lined the end of his coat. Underneath he wore a crisp ivory shirt with a puff at the collar, and black breeches with more gold material at the ends.

His black boots had been polished so thoroughly, you could see your reflection in them, and his long dark hair had been slicked back and styled into a small ponytail hanging on the nape of his structured neck. If you looked closely, you would notice that he had also shaved recently, and one could smell the cologne he had doused himself with from a mile away.

Jiminy looked over Wolfe's new look with a skeptical eye. "You're certainly dolled up. What's the occasion?" The handsome hunter slung his arm around Pinocchio's shoulders and hoisted him up, holding him in a friendly headlock and nearly knocking Jiminy off. "Today is the day! I'm finally going to ask Megan to marry me! And when she comes out, everything will be ready for us to be hitched on the spot!"

He dropped Pinocchio, who landed right on his bum before he looked up at Wolfe, his innocent mind unable to process this new information. "You're gonna spring a shotgun wedding on my sister?!", he cried, still unable to believe what he had just heard. Wolfe flared his upper lip and let out a low hiss. "Geez, kid. You make it sound like I'm gonna cut her leg off."

Lampwick chose this moment to cut in, jabbing Pinocchio in the arm with his elbow. "C'mon, Pinoc! Think of it as a surprise party!" Jiminy dusted off his tiny top hat, wearing a doubtful expression. "Well, Megan's certainly going to be surprised." "Yep.", Wolfe said, adjusting his jacket and smiling confidently. "This really is her lucky day."

He pulled his own little brother aside. "Now Lampwick, remember, when I come out with Megan, that's your cue to—" "To strike up the band!", Lampwick said, holding up his conductor's baton proudly. Just a few feet away, the local village oompah band stood, ready to play at a moment's notice.