“Looks like you’ve been given some bad marks.”
“I didn’t mean to Eli. I tried really hard.”
“Oh you don’t have to defend yourself to me, child. I don’t care what the other Wemmicks think.”
“You don’t?”
“No, and you shouldn’t either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn’t matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special.”
Punchinello laughed. “Me, special? Why? I can’t walk fast. I can’t jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?”
Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders and spoke very slowly. “Because you’re mine. That’s why you matter to me.”
Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this-much less his maker. He didn’t know what to say.
“Every day I’ve been hoping you’d come,” Eli explained.
“I came because I met someone who had no marks,” said Punchinello.
“I know. She told me about you.”
“Why don’t the stickers stay on her?”
The maker spoke softly. “Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them.”
“What?”
“The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Eli smiled. “You will, but it will take time. You’ve got a lot of marks. For now, just come see me every day and let me remind you how much I care.”
Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the ground. “Remember,” Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door, “you are special because I made you. And I don’t make mistakes.”
Punchinello didn’t stop, but in his heart he thought,
I think he really means it.
And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.
Picture illustrated by Sergio Martinez, found online: http://yielded.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/dotless-wemmick/
Story: You Are Special, By Max Lucado.
