The Magical Wedge chapter 1

In American folklore, there’s a well – known carpenter named Paul. His woodworking skills are legendary, with every piece he creates being a masterpiece. He’s built houses, repaired bridges, and crafted boats, but there’s no tale of him creating a “human.” However, there’s a carpenter named Mr. Johnson in a small town in the United States. He can create “humans” out of wood, and what’s more astonishing is that the figures he makes seem to come alive. Can you believe it?

A “Mermaid – like” Story

Mr. Johnson is the best carpenter in the surrounding area. In the 1980s, whether in rural areas or small American towns, people would hire carpenters to make furniture at home. Mr. Johnson’s craftsmanship is excellent. While ordinary carpenters rely on nails, he prefers wooden wedges. He uses them to make the wooden boards fit together perfectly. One of his most amazing skills is making puppets. The puppets he makes have movable hands and feet, and their five fingers are as flexible as real human fingers. The joints of the puppets are connected by wooden wedges, just like human joints, with a round end fitting into a concave socket, allowing for 360 – degree rotation.

There’s a local legend in the town. When Mr. Johnson was young, he had a tough life. His mother passed away early, and then his father followed. He was left alone. As he got older, while his peers in the town were getting married, he remained single. Mr. Johnson couldn’t sleep at night. He would stare at the fine wood in his house, which his father had saved for his wedding furniture but was now useless. One night, he took out the wood, looked at it for a long time, and suddenly had an idea. He picked up his tools and started carving and shaping. After a few months, he created a life – sized puppet.

This puppet was clearly a female, with a well – proportioned figure, an oval face, and delicate features. Mr. Johnson used his hard – earned dollars to buy a wig and a set of clothes for the puppet and then placed “her” in the living room. A few months later, the puppet seemed to have absorbed the essence of the human world… What happened next was not witnessed by anyone. Maybe the villagers added some imagination and created a story similar to the “Mermaid – like” tale. One morning, Mr. Johnson woke up to find his house clean, breakfast ready, and the water barrels full. He was very puzzled. So, the next night, he pretended to be asleep to find out what was going on. In the middle of the night, he heard noises outside. He got up and saw a young woman cleaning the house. He took a closer look and found that the puppet in the living room was gone. It turned out that the young woman was the puppet come to life. Later, this woman became Mr. Johnson’s wife.

After this story spread, Mr. Johnson’s business boomed. People from far – away towns came to him for furniture, and he became well – known overnight.

In fact, all the villagers really saw was the life – sized puppet Mr. Johnson made and the beautiful wife he later married. No one actually saw the puppet turn into a human. When people asked Mr. Johnson about it, he just laughed and said, “How could a puppet turn into a human? It’s just a local legend. Only gods can do such a thing!”

However, their happy life didn’t last long. After Mr. and Mrs. Johnson got married, they couldn’t have children for several years. Someone told Mrs. Johnson that a certain church was very effective in blessing couples with children, so she went to pray. Whether it was a miracle or just a coincidence, Mrs. Johnson got pregnant. As is the custom, she needed to go back to the church to give thanks. When she was about three months pregnant, she chose a nice day to fulfill her vow. Unfortunately, she never came back. No one knew what happened, and Mrs. Johnson disappeared. Mr. Johnson went to the church to inquire, and the priests there said that she had left after giving thanks. And so, more than twenty years passed…