You are special to Max Lucado

The Wemmicks were a small wooden people, carved by a carpenter named Eli.
His shop was on top of a hill that gave the village.

Each Wemmick was different: some had a big nose, others had big eyes, someone was tall and someone was short. Someone wore the hat, someone else wore the coat but they were all made by the same sculptor and everyone lived in the village.

Throughout the day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing — stickers attached to each other. Each Wemmick had a box of golden stars and a box of gray dots.

Up and down the streets of the city, the Wemmicks spent their time attacking the stars or balls with each other.

The beautiful ones, of smooth wood and well painted, always received stars, but, if someone's wood was rough or the color fell off, the Wemmicks gave him gray dots.

Talented ones also received stars. Someone could lift heavy woods over their heads or jump big boxes. Still others knew long words or could sing beautiful songs. To these, everyone gave stars.

There was literally some covered in stars! These Wemmicks, every time they took a star, they were happy. So they wanted to do something else and take another star.

Others, however, knew little. And they took balls.

Chicken was one of them.
He tried to jump up like the others, but he always fell, and when he fell, the others surrounded him and gave him little balls. Sometimes, when he fell, the wood was scratched and so people gave him more bullets.

Then, when he was trying to explain why he fell, he said something silly, and the Wemmicks were still attacking him with bullets.

After a while he had so many balls that he no longer wanted to go out. He was afraid to do something silly, like forget his hat or put a foot in the water, because then people would give him more bullets. In fact, he had so many grey balls that sometimes someone glued one to him for no particular reason.

<< Si merita un sacco di pallini >>, diceva la gente di legno.
<< Non è una brava persona di legno>>.

After a while Pulcinello began to believe it.

<< Non sono un bravo Wemmick>>, diceva.

The few times she went out she was with Wemmicks who had a lot of bullets. He felt comfortable with them.

One day Pulcinello met a Wemmick different from the others: She didn't have stars or bullets, she was just made of wood. Her name was Lucia. Not that people didn't try to stick stick stickers on her, but the stickers didn't stick on her. Some Wemmmick appreciated the fact that Lucia didn't have any balls, so she ran to give her a star but this fell down!

Others disapproved of it because it had no stars, so they gave it a ball, but it also detached!

That's how I want to be, Pulcinello thought: I don't want anybody's grades, so he went to Wemmmick without stickers how to do that.

<< È semplice >>, rispose Lucia. << Ogni giorno vado a trovare Eli >>.
<< Eli? >>.
<< Si, Eli. Lo scultore, siedo nella bottega con lui! >>.
<< Perché? >>.
<< Perché non lo scopri da solo? Vai sulla collina. Lui è là >>, disse la Wemmick senza adesivi, poi si voltò e andò via.

<< Ma lui vorrà vedermi? >> gridò Pulcinello – ma Lucia non lo sentì. Così Pulcinello andò a casa, sedette alla finestra e rimase a guardare la gente di legno tutta indaffarata a darsi stelle e pallini gli uni con gli altri.

<< Non è giusto >>, borbottò fra sé. E decise di andare a trovare Eli.

Pulcinello walked along the narrow path that led to the top of the hill and entered the big workshop, he scratched his wooden eyes for the dimensions of the things he saw. The stool was as tall as he was! To see the work plan, he had to get up on his toe. A hammer was as long as his arm.

Pulcinello hardly swallowed.

<< Io qui non ci resto! >>, disse, e si voltò per andarsene.

Then he heard his name.

<< Pulcinello? >>. La voce era profonda e forte. Pulcinelllo si fermò.
<< Pulcinello! Che bello vederti. Vieni a farti dare un’occhiata >>.

Pulcinello turned slowly and looked at the big bearded craftsman.

<< Conosci il mio nome? >>, chiese il piccolo Wemmick.
<< Certo che lo conosco. Ti ho fatto io >>.

Eli stooped, took him, and laid him on the bench.

<< Hmm >>, fece pensieroso, vederlo i pallini grigi.
<< Sembra che tu abbia preso dei brutti voti >>.
<< Io non volevo, Eli. Ho fatto del mio meglio >>.
<< Oh, non devi giustificarti con me, figlio mio. Non m’importa di quello che pensano gli altri Wemmicks >>.
<< Ah, no? >>.
<< E non dovrebbe importare nemmeno a te. Chi sono loro, per dare stelle o pallini? Sono solo Wemmicks, come te. Quello che pensano non importa, Pulcinello. Importa solo quello che penso io. E io penso che tu sia davvero speciale >>.

Chicken laughed.

<< Speciale, io? Perché? Non so camminare veloce. Non so saltare. Mi si stacca la pittura. Perché dovrebbe importarti di me? >>.

Eli looked at Pulcinello, laid his hands on his small wooden shoulders and spoke slowly.

<< Perché tu sei mio. È per questo che m’importa di te >>.

No one had ever looked at Chicken like that and he didn't know what to say.

<< Ogni giorno ho sperato che saresti venuto >>, spiegò Eli.
<< Sono venuto perché ho conosciuto qualcuno senza adesivi >>, disse Pulcinello.
<< Lo so. Mi ha parlato di te >>.
<< Perché su di lei gli adesivi non si attaccano? >>.

Eli spoke quietly.

<< Perché ha deciso che ciò che penso io sia più importante di quello che pensano gli altri. Gli adesivi restano attaccati solo se tu permetti che accada >>.
<< Cosa? >>.
<< Gli adesivi si attaccano solo se per te vogliono dire qualcosa. Più sarai sicuro del mio amore e meno ti importerà dei loro adesivi >>.
<< Non sono sicuro di capire >>.

Eli sorrise. << Capirai, ma ci vorrà del tempo. Hai un sacco di adesivi attaccati. Per adesso passa a trovarmi tutti i giorni e ricordati quanto sei importante per me >>.

Then Eli lifted Pulcinello off the counter and laid him down.

<< Ricorda>>, disse Eli, mentre il Wemmick usciva dalla porta, << tu sei speciale perché ti ho fatto io. E io non faccio errori >>.

Pulcinello did not stop, but inside he thought:

I think he's serious.

And at that moment the first ball fell on the ground.

(You are special to Max Lucado)