Puppets
These Baby Scars~
Two year old Phillip and 17 year old Patrick are home alone while their parents are out for their anniversary. Patrick is meant to look after Phillip and follow these basic rules: No opening the door, no answering the phone and under no circumstances let Phillip be hurt. What happens when all the rules are broken?
3rd February, 2000
Patrick tucked Phillip into bed and then turns on the night light the shaped of a teddy bear. Phillip was sleeping soundly and Patrick sighed. He was stuck babysitting when his mates were off at the biggest party of the year. They were so going to brag at school... Patrick shrugged and walked down the hallway to the old worn out bean bag, flopping onto it and pressing buttons on the remote. The rain had just began to pour down and thunder roared in the sky when there was a knock at the door. Being 17 and tired you tend to forget some things, in this case he forgot his parent's rules. He opened the door and standing on the front steps, soaked was a girl. She was about 13 and had purple hair, in her hands was a small bag, stuffed with puppets. Their glassy eyes were upwards and seemed so life like. There were baby looking puppets and old looking puppets. Any kind you think of, she had.
"Excuse me. But I was walking home when this storm started. May I please stay here until it stops? Or I could call my parents." Her eyes looked at Patricks. They were such a deep drown that Patrick felt like he was drowning in them. He opened the door wider and allowed he to step inside.
"Thank you so much," She said smoothly. She dripped water on the carpet and began to apologise. Patrick waved away her apology and got her a towel to dry herself with. She sat on the bean bag and he sat on the floor and watched her wipe away the water in her hair. He kept wondering what to say when his eyes lingered on the bag near her feet.
"Nice puppets."
She looked up and smiled mysteriously. "They are my friends. But lately they haven't been fun. I am on my way to get a new puppet."
Patrick smiled, confused. " I see..."
The girl pulled a puppet out of her bag. It was a puppet with no face. She tied the strings onto it and began to wave her hands so that it stood up and made awkward movements.
The girl frowned, "See? It doesn't work properly because it can't see where it's going or what its doing." She threw it to the corner and Patrick who was quite freaked out by her weirdness decided to make some coffee for them. While he brewed the coffee he thought of how nice it was when Phillip wasn't crying. Carrying two mugs back he saw that the girl was missing, although her bag was still there. Patrick deducted that she must have been in the bathroom and went upstairs to check on Phillip. He opened the door slowly and dropped the coffee on the floor.
The girl stood there, leaning over the cot with a puppet. Upon seeing him she turned and gave him a big smile.
"I have my puppet now." The doll who had no face had suddenly gained one. It was one of a baby, a sleeping baby. Patrick pushed the girl out of the way and there lay the tiny body of Phillip, whose face was taken. Patrick reached out with a shaking hand and stroked the smooth skin where his eyes and nose should have been. In the reflection of the window he could see the girl smiling and licking her lips with a forked tongue.
Patrick tackled her down the stairs and held her on the floor. He was crying and screaming for her to give back his brother. All she was laugh and he noticed that he brown eyes which he found beautiful before were coal black and evil. She held up the puppet playfully and threw it toward the fireplace, still burning. It didn't land in but the string had caught on the embers and went up in flame. Patrick screamed and threw himself after it, desperate to save his brother. He too caught on fire and soon they both went up in smoke.
The girl simply smiled and laughed.
"I need another puppet..." She walked of the room and down the street in the pouring rain and disappeared as fast as lightening.
Maybe... She is coming to your house.
