Tree of Wishes

Broken Puppet Strings: A Cypress Perspective

I nodded, holding back the urge to groan at such a tedious task.

Her story could be best summarized as this: She was the typical, sheltered rich girl who never had any real friends due to her upbringing. The one exception was a boy she met every summer since he lived a short distance from the summer home. Her parents stopped coming with her when she was five, leaving the responsibility for taking care of her up to their servants, so she could spend as much time with him as she pleased. The two would spend their days together playing with his corgi, swimming in the lake, and hunting for bugs in the woods.

When she was around him, she could act like a child and have fun, forgetting all of her worries and stress while rolling around in the soft grass and bathing in the warm sun. She would laugh and smile the hardest in her life when they would throw water balloons at each other and see whose sparkler would last longer. Then once she had to go home to her big mansion with parents too busy with business deals to make time for her, she would wait and dream until that time came again.

The main thing the boy was into above all else was puppetry. Regardless of what they did, it would always somehow lead to them working together on a show. He would craft the puppets, while she would design the clothes. It started out simple with crude crafts made out of bits of paper and glitter, yet as they got older and honed their skills, their results improved and their designs grew more complicated. This got her into sewing her own clothes while she was home, giving her something to do during the long wait. She even made matching butler and maid outfits for the two to wear as part of their act.

Her happiest memory had to be when they performed a play for a summer camp full of children. She had been nervous at first, but the boy reassured her that everything would be fine, and all their hard work paid off when they received a standing ovation. That warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest as she looked over to him while the crowd cheered was something she would never forget.

Then after ten beautiful summers together, this all came to an end. The boy was diagnosed with cancer and was taken to a hospital for treatment. She offered to help the parents pay for the expenses, but they shook their heads and held hands with solemn expressions, not wanting to burden the nice, rich girl with their problems. They did thank her though for playing with him after all this time, and she was allowed to visit him when she wished. Thus, for their eleventh and final summer together, they spent it inside the cold hospital walls playing card games and folding paper airplanes to see how far they'd fly out the window.

She did bring up the possibility of putting on another show once he was better, and while he seemed happy to agree to the idea, it became increasingly clear as he continued to wither away in bed that he had been humoring her. Even so, on the last day of her visit, he handed her one of the puppets they made together and told her to hold it to it until he recovered. It was an older model that didn't have a face, and the yellow felt used to make its cape had browned over time. She laughed when she remembered how proud they were when they made it, and promised she would take care of it if he promised to be out of the hospital by next year. Despite how thin and fragile his body was, his grin was as wide and bright as it'd ever been when he agreed to the deal.

The next summer, she attended his funeral, clutching the puppet in her hands as they lowered the casket into the ground.

Annabelle then locked herself in the summer home for months, refusing to leave despite her parents' orders to return home. Seeing her trapped in her despair, the maid told her about the tree in the mountains that might help her. At first, she was skeptical, but once she witnessed from out her window the maid's arm turn into an axe to chop down some firewood, she knew she had to see it for herself.

This was when the story became relevant. The maid escorted her to the fortress, but they saw that no one was there to open the gate. Unfortunately, prior to coming they learned that Annabelle was going to be forced back home by any means necessary, which meant this was their one chance to see the tree. Determined, Annabelle searched for another way to get inside. They eventually spotted a sturdy tree branch stretching long enough to bypass the walls. With the maid's help, she was able to climb the tree and hop over to the other side. She then broke her promise just as he did, sacrificing the puppet to the tree.

"And that's how I received the power 'puppetry'," she finished as she removed Anubis from her lap and placed him back on the floor. "It allows me to use wood to create puppets and bring them to life."

The puppet closed its eyes and bowed to prove this. This frightened Anubis and he quickly scurried back to my side. The poor boy had gone through a lot today, so I knew now was the time to go home. We had gotten what we needed after all.

"Thank you," I said as I began to head towards the exit. "Best of luck to you."

She did not say anything in response, instead returning her attention to her creation and reaching up to grasp its hand. It squeezed back.

Later on, we explored the outer walls and found the tree branch she mentioned. It had been a while since I inspected the area, so it must have grown during that time.

"I'll have a contractor remove the tree," I said. "Along with any other trees this close so this doesn't happen again."

Anubis didn't seem interested in what I had said, gazing up at the tree with a concerned expression.

"Do you think she'll be happy?" he asked out of nowhere. I was hoping he'd forgotten about it already. I would have if he hadn't brought it up.

"That's for her to decide," was the best answer I could provide.

With that, the mountains resumed their peaceful slumber through winter, dreaming of the warm rays of summer soon to come.