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Puppetmaster

Ttitle By CJ Wolfe

Chapter 7 – Gimme Some Truth

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Henry’s bus arrives at the terminal at the school, it is just a 2-minute jog to the faculty theatre, where his show is running. He is late so he straps his backpack made of Kevlar fabrics onto his back and runs through the grassy outbound yard through the courtyard garden, stained glass windows from classrooms looking out to eager or late students organized symmetrically watch over the area, then through an arch separator of the center square to the back of the school where the theatre lies. The rain-drenched square makes the ground soft and muddy like a world war trench, Henry has to stride carefully to not be consumed by the ground and lose his footwear. Henry wears high-top hiking shoes on rainy days like these.

Henry walks up the staircase as Gabriella and Erica rush out, he is startled as they approach him.

Gabriella, an Italian student with brown hair notices Henry and warns,” Henry, on my word am I glad to see you!”

Henry smirks,” Gaby, you seem excited.” –

She quickly interludes, “The puppets are gone.”

Henry laughs, “Woah, calm down, what do you mean, they’ re gone?”

She continues interrupting Henry, “They are all missing from the workroom, someone has stolen them.”

Henry looks at Erica and then back at Gabriella, before he can speak a familiar voice is heard behind him.

“Henry.” Henry turns around to see Olivia on the walkway just below the stairs where he stands.

Bewildered he asks, “Olivia?”

“It’s me, how are you, Henry?”

Henry rushes over to meet her he can’t believe it really is her and has to get a closer look, “I thought you couldn’t make it, London and all.”

“My folks came out to see me and I decided to come back for a bit.”

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Henry hugs her and she reciprocates, they look at each other and set into each other’s eyes, inching closer and closer until their lips find one another. Erica watching interrupts,

“Ok, you two lovebirds can catch up later, we have a situation here.”

Olivia pulls back and asks Henry,” Is this, is this a bad time Henry?”

Henry smiles and responds,” No, no whatever it is can wait, you’re here now.”

Gabriella interjects,” I hate to break it to you but if we don’t find these we could lose credit, Henry.”

“It’s ok Gaby, there are other things in this world other than this.” He looks at Olivia, takes her hand into his.

“I trust you guys, to find them. I am going to be In the green room.”

“Incorrigible,” Gabriella responds,” Ok, girl let’s go find these.”

Gabriella and Erica cross the square to the main campus. This is the sports center, it includes a professional-sized basketball court, outdoor tennis courts, and a football field just to the outside. They enter the basketball locker room. It is a Sunday so the school is fairly empty.

As Gabreilla and Erica leave, Henry motions to Olivia, they walk slowly down the middle path of the courtyard.

Play now Carl Storm da bomb,

“I never thought I would see you again, after our last fight, before you left, I wanted to tell you I was…”

Olivia stops, hushes him, “I know Henry, I said some things I didn’ t mean as well, you’re not the only one.

“Well, I was such an ass.”

“Maybe you were, maybe I was too, I should never have left like that but things are different now, I am in a good place and once I am finished school next year, guess what?”

“What your going to work for the UN or something?”

She laughs, “No…you remember that night the night you arranged for us to get away to the cabin so we could be by the lake, our last night together?”

He remembers they made love seemingly for ever, most of the long weekend in bed, they ate, drank and slept never leaving each-others side; laughing, crying tickling until they both cried from gut curdling laughter, the kind of laughter that makes your stomach ache like it was a full day of nothing but pilates. Henry remembers they barely moved from the cabins king sized bed, this was the happiest Henry had been in a lasting time. He turns to her,

“How could I forget? We spent two days together, just you and me, but then we fought, about you leaving I didn’t want you to leave but you were mad and then you actually left, I found out later you went to see, Pete?” He waits for her to confirm, She is hesitant. He continues,

“We were supposed to stay together, forever Olivia, just you and me remember?… For infinity.”

“It was just such a hard time to be going to school, I had so much stress, and we spent every minute together. But after that I realized, I needed you, I have always needed you.”

“Did you go see Pete? Olivia?”

“It was a hard time, Henry. “

“Did you see Pete, Olivia?”

Her eyes begin to fill with water, she can’ t bring herself to hurt Henry, she trembles at the thought of never seeing him again but she realizes the only way to heal is to tell the truth, she gathers her thoughts,

“I Did.”

Henry aches.” Oh, Jesus, Olivia.”

“But I only did it because I wanted you, Henry. I know this sounds ridiculous but I was immature and just wanted to hurt you for the things you said and the truth is, the truth is it never made you jealous because you moved on before I could even figure it out. I wanted you to fight for me, I was leaving that day and you didn’t fight, I wanted you to FIGHT! Henry, not move on, I didn’t want to lose you.”

He looks at her like he has seen a loved one murdered, “So, you went over to Pete’s, the day after you left, the day after we had the biggest connection, then we had some small fight about you leaving overseas for school and you couldn’t’ t contain that? I was devastated for months, years, after that, Olivia, it affected my life, I have’ t been the same ever since!”

“I did’ t sleep with him, Henry. He was just there, someone to talk to but I wanted it to be you, always. The reason I m here now is…” She continues.

“Well I want to continue that and well start a family with you, Henry.”

Play Now MARRY ME by JASON DERULO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBCMymyCNT4

Henry looks into her eyes, his nerves overcome him not a good nervousness a profound feeling of failure if he should give in, give all his heart again, and this time maybe not survive a blow to it, confused not knowing if he can give her another chance, the anger slowly starts to fade, he still loves her, but can he trust her? He looks deep into her eyes again hoping for the sake of his life she is being sincere, another whirlwind would most certainly kill him or at the very least wind him down a dark and lonely path maybe forever, he thinks for a long while, decades in a far off planet, he asks,

“Like kids and the whole ceremony and all that?”

“Yes Henry.”

Henry is taken aback, as Henry thinks, Olivia bends down on one knee and pulls out a small jewelry box, she opens it revealing a 2 carrot diamond ring, she saved up for two years working late shifts at a local London pub all the while attending school, she settled for law, international law. She continues,

“Henry William Milles, will you have the honor of being my confident, my one and only for times in sickness and times in health, in bed or out for richer or poorer, until the sun sets on our old wrinkled faces, our kids grow up and have lives of their own, our souls bond together forever, will you give me the honor of being my Husband?”

Henry watches as she waits anticipating his response. He doesn’t answer. She notices his hesitation and continues,

“I love you and will always love you….Henry…for Infinity.”

Just as she is about to ask him, again, Henry responds quickly, “Not good enough…

…Infinite Infinity?

Just you and me?”

Olivia smiles,

“You and me.”

Definitely play now 🙂 by Limujii https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkxx2Fx…

They embrace, laugh and exchange a kiss as they run into the green room. Henry picks Olivia Up into his arms and yells, “I am getting Married!”


Jude a tall black man with bald head yells over to Henry, “Hey, Supe! Congrats!” (a pen name Jude uses for Henry, as Henry loves the comic hero superman, he owns a set of pyjama’ s with the famous logo that he sometimes wears to rehearsals) Jude who plays Ethan and Shivon who plays Alice for Henry’ s show are chatting near the stage. They are reading through pages of lines rehearsing together. Henry and Olivia pass them on their way to the green room. Henry acknowledges them.

“Jude…Shivon. How are things?”

Jude looks to Shivon, he is not sure if he should ask the questions they have been chatting about. He hesitates and then asks.

“Hey, Henry I know you have a lot on your plate, but this scene where I am confronting the raider, it…it doesn’t feel right, man.”

Henry stops a moment then looks at Jude, and then replies,” It’s basically for contrast Jude, we can’t all be perfect heroes in the story, gives it some depth, plus you are badass in this, really.”

Jude looks to Shivon, she shakes her head, and speaks, “It’s our fellow brothers, Henry! I don’t think we would fight them like this, not on any day ever! After all this shit that went down, the people in charge need to be accounted for! We have been at their mercy for far too long, it has to stop!”

Henry ponders this a moment then speaks again, “You know you’re right, but isn’t there a bigger issue here? Evil can creep up on us all. Shouldn’t we take the higher ground? To seek out peace? The world is full of war, we really don’t t need it here, my Great Grandfather died trying to keep his land and they took his kids, forced them to do unthinkable things, rape, torture, and take from their families, they were thought of as lessor beings like rodents and then the people in charge said: ‘Ok we’re sorry here is some money but stay over here in the corner and keep to yourselves.’ So I know how you feel, but it all comes full circle, what is good will always find its way, maybe there is some good to come after it all if we choose, and let guilt play its part.”

Shivon thinks a moment, then shakes her head. Jude looks at her and begins to add, “Ok, I can go with that, hey, let’s go help them look for the lost puppets.”

Shivon is angered, her eyes well up, and becomes distantly aggressed as Jude comes in to comfort her, he looks for a kiss but she is reluctant. He consoles her and she agrees to go with him, they kiss and walk down the stage front to the exit on the other side.


Erica and Gabriella walk through the empty basket ball gym, Erica immediately sees a rack of basketballs near the foul line.

“Oh, hell ya, lets play 21!”

Gabriella responds,”Eri, come on we have to find the puppets.”

Erica playfully grabs a ball out of the rack and starts to dribble, her skills are better than most as she weaves the ball between her feet in a quick motion she spins, jumps and throws the ball to the net. The ball arcs in the air and perfectly falls through the net not touching the rim.

“Swoooosh, nothing but net, oh baby!”

Gabriella looks at her and grabs another ball, “Ok one game, then we search.”


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Jude and Shivon leave the theatre, they walk around the outside of the complex where long ryegrass fields surround them they walk along the path, a small river flows to their left. As they make their way to the main front entry they hear a scream.

Jude recognizes the voice, it’s Hazel, he listens intently, then another gargling scream:

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originating from the music room as he looks to the window he sees faint light flashing through, “Come on that’s Hazel, let’s.” –

Shivon looks at him, “You are not going in there are you?”

“If Hazel is in trouble.” –

“You ARE NOT going in there are you?”

“I have no choice.”

She cant stand to be alone, not now, something doesn’t sit right with her, she takes a moment and responds.

“I’m not staying here alone, take me with you.”

They hold each other tight and enter the door to the hallway just outside the music room.

Jude holds Shivon’s hand as they tread ever so lightly making large but quiet steps. They come to the crossroad in the royal Hall where Orson has twisted apart only moments ago. They are about to turn the corner but as they turn, they notice a piece of footwear laying untied on the floor. Jude recognizes the shoe its his friend Orson’s shoe distinguishable from its blue color with a yellow lighting stripe down the side. He stops looks at Shivon, she is looking at the shoe then looks at Jude.

She whispers, “Let’s get out of here.” Just as she does a thump is heard knocking against a door nearby, then again louder, and a third even louder yet until a final thud and accompanied by an incinerating scream. They look at each other Jude rushes over to the door it’s locked.

Play Now Go by TomH https://bassrebels.ffm.to/hatom-go

They hear a song playing just behind…

Jude presses his right side ear against the door trying to listen in. He hears a barrage of heinously sounding growls then many small footsteps like 100s of canine paws scattering around. All at once a thud against the door as his ear is flattened against it startles Jude. He backs away then again it thuds the door handle turns and opens, as hundreds of marionette arms and hands shove through the opening, He backs away even more and speaks, “

“Help me hold this!”

He can hear the snarling and smell the vileness like someone left as full carved turkey carcass under a sink for a full month. Shivon gathers her courage and rushes the door pushing it shut. The arms are wringing out the crack in the door snap and fall to the ground. The door handle turns rapidly, rapid fire knocks on the door become louder and louder, the door handle snaps off as the door opens a second time, as it become harder and harder for Jude, he looks at Shivon.

“Yep, time to go.”

They grab each other’s hands and run out the side door again onto the pathway that surrounds the campus.


Erica takes another ball from the rack, dribbles then starts to set up to throw the ball, as she does the lights in the gymnasium all turn off. Suddenly music comes over the intercom:

Erica looks around the gymnasium, it is empty she then remarks to Gabriella “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Gabriella is having none of it, “Ok, very funny, you can turn the music off and the lights back on, jokes on us!”

A low rumbling voice voice is heard in the distance, “Hungry.”

Erica turns to Gabriella, startled and nervous she speaks quickly with assertion, “Who was that?” She waits for Gabriella’s response then speaks again yelling into the dark.

“You’re not funny you know?”

“WHO IS IT?”

A gargling voice speaks again, “Bel-leth.”

Suddenly a door opens at the far side of the gymnasium as multiple shadowy figures scatter throughout the darkness, hundreds of tiny figures too small to be even a small Child’s height, not human, another song echoes through the court as the figures growl and scowl like rabid wolves.

Come And Go With Me By: The Dell Vikings

“Da, da, da da dum, dum didy… dum da dum dudu de dum, Didy dum dudu du dum come ad go, A Woah Woah whoa whoaha”

Gabriella shakes, she has heard this name before, and she yells at Erica, “Let’s go someone is citing a demons name, a demon that uses music, whoever it is, well let’s not find out, you know how movies go, curious, the characters die. Let’s go…NOW!”

Erica nods and follows Gabriella, they start to run as they hear tiny footsteps far off on the other side of the gymnasium. Gabriella remembers she left her car at the theatre, she pulls Erica strong on her arm almost hurting her; they run through the doors, through the courtyard to the theatre parking lot. She looks at Erica.

“What about the rest?” Erica asks as she is catching her breath.

Gabriella thinks a moment, hesitates then gives in, “Oh no…” She places her hands on her head nervously she adds, “Ok, ok we can do this quickly let’s go.”

They run to the theatre through the stands and into the green room where Henry and Olivia are laying together on a futon. They are making out under a blanket as Erica and Gabriella enter, Olivia and henry are laughing together.

“Henry, I think we got to get out of here, somethings happening, maybe it’s what happened to the puppets. I’ll explain later.” Gabriella explains, that just as she does, Jude and Shivon enter, Jude is worried, and he rushes his words, “Guys there is blood in the Royal Hall, and.” He is stricken by fear…”Orson’s shoe is right at the crossroad. No sign of him. Blood everywhere …and..and …I heard screams, It sounded like..” He has trouble saying the name, “Hazel.”

He continues, “I saw something, somethings lots of them, hundreds….”


The door to the Music room slams open. Thousands of snarling puppets escape into the Hall, as Beleth stands in the center of the room in front of the workbench with the portal mirror a continuous path of mixed puppets enter from the portal into the new world, Beleth begins to laugh, low and continuous…

“Maybe thousands…” Jude announces as the puppets rush in…

Just as dawn appears with a misty morning the river to the east is seen flowing red.

To be continued…

Written by Colin R. Mah

Proofed by CJ Wolfe

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PuppetMaster

Title by CJ Wolfe

Chapter 6 – Born again.

The players for the second show of Henry’s Ensemble are readying for rehearsal.

Henry is on a bus on his way to meet the students at the theatre.

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The sky closes in as rain begins pelting the side of the bus like the heavens have decided to open every faucet in Heavenly Jerusalem, the capital of the Messianic Kingdom, and also named Zion in other books of the Christian Bible. He notices an old lady with distinctively wrinkled features staring at him. A small child is crying on the other side where Henry is sitting; a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes also layered with cloths and held by a woman with a dark blue cloak covering a chemise worn underneath. Henry looks at the old woman, she will not take her piercing glance off of him. Her face unanticipatedly changes to a white bloodied mask-like of a cotton sheet face where the eyes are seemingly black smears, shut, and stitched with rusty barbed wire. His chest begins to palpitate from a murmur defect in his heart, a problem Henry acquired existing from childbirth, placing Baby Henry into intensive care for 12 days, and is triggered by stress.

He looks away calming his breath, slowly inhaling, holding, and then exhaling, a trick he learned from his now deceased Mother. As he gains his breathing and pulses back into a normal rhythm, he peeks back to the woman, drawn to her as her wrinkled withered face glares back this time with a look like Henry was guilty of some heinous crime, he wonders what it is that contains her willingness to stare, he concludes maybe a pressed judgment because of the way he dresses and his stress is causing the delusions he witnessed, after a brief vehement, Henry rises out of the side bucket front seat of the gas-powered transport and paces to the back of the bus to not be seen by the eerily mysterious woman. After he settles, He hears a young woman talking on a Startac Motorola flip phone.

“I have just had a bad day, and your are away at work. It s just the kid is 14 and running away. Her cousin just overdosed and died and she is going to do whatever she does; she’s only 14! You’re gone for two more days.” She notices Henry listening, looks the other way, and crouches her head into the phone to not be heard, but Henry can still hear as he emphasizes,” I just really need you here, I know it’ll be ok. Love you too.”

Henry looks at the woman and speaks, “Are you ok?”

She timorously replies, ” I’ m fine…thanks.”

“I know how you feel, I lost my father and mother, My mother this year.”

She reluctantly looks at him, looks for a moment, and replies “That’s horrible.”

“You’re not alone.”

She looks at him again timidly, down at the seat and then back at Henry this time with a smile.

Henry looks to the woman, she reminds him of his mother, caring for him whenever he needed. His eyes begin to water, he looks at the window and to the street beyond.

Play now Scott Buckley https://breakingcopyright.com/song/scott-buckley-phoenix

As the students prepare for the upcoming show, Orson comes rushing out to the green room.

“The Puppets, they’re, missing.”

Alice speaks up,” Which puppets, Orson?”

Orson, breathing heavily swallows before he speaks again, “All of them.”

The rest of the students are aghast and look at one another with suspicion trying to figure out which one might be the saboteur and for what reason. It is the morning however and they have the full day to find them; until 7pm pacific standard time,  the westernmost time zone in the contiguous United States and Canada; It is also used in Baja California, Mexico.

“I can’t believe this, someone is sabotaging the show!” Erica screams.

Alice makes an order, “Ok, well they were here before we left, they have to be somewhere. Everyone split up and search the campus.”

The students pair up and head out of the theatre to look for the missing puppets, Orson and Hazel are the first to exit the theatre, and they start walking into the main halls of the university. The halls are large tunnel-like structures spanning 50 meters high to the tip of the gothic ceiling. They are made of stone with distinct ribbed features crisscrossing down along the inside of the rooftop. Statues of ancient philosophers line the echoed lane. Dim light stretches through the stained glass windows onto the marble-tiled textured floor, shiny as a new 1994 Bicentennial of the U.S. Capitol Silver Dollar.

Hazel, fair-skinned with blue dye spiked hair, asks Orson, “What do you think happened?”

Orson is bored, “Who knows, probably one of the jocks, playing a joke,”

She replies, “Ya, ya your probably right.”

“This sucks, my Dad is already on me about taking theatre, instead of being, a doctor or something, and now we might not be able to finish.”

“We, can, and we will find it. Doctor, gross. All that blood, and babies. Gross. Do you like babies and blood? You really have to, to be a Doctor.”

Orson stops walking, “Ewe, ya I never thought about that.”

“Babies scream a lot, my sister she has a baby, it never stops crying. I was there for the birthing, ya PTSD for life.”

“Too funny, what do you think of the show, I never really talk to you, odd both of us you know being ASIAN and all.”

“It’s good, and ya I know, why don’t we talk more?”

“We should, but you know it’s hard enough to fit in around here, don’t need the extra luggage.”

She stops, suddenly.

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Orson looks at her and stops,” Hey, I dint mean to.” –

“Shhhhh,” Hazel is as still as a piece of cheese in a mousetrap. “I hear something.”

The hallway is as silent as a winter’s wilderness night, a song can be heard, it’s too faint to make out.

Hazel continues, “Did you hear that?”

Orson looks at her like a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a field with nothing but perennial ryegrass, “Hear what?”

“It’s music.” Orson looks around the hall. Nothing.

“Come on, I don’t hear anything, what song?”

The music stops, dead silence.

Hazel replies, “It sounded like, I don’t know actually.” Lets go check it out maybe its something to do with the missing puppets.”

“Or a Party!”

“Ya, ok.”

The two continue down the ornate halls until they reach another hall at the end that is joined perpendicular. As they turn the corner suddenly the music starts again, this time piercing loud. It’s an old bee-bop melody:

Play now Mixkit – Mrs. Bee Bebop https://lc-s.co/WBfEv

They turn the corner and in a flash a white puppet presents before their eyes:

PLAY NOW!

In an instant, Orson is grabbed by a large snake-like bloody tongue. His body is twisted and squeezed like a soaking wet dish rag, the blood washes out from his stretched ripped skin spurting onto the floor from his twisted frame, and his eyeballs burst out of their sockets onto the floor. Hazel screams, turns, and runs in the opposite direction down the adjacent hall. She frenzies looking for rooms open along the lane; She grabs a handle and turns it, it’s locked, she runs to another door, locked again, she crosses to the other side the door opens to a dark black room. She hurriedly slams the door shut bracing herself against the wall.

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She quavers and cries trembling trying to keep still, placing her hand over her mouth as she cannot contain her voice from making noise as she knows this could be her last day on earth, minutes or seconds from a possible infinite nothingness; the music gets louder she is crying as it continues, she wants to scream maybe informing someone to help as the music is playing just outside the door…her handshakes, she is tormented at the sight of seeing Orson dying. Suddenly a spotlight comes on behind her lighting up a stage, where the green sock puppets are watching her, they begin to laugh and squeal like weasels but she cannot muster up the courage to see what is there. The door handle starts to turn, she jumps, walks backward, and turns around just as the four-stringed puppets walk from her sides, she continues to cry, two from the left side; two from the right side of her, and they look at her like curious puppies, slowly come to a stillness then like leopards going for a final kill, they jump on her forcing Hazel down as she falls to the floor ripped apart from the puppets.

The door opens as the white goblin puppet enters. The green sock puppets cower in fear. The Master Puppet looks to the floor in the middle of the room where a table holds a large mirror, while the wooden puppets continue to devour Hazel. The mirror is attached to a worktable full of string, wood blocks, sticks, wire, paint, different sizes of fabric and felts.

The Master Puppets’ midsection begins to click like gears from a machine. A song is belted out from his midsection:

Play Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nigntqhdqxg

All the puppets stop and proceed to the workbench, grabbing the materials and placing them through the mirror.

As the white Puppet watches his creations, the green goblin sock puppets and the wooden stringed marionettes gather the materials. He turns to Hazel, walks over to her remains, picks up a necklace stares into it as he stares the necklace begins to glow, he then looks back at the mirror.

It turns translucent, then just beyond the surface, masses of shadowy figures can be seen in a portal, a portal beyond the realms of the earth to another dimension…

To Be continued…

Written by Colin R. Mah

Proofed by CJ Wolfe

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PuppetMaster

Title By CJ Wolfe

Chapter 5 – All choked up

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Mid-day is the hottest of the summer months, this is the time Henry’s father usually appears home from work. He pulls up the driveway to a quaint home in a suburban area of California. His white Eco van marked ‘Mills heating and Cooling’ brakes into the driveway, a noticeable squeal from the distinctive tell-tale disintegrated carbon pads capriciously sounds the dramaturgic warning to have them replaced, in most instances, but this is Henry’s father’ s van and if an expense can be mitigated, then Alex will do just that. He parks the van in the chipped and partially concrete metal-stained driveway. Alex, a well-built man of 5’10” with fair skin, large muscles exposed from a white tank top shirt and low-rise jeans grabs a case of light lager from the side door of the van, then walks staggeringly into the house, one step over the other covering most of the front yard.

The home is an old wooden stained white planked bungalow with a front and rear yard, nestled in a poor community on the outskirts of the city. Mona, Henry’s mother is preparing dinner. Henry’s father walks in.

“Hey, that smells good, what do you have us eating, now?”

Mona, an indigenous woman with long silky hair braided,

replies,” Oh, it’s just a stir fry from the leftovers.”

He pops open a can from the case,” Well better than nothing.”

Mona sighs,” You know If you want something then you can pitch in around here, instead of drinking every night.”

Henry is watching a television show in the adjacent living room as his parent’s quarrel.

“Woah, I can’t even imagine how bad this is going to be, Henry you test this first would ya?”

Henry looks over to his Dad and then back to the television.

“Ok fine, I’ll be the first to die.”

Mona brings the prepared dinner over to the table, swats her husband on the arm, and sits down.

“Ok-Ok I am sure it’s fine.”

“Henry come, dinner is ready.”

“Ok, Mom.”

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Henry’s Father takes a few bites of the meal Mona had placed moments before in front of him, he chews obnoxiously a few times then begins to choke, he reaches for the can of fermented hops and tries to wash it down struggling to breathe; his lager froths backfiring from his lodged portion, continues into his nostrils, as he squirms, holding his neck, falls lifeless onto the cold metal kitchen dining room table, a slurry bubbly death sigh is released as his body aggregates into a quiet stillness.

Henry is on a bus staring at the floor while he remembers the moment his father died.

The bus loping along the old pavement, continues its path to the school and the second day of rehearsals.

To be continued…

Written by Colin R. Mah

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PuppetMaster

Chapter one – Dress Rehearsal Rag

Intro Music…By Uniq https://soundcloud.com/uniqofficial

The year is 1994, the day Henry turned 21, the legal drinking age in most of the world although In his home town the age is only 18 important as Henry was an alcoholic at an early age beginning at the age of 14, many of his friends either stayed the course ending up in jail or even worse six feet under, but Henry now uses his creativity to battle impulses and he has matured enough to know what it is that can lead to disaster. Henry is a timid man, A college student in his own right, Henry studies theater and the art of puppeteering. He is a handsome fellow of averagely yet slim build, he has both British and Indigenous heritages all stemming from a broken family; a Mother and Father divorced at the early age of 9, back and forth together in a toxic match to the death, thus resulting in an absence of Henry learning much about his ancestor’s culture. This carries on into his adult life caring more for the oxymoronic start of abstract thought that impresses on him to bring something static to life. A coping mechanism perhaps but a much better solution than hitting the streets searching for answers. Today is his premiere show with his aptly made creations made from scratch which were chipped, chiseled, stitched, sewn, and given all his extra coffee-induced hours into the last two years of his curriculum into a final act to be analyzed to death, most likely put down into an artistic graveyard unto council conversations and finally marked by the faculty program facilitators.

Henry stands on a medium sized stage with 200 empty glaring chairs, his favourite brimmed black hat slightly tilted and worn sideways, ready for whatever show might be assembled; he takes in the lights that are being set up for the early morning rehearsal. Normally this would be done the week before but he had to wait for a big name rap show – Leon Biz – was in the house with a lineup of named talent performing for a full week. This makes Henry have to set up lights, music and rehearse the show all in the 8 hours before the premier at 7 pm this early May evening.

He watches the lights switch to a center display, while a projector maps out a set of a rioting street in the heart of Los Angeles.

“Ok, Rich that’s it! Right there, don’t move it!”

The light switches off, and Henry shouts, “No No you are not on the right that’s not right, where did it go!?

A shadowy figure above in the tech booth echoes a yell back, “What? I can t hear you.”

Henry shouts back “You missed it Rich the light is out, what are you doing? Do I have to come up there?”

Henry is holding his hand over his eyes to see better, the shadowy Richard stumbles some switches as stage lights all light up in differing arrays of color and brightness surrounding Henry. The lights dance on the floor, and the walls and then rest finally on Henry’s glaring face. He tries again.

The lights go off…”There I got it that’s the ticket!”

Henry pauses a moment, and then sighs, “Never-mind, everybody take 5.”

The green room is full of students also vying for their final marks of the season as they gather props, and wardrobes and apply varying amounts of makeup to enhance the face, resemble a clown or a goblin, or just to highlight the eyebrows – a common trick to performers. Eye shadow to highlight even further brings out the eyes in a full audience as folks in the back struggle to see every fine detail or expression. A few select students are in bodysuits ready to plug into their characters becoming the mouth, eyes, and nose in cohesiveness to moving extremities from their rehearsed direction from the creator and writer of the show. Henry makes certain all main puppeteers are blocked to not be seen by the audience as the show requires a fair bit of movement in sync to a musical piece. Henry selected songs from the current times of grunge to accompany his number.

The show, called Ensemble is an odd collision of early alternative, hip hop, and older r&b music to have a feel like in a nightclub but to tell a story of a man and woman falling in love amidst hardening times, a riot caused by a judgment against a black motorist. It is an urban tale of love amidst the worst of timings.

Play now

As the students get ready a knock is heard at the back door. Susan one of the main puppeteers and the assistant director, a redhead lady of Caucasian complexion and an athletic build, she yells, “Can someone get that fucking door?” knocks louder,” GET THE DOOR!”

“I’ll get it.” Mark, a taller British lad with a nerdy complexion quits the tampering of his puppet a green goblin type of character who is a protagonist accommodating the main villain easily scowling at any eager onlookers – this is an audience engagement strategy, he is wearing big thick glasses like a science professor at MIT ready to hunker down to, without a flinch, mark through 150 or so exams on bilinear algebra.

“Who’s there?” He stammers.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Then a different sound like nails on glasse…

SCREEETCH,…

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

“Who’s there?”

A low smirking voice is heard, “Special…delivery.”

“Special…Delivery.” Marks yells to the room eyes fixated on the door, “Who? Who ordered take out?.”

The door unlocks and opens just a little bit, finer than a coarse piece of human hair. Mark looks at the door and starts, “Is – is….anyone excepting anybody?”

No one responds, they have moved out of the back loading area and into the ready rooms to get ready for rehearsals. The room is completely silent like a rolling green tundra amidst the apache mountain basin, not a word can be heard. He steps towards the slightly opened steel door, various maroon-colored carpets, black and gold chests like a magician might use and bare mannequins surround the door.

SCRATCH….thump…something hits the door and it opens wide in one big push hitting the chest knocking the lid open.

A body falls to the floor. A body of a puppet. It is a white puppet made of smaller puppets. The smaller puppets display a mouth like a lightning bolt when closed. It looks like a wearable cohesive unit.

Mark stares at the body of puppetry before him. Startled and nervous he slowly approaches it bending down. He lifts the head portion or what could be considered a head of this pointy top of the body. Mark lowers his whole body to get in a better position to see, suddenly a face appears in the top portion awakening the eyes opening a mouth slowly wide full of hundreds of razor-sharp metal teeth, making a low gargling sound the mouth opens even wider and in one fell swoosh the white goblin puppet consumes Mark’s body, chomps in one catastrophic chew and cuts mark in half taking the upper body leaving the midsection of Mark, his blue jeans ripped at the torso while his legs flail around squirming, splattering blood and intestine’s over the room. A yell softens as he is devoured. The smaller mouths in the midsection of the white Goblin Puppet turn clockwise around the frame. This action brings the puppet to a standing position, finishing eating Mark chomping, and slurping.

The face opens and it begins to speak, “Delivery into my, Mmmm European sausage, me likey!” A song is triggered in one of his side mouths ushering a familiar melody:

Enrico Caruso – Vesti la giubba (On with the motley) – 1902, 1904, 1907 http://www.enricocaruso.dk

It continues for another two verses.

The hungry puppet hears another person incoming, looks to the chest, and with speed like a spider closes the lid. A long tongue appears out of the chest searching for the torso left behind, it feels around, finding remains splattered about. The Elongated tongue quickly cleans up the mess and finally finds Marks Torso, wraps around, and in an instant retracts into the chest, lid closing quickly behind.

Susan runs to the back room to find some wardrobe items she is missing, she looks around, then to the chest. She reaches for the chest latch.

“Susan, hey we have it forget it, get back your on right now hurray!” Bryce in props calls out to her.

Susan looks down the long winding hall and looks back to the chest hesitating almost drawn to it by some unforeseen force. Bryce calls again, “Susan!” She jumps up and answers.

“Ok coming.”

To be continued…

Written by Colin R. Mah

Proofed by CJ Wolf

Featured

First kiss

Began with a simple hi there hello,

In the midst of an application’s glow

Laughing at all my silly jokes

until truths are told from head to toe,

of one heart smashed four lonely years ago;

one absent love where passions spill,

like a lions full stomach ignores

the scent of a kill.

Meeting under the brightly lit Christmas tree

Lighting our faces over half past three,

in the middle of downtowns Robson square,

you stared into my soul,

with those blue ocean eyes-

Frolicking until our harmonious bodies flow;

to a windy cold nights transcending streetlit dance

– watery drops drum drum drum down-

atop an umbrellas protective embracing kindness,

under Sealed warming’s breath…

This first night

– first Kiss;

Robson Square

Stalked

Your not even gonna believe this, a mother fucker

Came to my house.

What happened?

This is how it went down yo.

Last night at 3 o’clock, out on the night we was in the club, come out at 2 o’clock check my pocket, I lost my wallet.

Come home is an Uber, safe to the sound of a super

Cell of lights and thunder, pricy to the nights lights in the city heights ,

Rolling to the sights of a hazy slumber.

I get in to my crib about half past four o’clock

My roomie rushes out of his bedroom door,

Like a tiger ready to attack on a safari tour,

Hey man did you leave the place unlocked?

The dog barked at 3 o’clock there was a man standing there with a glock.

Yo what the fuck man, did I leave the place open,

My heart rushing through my body remembering I lost my wallet. My id in the left pocket.

What did the man look like?

He’s was tall wearing dark jeans with short brown hair, looking for a fight.

That’s fucked man that man stood there and locked on me with a stare..

I was ready to thrown down if he double fucking dare dare.

To have the fukcing nerve too hurt my family

We need to get the fuck out of here.

We was stalked.

Motherfucker we was stalked.

Pitter patter we was stalked.

Could have been shot.

First time in my life, but things happened before during the night.

This happened one time one night long ago ,

Someone came and found my Hennessy o. The floor and put it I the underwear drawer, it wasn’t me or the people on the scene

Someone was in the toon when we was gone in the afternoon,

I was stalked

We was staked

When we out for a nighttime nature walk

Couldn’t have been shot.

I was stalked

On my open door

Now I know how it feels to be a fool

Trusting society to be honest

Never again to help the people who need it, most wanted.

Because in the end they just creepin in, Abuse the people who happen to be the most for me, Fuck you and your way of life. No more mr nice guy if I see you you walk the other way,

I was stalked.

We saw him at the door

Tall and slender with brown hair

We was stalked

Mother fucker standing in the open door

We was stalked

Yo what the fuck we was stalked.

Could have been shot

Standing

Standing here,

washing your feet on the floor.

remembering how life used to be

Death keeps knocking, knocking on heavens door.

Straddling life with this paper thin delight,

Tearing the veins of envies insatiable appetite,

Broken toes of a preposterous ladder,

To the rich go the spoils,

egos fatter, it doesn’t matter because in the end

I’m still standing.

Nothings gonna tear me down,

Nothing’s going to make us weak

because when we stand together

there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

Why all this commotion over a drop of blood,

Because while we have time we must do what’s right,

before the flood

No more tearing down all the hopes

of everybody’s childhood dreams

Reality is that which is evil is greed,

Give back to the people in need.

I have been wealthy I have been poor,

but I’m the happiest standing with you at your door.

Nothings gonna tear me down,

Nothing’s going to make us weak

because when we stand together

there’s nothing we can’t achieve.

The red tape – long days

If you know me I lead a very busy life in my work juggling a few businesses at once: one being a software company and the other as a finance manager and operations manager. On top of all this still studying and auditioning for what I am hoping to achieve one day; the elusive (here comes the red carpet) drummmmmmmm rollllllllll: full time acting career!

I am not going to get into the details however the red tape that exists from government rules in my industry in automotive is so much that it might as well be closed to the public. Corporation bureaucracy also taping and sealing shut the borders of a. supposed free country.

At any rate after the stresses of a day I found myself at a mall to cool down and have a gander at the new stuff the stores are selling for this red hot spring, they are calling it the early summer sale. They had me at sale….

….In my new shirts and shorts I rolled along the escalator to the parkade but as I was searching for my car I heard my name “Colin Ronald Mah (yes the middle name is after a famous clown, probably why I’m terrified of the red nosed aloof) please report to guest services. “

I then scrambled through my shorts and yes that is correct wallet gone from my rogue silken dyed sporties. This came after about an hour of searching for my vehicle in which I absolutely could of swore was close to the elevator and not against a wall because I remembered thinking to myself that was a tight squeeze. After giving up on the search I decided to head to the mall and ask a kiosk where guest services was. After I went the wrong way a few times confused to the floor plan of the Giant merchandise harkened metro mall, I found my way to guest services and embraced the lovely Natalia, thank you!

After being examined and signing for my lost item. I proceeded to the search for my vehicle; the mystery unsolved. As I continued my journey with no luck I discovered a taxi driver parked for an afternoon nap and knocked on his window,”Hey are you waiting for anyone?” The driver jumps out of his seat quite a bit confused as to if he might be getting jumped by this Middle Aged man in a tank top and red shorts; surprised having a long day himself as we discussed .

He downed the window and let me pay to find my car. After a 15 dollar tab searching around the area I thought was the target, in each level, we finally decided to back track my entrance to the mall and viola! We found my bmw. I never realized how many similar looking cars there are in this town, nice work great cars! This all in a good days work. I should have remembered the red makings on the pillars…

Monday

Have you ever woken so early,

With the birds sound asleep,

sun on the other side of the world

Watching fisherman’s oysters glimmer pearly.

Ready for the weeks work ahead,

Starring restlessly at the machines glowing screens,

Waiting for the rest of the world,

To begin a meeting of reminiscing treats;

The good, the bad…

…all the other things we had.

Because this is a Monday,

Or so we thought.

Because when the Gregorian calendar shows it’s face

It is on Sunday.

What do you wish you could do more every day?

I wish I could help more people every day. With the busy world we live in and the high cost of living it seems impossible to have enough time to help and do things that are important.

If only there were no such invention of money, no politics or greed than maybe just maybe the left over envy would be overshadowed by the greater good. But I don’t think we will ever see that in a hundred lifetimes, it is too bad because that will probably be the only thing to save this beautiful world, the green pastures of the prairies to the heights of the western mountains or the great wide open skies of the eastern lakes.

I do believe that in order to keep our beautiful world from becoming a complete disaster, helping others is what can bring happiness and peace to our planet.

How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

As of late the answer ‘No’ has been resonating through my vocabulary in more ways than one; for example, I ordered Chinese food the other day and instead of BBQ pork I said no to the pork and yes to Beef!

Another example was the consistent abuse of power exhibited by a colleague so I insisted on saying no to continue being harassed and used in a manner not acceptable to me.

Setting boundaries and saying no can ease one’s state of mind when it comes to hitting the mark with work and taking on too many things at once.

I would rather focus on one project at a time and put everything I have into that in order for that specific project to be successful and professional!

To this I say NO to anything that does not serve my purposes and growth!

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

Ever since I was a child I have had a recurring dream about flying. Perhaps this is why I pursued a pilots license later on in life (but never continued of course). The dream would always entail some sort of new contraption designed to use my own power to fly.

I believe this was always a metaphor for the future. Use your own skills and experience to lift you up into the bright sunny skies overhead with the mountain clouds forming at their bases.

Many times I would fail and fall but then never hit the ground for some reason as either the dream swept into the nights slumber or the scene changed altogether.

But occasionally I could fly over the mountains and throughout the cities soaring to new heights and never fall…

Remote

Remote

Traverse the universe from a far away place,

It is the best way for

When the day is done

One can procure stringed boiled treats

And lay on down,

silken sheets.

To watch the lights dance in order

On a glass electrified border

Of electrons and atoms

Stirred together in a bowl

Unless the matter of control

Is lost.

Where did it go?

It will not begin to tell its tales

Without a press of the poly

Structured electric boards.

Sending waves through the unseen

Air.

Wait what can we do?

There is no way to alternate this

Teleporting face.

We can use the store in another unseen place!

To mimic our device

Lost and forgotten cadence!

Let the screen begin

Plasma floats,

With this new clone

This new remote.

The spark. A gathering of friends, One gone from end of life, light turns into day and day into night, along the tree line gorillas crawl under the dark shadowy brush, Red lit eyes look down upon a sullen man, filling his veins with a dead pan hand, struck with a foggy cloud of Euphoric Eros, Until eyes close the lingering smell quells the nose. Wave after wave sunder under sandy beaches, a stage is set, The edged kite drifts through the open sky light night like a dragon from a lingering distant past poised to strike. Starring through the smoky glass to a shadow in an outward hidden path, strangers creeping through rocky gardens below , lights wired to dance on the dreamy candle light lamp glow, floating lights scan wide pan targets in sights, mattress loaded with defensive knife, Sent to biasedly rupture body mind and sound, An electric spark dancing through the hazy air, lamps light up inside like a carnival ground. As the dose begins to fade waves coming again to a crews delight, a spark is what we made to the struggles of life.

What bores you?

What bores you?

Not much actually bores me, I like to be bored actually it’s kinda fun to be honest, being bored is, if you think about it, an activity. Do you know how hard it is to stay bored for a very long time? I challenge you, the reader, to try it sometime to just do nothing for the longest time…,…

….oh I was just watching a TikTok video on UFOs there my bad.

Try it sometime it’s actually quite hard to stay bored for a very long time, because we on the end of the evolutionary ape chart, are constantly needing some form of activity; perhaps that is why the 10 second rule was adopted by advertisers and producers. Apparently the mind wanders after 10 secs of content I would actually argue that it’s in the first 2 or 3 seconds that the mind will wander, in fact if you have made it this far in this reading then good on you, you love to be bored as I do 🙂

Ham

Where Story meets Understanding

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How to apply, How to become, How to clean, How to treat, How to prevent and how to ?

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