The Puppeteer

Vlad, The Ringleader

In the town of Luminescence, there was always one common thing, the circus was in town! This was any old and typical circus, so it had, of course, a typical ringleader. That ringleader, was named Vlad. Vlad has always kept tabs on the circus and its workers. Though if he had to keep tabs on one person and one person alone, it would be Zachary. Yes, the was one of the best attractions in the circus, yet there was something... off with him. Zachary was, to put it lightly, not a very sane man. He always treated his puppets like they were real people. The kids, of course, loved that he played around and let them be a part of the act with all of his puppets, yet to the ringleader... it was something that was obfuscating and disturbing.

In the night, Vlad was making his normal rounds for securing the circus. Vlad has always stayed up at night to look around the circus to make sure there isn't any trouble around. Though that night, the circus brought with it a crisp, clear, night It was silent other than Vlad's own two feet thumping on the solid ground. As he was making his way on his normal trail, he heard a wooden tap and felt something hit his foot. Realizing he has kicked something, he looked down. At his feet was the wooden yellow and red puppet, the one that Zachary had named Louis. Vlad couldn't help but be a little perplexed on why the puppet was there. Zachary is always carrying this little puppet since it was his "favorite child". He always made sure his precious Louis is around people or puppets since Louis would be deemed lonely by Zachary. 

Since Vlad was an honest man, he decided to return the puppet to his owner. He picked up the little puppet with care and carried it much like you would a baby. Strangely, he felt it breath, he felt its warmth and most importantly, he felt a heartbeat. "Maybe it is a living child..." Vlad thought as he walked off, making sure not to disturb the child in his arms.

As dawn broke, he got to Zachary's cabin. Zachary never really had an outstanding lifestyle, and his cabin showed it. It was just big enough to house his puppets and himself inside. Nothing was new except the few little kid's drawings on the wall. The children usually do that since it is a pure white house. None of the kids ever liked a bland color like that unless it's to color on, so the drawings are a normal occurrence. His yard was neat and tidy, though it's in dire need of a trimming. He had two flower boxes filled with little sprouts, though Vlad couldn't tell what flowers they might become.

 When he knocked on the door, it was automatically opened. Zachary was up and ready for work as seen by his clean uniform, unsurprisingly, Zachary's face was colorful. He never needed to put on any sort of makeup to be as colorful as a rainbow. Pushing away the jovial greetings and the idle chat, Vlad went straight to the point, which is never something that as unusual. "I'm here to return your little boy. He was on the road when I was making my rounds. Did he get lost?" Vlad explained, feeling a bit strange calling a puppet a child. Zachary smiled and took his puppet back, "Not at all Mr. Bombastic. He must just have been looking for you. He did want to give you a little gift after all." With those words he took off the puppet's hat and there was a small rose. The rose was a red one and looked like it was made of paper. It looked obvious that it was made by a child at the age of ten. When Zachary handed it to Vlad, Vlad took it and put it in his tuxedo. "That's very kind of little Louis. Now I must get back to prepare for the circus. It's almost morning."

After they exchanged goodbyes, Vlad started heading back to his circus. He had gained far more questions than answers. He can't tell whether the puppet was actually alive of just a lifeless toy. He could have sworn it was breathing and that it had a heartbeat. Yet even with all this evidence he decided he would keep his opinion to himself, to save himself from being called a madman. He does have a good reputation to hold up you know.