I once lived in a quaint, quiet town in the rural U.S., up until the events I’m about to recount for you. Something you have to understand is that this town didn’t really have much public entertainment. So, whenever a circus or play came to town, we would all flood to it, glad just to have something to do.
I lived with my son, Drew, who was just 7 years old at the time. His interests came mostly from what he saw on the old box television in our living room. For this reason, they changed almost every week. One day it was monster trucks, the next it was some cartoon.
One crisp fall evening, I was out at the market with Drew when a burst of color on a nearby wall caught my eye. I walked over and read the plastered piece of paper.
Puppet Show!
All are welcome!
Free of charge!
I was instantly interested. There had never been a puppet show here before. We had our fair share of circuses and traveling magic shows, but never a puppet show.
Drew, who had just begun learning to read and write, sounded out the words on the poster. “Puh…pit?” he said slowly.
“Yeah, Drew. Puppets!” I said. “Do you want to go see them?”
The little boy’s face lit up when I said it, and he nodded excitedly.
The show was scheduled for that evening, 7:00, at the long neglected outdoor community theater on the edge of town.
Later that day, after I had put away the groceries, Drew begged me to take him early. I guess he thought that maybe he could go backstage or something and meet the puppet master, or masters. I finally broke, after much pleading from him.
It was around 6:00 when we arrived at the theater. It had gotten colder, and there was now a cold breeze. Luckily, we had brought our jackets.
The theater was small, maybe big enough for three or four actors on the stage at a time, with twenty or so chairs haphazardly arranged in front of it. Someone had spent quite a bit of time using sandbags to weigh everything down, which was good, as the wind had picked up significantly now.
The only thing different than normal when we got there was the small puppet theater which was set up on the stage. There didn’t look to be anybody around. Not even a puppet master.
Drew and I took our seats, close to the stage so we could see. I felt him tug on my arm after a minute of sitting.
“Daddy, can we go say hi to the puh-pits?” he asked eagerly.
I looked up at the puppet theater on the stage. Still, it didn’t look like anyone was there yet.
“Drew, I don’t think-”
Suddenly, a strange, jaunty tune began to play from the stage. It was quiet, and it sounded faraway, but it immediately caught both of our attention.
Lights on the puppet theater began to turn on, one by one, some appearing to have difficulty doing so, turning on and off, and, finally, back on again.
The music stopped once all the lights were on. All was quiet, except for the whistling of the wind.
Suddenly, a pink hand puppet rose up on the stage. It was a sock painted pink, with buttons glued on for eyes and… was that real blond hair?
“Hiyah kids! I’m Mia! Who wants to see some puppets?” The voice that came from the puppet was squeaky and high pitched, and there was a strange undertone to it.
“Me! Me!” cried Drew. I was too confused to say anything, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.
The puppets began acting out a play. Mia was joined by Jonah and Randy. The puppet master had to switch hands pretty often, but the switches were barely noticeable and almost seamless.
Jonah and Randy were both, as it seemed, fighting for Mia’s love. It was obviously superficial and made for children, but again, I felt like something was off. Maybe it was the cheerful way they all talked. Or the almost too realistic hair on all of them.
Drew was loving the puppets. He was loudly laughing at the funny parts, and actually crying at the sad parts. I remained confused. Why was I so unsettled by these puppets?
Then, things began to get strange. Some of the lights on the puppet theater began to flicker.
Mia had grown tired of Jonah and Randy. It might have been my imagination, but I think I remember her, in her same cheery voice, remarking about how ‘ending it all’ might be the easiest way out. Maybe she was talking about ending the relationships with the other puppets?
Then, out of the blue, the play took a dark turn. All of the puppets were on a walk together, making their jokes in their happy voices, when Mia pulled out a knife.
At first, I thought it was a setup for another joke. But then, I leaned forward and got a look at the knife. It wasn’t a prop. It was a kitchen knife, glistening in the theater’s flickering light bulbs.
Drew began laughing at this, like it was another one of their jokes. I remained frozen, paralyzed in confusion and fear.
Mia took the knife and plunged it into Jonah’s back. The puppet convulsed forward as Mia took it back out and stabbed it into Randy.
Through the torn sock fabric, I could see the skin of the hand within. Blood poured out of both of the stabbed puppets as they continued convulsing on the ground.
At this point, Drew was laughing so hard, I thought for sure that we weren’t seeing the same thing. The scene was covered in blood now. The hands or feet which were in the blood-soaked puppets had retreated downwards, leaving the puppets sitting in the pool of blood.
Mia was laughing, but something was wrong, so unnatural, that I wanted to rip my ears off. Drew just kept laughing. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying the show.
Slowly, too slowly, both Mia and Drew stopped laughing. I was sitting there in complete silence, in shock at what I just saw.
“Well, who wants to be my new friend?” Mia called out towards us.
Drew clapped and yelled out, “Me! Me!” and began running towards the stage.
I got over my horror, for only a second, as I grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back as I stood up. But, he did something that shocked me.
He made a face at me, then pushed my hand off and ran to the stage.
I couldn’t move as he climbed up onto the stage.
I couldn’t move as he got into the puppet theater.
I couldn’t move as Mia told him that he was going to wear a mask for his puppet.
I couldn’t move as I watched my son, my own son, act out a puppet show perfectly.
And I still couldn’t move as the show ended tragically, with Mia putting her knife into the mask which had my son inside of it.
And I didn’t move as a man in a dark robe packed up the theater, with my son still in it, and walked down the path out of town.
To this day, I mourn my son. I wish I could have moved that day, but I was so frightened at everything I was seeing.
But the fear did not go away. I still fear that the puppet show will go to another town, or worse, visit me again. That man is still out there, running his twisted horror show for all to see…
Free of charge.