Creepypastas

The man with a puppet.

Hey you! Yeah you, don't worry, I'm just an old man. I couldn't hurt you if you let me. I just want you to come on over here and sit down next to me. That's right. Want to hear something funny? Well you've come to the wrong place. The only story I have for you is a sad one. A story as true as the Earth itself. This is a story from our very town that we live in, too long ago for your generation to have remembered, but I can still recount it like it was yesterday. Have you ever heard of Vergil Thompson? From the look on your face I'm going to guess you haven't, but this is not much of a surprise. I have but one story to tell you about this town, and I think that is the only one that needs telling. I know I don't have as many hours left as I used to so I might as well tell it while I can still remember it. Heck better while I can still speak at all. So I think you might enjoy this.

 He was a man of no significance in many ways. He was not smart, he was not tall. He was not handsome, and he certainly wasn't strong. He wasn't of much use for many things, and this made him very forgettable around the town. This is probably why if you were to ask your parents, or really any one else in this town aside from me, they would probably tell you that they have never heard of the name, or maybe it's because they don't want to remember it. But I'll get to that in a moment.

 Now where was I? Oh yes! Now back when I was still a boy, 'bout your age, Vergil was a very popular man in the town. Though people didn't know him as Vergil, they knew him as "The entertainer" whom preformed up on that hill over there. The theater that used to stand there is long since gone, but that was where he did it. The one skill that that unfortunate man possessed was one of puppetry. He was the best performer that I have ever seen with a puppet, anyone who watched him would tell you the same. He is the best I have ever seen, and dare I say it, he is the best that there ever will be. The way he could form completely coherent sentences that protrude so clearly from a puppets mouth was simply astonishing. The way he could coordinate the puppets movements to look so fluid and life like was unbelievable. And the puppets themselves seemed to all have personalities of their own. All thirty of them. Matter of fact, he was so good that supposedly he could make the puppet sound like it was talking even if he was in a different room entirely. But that's not what you want to know is it? That's not why you are still listening to an old mans blabbering. Well I'll give you the part you're asking for.

 He had only been around for about a year or so before critics started getting on his case about having a stale performance with nothing new to offer. Unbelievable as it is, it somehow got around town, and all of his business died down. He began losing money, all because no one wanted to go see his shows anymore. Only me and a few others did, and one night, during one of his shows, he said something we were all hoping he would never say. He told us that he would be going away, traveling, and that he wanted to re-discover himself. That he wanted to get away from all of the criticism and bad mouthing. He said that he wanted to find something new. While it was something that we had all been expecting it was also something that none of us wanted to hear. But sure enough, the next day he was gone.

 Now I can see that you are losing your attention span, what with you being, but a child, but I can tell you that it will be worth your while if you stay and listen for a bit longer. So Vergil was gone for about five years. We all missed him Me included, and we all couldn't wait for his return. Then one night he did just that. The very next morning of his arrival every one awoke to mailboxes filled with fliers stuffed inside, publicizing his return. On the paper it mentioned something odd. It said that he had returned with a new puppet.

 That night he put on a show, again not many people showed up, so there are not many that can attest to what happened. But he did save the new puppet for last. And it was certainly... Different. It was made of a kind of wood that I had never seen before, but the eyes... Looked more than real. I'd say they were. He said that during his travels he had encountered a small village. And in that village they were growing a single tree. A tree that they said they never had to water. A tree that they said had a life of it's own. So he said that he chopped it down and made a new puppet, though we all knew it wasn't as simple as that. He began the performance and admittedly it was very well done.

 The next two performances he did also featured the new puppet, but the third one, the third one was the one that changed it all. I should also mention at this point more people were finally starting to get back into his acts, and by the time the second act had rolled around seats were filled. For the whole third performance he only used the newer puppet. And again it was very good, but toward the end it started to get a little... odd. The puppet began to delay it's responses, not immediately doing as it was told. At times he would have to nudge the puppet until it said anything, and people honestly thought it was part of the act, but he had a genuine look of distress on his face. he was gradually getting irritated. Eventually the puppet outright refused to go on with the act which sparked a horrible debate between the two. Once more I'm sure people thought it was just part of the act, until the two started trading harsher words, words that you didn't say in public back in my time. The audience became annoyed, and many with children left.

 And then the puppet turned physical. Suddenly the two erupted into a confrontation, the puppet standing on it's own. It eventually got so bad that Vergil tried to burn the puppet with a large torch that he used to light the theater for mood. He called it a demon and repeatedly said that he should have listened to them. And the with the torch one of the curtains caught on fire, and with that the rest of the theater went up. The rest of us were rushed out to safety, but I could just see the two still going at it, even through the smoke and flames.

 Soon enough the fire department arrived and quelled the flames, but by then there was nothing left. Only charred support columns. They could find no trace of Vergil or his puppets. Some say he fixed himself up into a puppet, others say he is now the puppets puppet. But I've gone back up on that hill, where the theater used to be. It was over ridden with weeds and tall grass, but as I ventured I stumbled across something. I found him, still doing him puppet show on a stump of a tree that he had cut down to make one last puppet, a puppet that looked a lot like him. Though I can only assume that the tree came from the puppet he tried to burn. Some how remaking itself. It wore several of his features. And then there was him, he looked like a mix between a puppet and a normal man. He was muttering to himself. He didn't even notice me. He was whispering to an unknown audience that he was going to make a new puppet. That he was going to make one that looked even more life like. He said that... He would take a living person, and make them into a doll. He said that he was going to take a child. I got out of there as soon as possible, and I tried to tell others what I saw, but no one believed me. I suppose it did sound crazy.

 I can tell by the look on your eye that you are happy with the story, but don't think of my as crazy. I want you to mark my words boy. Don't go up that hill, or you may see one of his shows after all. From the puppets perspective...