Life-less Dolls

Chapter 4

          The next morning came quicker than I thought. It was a rather fair weathered one too. Kankuro and I went out for a walk right after breakfast, his hand holding mine the whole way, which he insisted on doing I might add. I can’t get this light blush off my face now. If that wasn’t bad enough, everyone that passed by us said something of how cute we were as a couple. Kankuro seemed to be enjoying himself, but I was nervous. I’ve never shared my life with anyone and now I was going to have to spill it all to him.

          Finally, after what I think was Kankuro showing me off to the village, he took me to an empty training ground far off from the village. There was no one there and it looked as if no one had been here in while either. Kankuro stopped and looked up at the sky for a moment before looking around us. I pulled my hand out of his when his attention was focused elsewhere and stepped forward, shouldering the back pack that held all my puppets in it.

          “What was that all about by the way?” I asked, glancing back at him.

          He grinned, “What? You didn’t enjoy the walk we had?”

          “It seemed more like you were showing me off.” He laughed at this, but leaned towards me slightly and said lowly, “In a way, I was!”

          I glared at him and he grinned even more. He sat down on a rock on the side of the grounds and crossed his arms, “So, no one’s around for about half a mile. It’s just me and you. Now will you tell me your story?”

          I sighed and set the bag down beside him, taking the little Sho puppet off of the top of the pile. I stepped into the middle of the circle and set Sho’s puppet down on the sand. The button was different than the others and harder for anyone to figure out if they were trying to open it without me telling them how. I pressed it in and heard the click come from within. Slowly, I moved my hand and outstretched finger up, it never moving from that one spot. There was a clicking sound the followed my finger and it did so every inch my hand went up, there was a click.

When my hand stopped, it had clicked at least seventy-two times for six feet. I balled my fist up and the clicking stopped. I waited a moment before saying, “Rise.”

Click…

The puppet grew to stand a foot tall.

Click…click…

Another two feet and I could see the surprise and amazement on Kankuro’s face.

Click…click…click…

Sho now stood at six feet in front of me, his wings flat against his back, his tail feathers folded neatly together and his head arched over his chest. Every feather that lined his wings and tail were sharp and gleamed in the light. The body structure itself was made of a slivery metal and a bronze finish that lined the sides. His eyes were hollowed out and nothing filled in the spot; you could see through one eye and out the other. The aura of the bird was very light and there was also a peaceful part about it.

Kankuro came up beside me, looking the bird over, and replied “I’ve never seen a puppet that was functional and looked as beautiful as this one.”

I smiled slightly and looked up into Sho’s empty eyes, “Then you haven’t seen anything yet.” I brought my right hand up and shifted my fingers a bit and a light became visible inside the hollow chest of the bird; Sho’s eyes lit up with the light and his body moved with my fingers. I had him spread out his right wing and the metal clicked when it moved. Sho’s head moved up a little and it creaked as it did. The bronze swirled around on the feathers up to the middle of the wing where all the feathers met. I let up my other hand and his other wing followed it too; the more I moved, so did Sho, following every movement I did.

I pretended that Kankuro wasn’t there and danced slowly around the circle and instead spoke slowly as if to no one, “The whole reason I was named Maiko was built around my family and its prophecy. I was the next in the lineage to carry the burden of protecting Sho from evil. Really…my name is passed down with everything else about me.”

I slowed my dance after a little bit and was facing away from him. With my finger tips touching each other, I brought my arms down in front of me in a circle and Sho’s wings followed, circling around me as well. I closed my eyes to try and force myself not to cry, “When I think about that way, I realize how alone I really am…I’m not even unique in who I am…”

Suddenly, I felt arms encircle me from behind and take my hands and a soft voice whisper in my ear, “You’re not alone. I’m here for you. I promise I’ll always be here.”

The shyness and shock moved me instead of my mind doing so. I looked back at Kankuro and felt his lips connect with mine softly. My eyes were wide as his were closed and blood rushed into my cheeks.

Is this…is this what love…is like…?