Puppet Read online

  P U P P E T

  by

  ED KIGHTLINGER

  Adventures of Eva Roblins

  Lynnville, Tennessee 38472

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Edward H Kightlinger Sr.

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  For information about special discounts or bulk purchases, please contact Adventures of Eva Roblins at www.evaroblins.com or email [email protected].

  Cover Design by EbookLaunch

  ISBN 978-1-7337962-0-0

  ISBN 978-1-7337962-1-7 (ebook)

  Printed in the United States of America

  Publisher - Lynnville, Tennessee

  Other Works by Ed Kightlinger

  writing under his Pen Name Eva Roblins

  and as Himself

  The Spirit Within, Tale of A Fearless Heart: A Story of a Teen’s Love and Compassion

  Diana’s Incredible Journey, Book One: Fall of Mendacium

  Eva Roblins and the Enchanted Gate, Book One: Return of the Princess

  Eva Roblins and the Enchanted Gate, Book Two: Conquest of the Hidden Valley

  Freddy Meets Carmen the Talking Mouse

  Gloves for José: A Brief Tale of Love and Compassion

  DEDICATION

  With love and respect to my dear friend, Chloe Lee Murray

  ~~~

  Chloe, I am Deeply Honored to have Penned this Novel for You.

  You are still Young, so the Imaginary World of Puppets and

  Make-believe may Not have an Impression on You as

  Much Today as they Hopefully will Many Years

  From Now as you Re-read this Novel and

  Once Again Retell the Imaginings of

  My mind to Your Beloved

  Children’s Children’s

  Children

  ~~~

  “It takes years of living to realize what gives you life.”

  — Kimberly Marie

  “You can’t really claim too much ownership of your character.

  They really do belong to the writers, and in many ways, you’re just their puppet.”

  — Johnny Galecki

  “All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

  — J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

  PREFACE

  My tale embraces the frightening inexplicableness of the unknown.

  Pupaphobia – the Fear of Puppets.

  My tale is an intriguing, gripping account of a Puppet and Seven extraordinary high school teenagers of an Investigative Team. Included in my story is a high school Principal and her devoted Secretary. Also involved are an Accomplice and a Chiseler coupled with two Wicked Beings, along with many others.

  I allow the horrifying tale to come into being on the busy corner of Leroy and Marigold Avenues, in a three-story, turn-of-the-eighteenth century worn-out house of the sleepy town of Claymore, Middle Tennessee. Even though the novel’s scenes happen in the late teens of the twenty-first century, I have included a group of nostalgic passages that will take you along Memory’s Lane to the late 1970s. Most are reminisces of good times in Buffalo, New York.

  Our story’s protagonist lived in the corner house for fifteen years along with two parents and an older brother. Most nights found our protagonist uneasily struggling to sleep because of illusory puppets. They were on top of the curtains. They were scowling at the foot of the bed. They were searching with blank expressions on top of the dresser. Our protagonist also sleeplessly watched, into the early hours of the morning, of any sign of movement from the Door.

  The Door. It was a pulsating gateway up thirteen stairs to the scary top story of the groaning house, the Attic.

  The Attic. With its bloodstained chimney bricks. A puppety hidey-hole overflowing with foreboding and softly whispered, ill-omened voices flowing in the chilling wind and teeming with the evil that awaited the Coming. The Supreme Spectral Puppet!

  Until one day the house disappeared along with an entire city block of homes, garages, and people! Even trees, shrubs, and gardens – gone! No longer on the map. In its afterworld, nothing remained except fading memories, most good, others not so, along with a haunting, never-dying obsession that vehemently strikes to your Core, to the innermost being of your Quintessence — Pupaphobia. Fear of a Puppet!

  In conclusion, like all of my previous works, to include those penned by my pseudonym, Eva Roblins, this tale covers the curse of bullying. Similar to my last novel, The Spirit Within: Tale of a Fearless Heart, A Story of a Teen’s Love and Compassion, this story once again touches on the evils of intolerance and bigotry. Finally, I address the horribleness of the human trafficking of vulnerable children.

  For the children: “It takes years of living to realize what gives you life.” (Kimberly Marie.)

  ~~~

  “There are other “special” puppets like me in the world, thousands! They may appear to sit stoically on the laps of ventriloquists. They may appear to perform lifelessly in puppety plays. They may appear to dance limply at the ends of their puppety strings. They may appear to rest idly on store shelves. They may appear to lie lifelessly in children’s toy boxes. Nevertheless, their cores are alive, and they await instructions from the Supreme Spectral Puppet!”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ~~~

  My Beloved Children, Richard, Samantha, Angeline, Paul,

  Michael, Edward Jr., ‘Skater’ James, and Elizabeth,-

  My blessings, Purpose, and a Reason to Endure.

  ~~~

  My Brother, James O Kightlinger, for his Love and Support,

  My Cherished Friend, Diana J Fowler, for her Friendship,

  My Beloved Cousin, Kimberly Marie, for her Love.

  ~~~

  My fave Redhead, Sarah E Benderman, for her Friendship,

  My Scottish Pal, Ruzita A Millington for her Inspiration,

  My Precious Friend, Taryn B Ivy, for her Friendship.

  ~~~

  My Precious BFF, Rose M Davenport, for her Friendship,

  My Dear Friend, Lindsey M Powers, for her Friendship,

  My Dear Friend, Silvia Marleny, for her Friendship.

  ~~~

  My Dear Friend, Dr. Nicole Caldwell, for her Friendship,

  My Dear Niece Racheal Marie Howell, with thanks,

  And to a Strand of Others who Give me Hope.

  ~~~

  To you and your Children’s Children’s Children—

  All my Love from the Bottom of my Heart!

  ~~~

  “Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away,

  and going away means forgetting.”

  — J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan

  PROLOGUE

  My name is Chloe Alexandria Brown. I am fifteen years old. I turned fifteen on April 20 of this year. I live with my parents and older brother. My dad is a firefighter, and my mom is the best cook this side of the Mississippi. My brother is older than me by almost three years. Despite that, he acts like he is in his twenties. That is a good thing. I can go to him for advice, and he protects me when I need defending. He also is generous when it comes to loaning me money, even though he knows I’ll never repay him.

  My family and I live in an old three-story house in Claymore, Tennessee. Our house is on the corner of Leroy and Marigold Avenues. Our church, Holy Mary Me
thodist, is less than 100 feet from our house, across Marigold Avenue. The grammar school Jim and I used to go to is on the corner of Leroy Avenue and Grider Street, Public School Number 61. Kensington Avenue borders it to the south. My brother works down the street at a place called Cheaply’s Food shop. He truly wants to work at Mulloy’s Pharmacy which is across Leroy Avenue. Hopefully, he will.

  Everything one could ever want is within a ten-minute walk from our house: our church, the drug store, three grocery stores, a butcher shop, a donut shop, a barber shop, a shoe repair shop, a playground, and a swimming pool. I guess that’s enough. Then there is the tower. The tower is where neighborhood boys (and some girls) find their true mature self. You will learn more about the tower later.

  As you can tell, all the conveniences of home surround our quiet neighborhood. The neighbors are outgoing and sociable. Most of the kids are friendly. Then again, not all.

  Other than playing sports – I play volleyball like it is going out of style! - my friends and I go skating, usually on Friday or Saturday nights. I grew up at the skate center. Skating was, and still is, my “thing.” I hope to work at the skate center when I am old enough. When school is in session, most of my free time is spent looking at books – textbooks! – and doing seemingly endless hours of homework!

  I love scary movies, scary books, and listening to scary tales about frightening, supernatural things that “go bump in the night.” Did I mention I like scary things lol? Loving scary stuff is not to say I enjoy being excessively frightened by others. On the contrary, I want to have control over those things that I consider scary. Too scary is, well, to be honest with you, “too” scary!

  I have a cat, a dog, and naturally, I have a bunch of friends. My closest friend is Anna. She’s pretty cool. We don’t attend the same school. We get along very well and usually text well past my bedtime, like every night. My two closest friends at school are Brenae and Diana Jane. I call Brenae, Bre, and I call Diana Jane, Diana Jane. Diana Jane likes to be called by her first and middle names. Like Bre and Diana Jane, I am a freshman at Claymore High School. What can I say about Claymore High? Four words. It is a school.

  Last night, I ate a huge, delicious meal – spaghetti and meatballs. Garlic bread on the side! Spaghetti and meatballs have to be my favorite meal! Mom makes the sauce from scratch. She lets the sauce simmer overnight and her meatballs! Oh, my God! Her meatballs are the tastiest things this side of the moon!

  I knew that I would have a nightmare after devouring so much food. I always do.

  Nevertheless, I never imagined the horrors that my nightmare would entail. Nor would I ever believe that my dream would involve the entire sleepy town of Claymore, Tennessee, especially Claymore High!

  This is my story, a story about me and my friends – my investigative team friends. It also is a story about something horrendously frightening.

  A Puppet.

  Contents

  P U P P E T

  DEDICATION

  PREFACE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  PROLOGUE

  INTRODUCTION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  EPILOGUE

  APPENDIX A

  APPENDIX B

  APPENDIX C

  APPENDIX D

  INTRODUCTION

  PUPPET ESCAPES

  “Puppet Escapes!”

  The two-word headline on the front page of the April 16 edition of the Claymore Gazette is unusual. The Gazette, with a modest subscription audience of a little over one thousand, is more of a sensationalist, societal weekly than a traditional newspaper. Like sleazy tabloids found at checkout lines in grocery stores nationwide, the Gazette features the most recent tantalizing and juicy gossip around town, most of it untrue. The Gazette also highlights the upcoming week’s bargains: Piggly Wiggly Greenbax Stamps “get double stamps” promotions; store giveaways; S&H Green Stamp catalog steals; grocery clip out coupons; and advertisements of next weekend’s garage and yard sales. Claymore news of any significance is broadcast on the Gazette-owned local radio station WWBQ. Similarly, Nashville’s television station, NewsChannel 6, sometimes transmits noteworthy news that has to do with the town.

  In spite of the Gazette’s seedy, gossipy articles, the tabloid used to be the central part of newsworthy reporting for Claymore. All that changed in 1991 when the World Wide Net became publicly available. Just the same, the Gazette does publish interesting, newsworthy stories from time to time. That the Gazette has highlighted the story about Puppet’s escape on its front page speaks volumes as to what will soon occur in the sleepy, middle Tennessee town of Claymore, population 4,372.

  A grainy jailhouse mugshot of Puppet is directly below the two-word headline. The following article is beneath Puppet’s photo.

  ARTICLE

  Mister Reginald P. Puppet, fittingly nicknamed “Puppet” by Claymore townspeople, escaped from the Buford County jail this past Friday, April 13. The police arrested Puppet for allegedly violating Claymore Municipal Statute 1620, sections 42 and 53, to wit: “Trespassing (sec. 42) and Harassment (sec. 53) on Public School Grounds.” The misdemeanors allegedly occurred before the commencement of classes at Claymore High School.

  Most of Claymore’s residents have seen Puppet around town at one time or another. Many of us do not consider Puppet to be dangerous, just a bit kooky. Even so, there are those among us that say Puppet’s actions are outright weird and extreme. In spite of this, Puppet seems friendly enough and virtually harmless. You probably would not want Puppet babysitting your kids, marrying your eldest daughter, or dating your divorced sister. Apart from those views, Puppet seems like an okay kind of guy.

  For nearly two decades, Puppet has been walking around town telling everyone, particularly kids, that he is an authentic puppet. He says his body is from a centuries-old, reincarnated human. He is best known for cracking jokes, engaging in interesting conversations, and making people laugh. He always wears the same unbuttoned, tattered, and stained overcoat. Lengthy strands of fake twine dangle from beneath the collar, sleeves, and lapel of his coat. The strands of twine are his trademarks along with his unique features that are genuinely puppetlike. Adventure-seeking tourists come from miles around to visit Claymore hoping to get a glimpse of Puppet and to lay their hands on one of his free coils of twine. As one can imagine, visiting tourists are a boon to our economy.

  Before the police arrested Puppet, you could find him somewhere in town handing out innocent-looking coils of twine at all hours of the day and night. He hides the stashes of coils inside his overcoat. He stands outside downtown stores and fast food restaurants. He also stands every Saturday afternoon outside Walmart. He even greets churchgoers before and after services on Sundays.

  Even though his actions are considered somewhat kooky, Puppet is a philanthropist. He is known to donate money to various township charities and fund drives. He volunteers to give free puppet shows every year during Halloween and at children’s birthday parties. He is not known to attend any of the church services in town. However, pastors of the Baptist and Methodist churches, and Father McCoy at Saint Luke's, state they regularly receive cash donations in Puppet’s name.

  Most students at Claymore High School undoubtedly have seen Puppet around town. They are used to his larking about and weirdness. All the same, they must have been sur
prised to see Puppet standing outside their school the morning of his arrest.

  A few of the high school students accepted a coil of twine Puppet had offered that morning. Others ignored him and went on their way. One of the students, identified by her first name, Emmy, was frightened when Puppet approached her. She had run to the school resource officer, Officer Bartholomew Bennett, screaming that Puppet had whispered to her, “Would you like to go out to dine?”

  According to police records obtained by the Gazette, Officer Bennett questioned Puppet on the spot. It was the student’s word against Puppet’s. Officer Bennett decided to take no chances. He detained Puppet for trespassing and harassing the students. As our readers can fully understand, institutions of learning have zero tolerance for incidences of trespassing and bothering students on school campuses. We consider Officer Bennett’s actions appropriate at the time. All the same, we do not agree that the police should have formally charged Puppet. Puppet should not have been read his Miranda Rights and held at the county jail.

  During his interrogation, Puppet insisted he had not asked the student to go out to dine. He stated he had asked her if she “would like a coil of twine.”

  After the dismissal of the classes, and with the consent of the Claymore High School Principal, Missus Marie Davenhill, our reporter, Jessica Wycheck, questioned a few of the students. She asked them if they had witnessed the alleged confrontation between Puppet and the female student. One of the students, who we will identify only by her first name, Colette, gave Jessica a complete account of Puppet’s actions just minutes before his arrest.

  “As sort of the new kid at Claymore High School, this morning was the first time I had seen Puppet. It was pretty scary at first. He looked like an actual, four-foot-five-inch puppet. As you probably know, he has the oddest facial expression. When he approached, it looked like he was staring through me. It was if I was not there. His eyebrows were thick, black, and hairy. I would swear he painted his eyebrows on his forehead. His dark brown eyes were unnatural like something out of a comic book. They were too round and full. In all honesty, if I were to use a word to describe his eyes, I would have to say they were inhuman.