Puppet

I was walking back home. It was a tiring day. The quizzes were the worst part of it. I did well, but that didn’t mean the stress wasn’t there. I couldn’t wait for Friday because after that, it would be the weekend. But I immediately remembered it was currently Monday.

Dang it.

Just thinking of how many days were left before I could finally rest from studying was agonizing. And that with the possibility of there being homework.

I swear, teachers who give homework for weekends are the worst.

I’d just want to lie around, you know. Forget about the stressful things at school. But whatever, I was powerless to do anything about it, anyway. I just have to do what I have to do. Besides, it was not like I could fully rest during weekends. I had a part-time job… So, all I could take a break from was school stuff. At least the job was not as mentally stressful. Work was monotonous.

Eager to finally take a rest, or perhaps eat, I finally arrived home.

My home was like any average home an average person would have. So, nothing too bad. As I stood in front of the door, I took a deep breath and opened it. I walked inside, only to see my mother watching TV.

“I’m back,” I said in a low voice, just enough for her to hear.

“Finally, you’re here.” Her voice hinted at no warmth or excitement whatsoever. Not the typical reception a mother would give to her daughter.

I walked over to the kitchen to find some food on the table. But I found nothing. “There’s no food?” I was expecting at least a little bit of food.

“What?! You expect me to cook some for you? Make your own dinner. Stop bothering me already. I’m watching my show here.”

I sighed in resignation. “I’ll cook then.”

“Make sure to cook for me too, and include your dad.”

I frowned, feeling slightly annoyed. “Got it.” This was a common occurrence. My mom was too cold and lazy to care for her daughter. Sometimes, I envied those with good mothers — well, those with parents overall. But at this point, you just learn to accept everything. It was pointless forcing things to change that would never change.

At least they weren’t abusive, just incredibly neglectful, and rude, or mean…

I climbed up to my room first and dropped my backpack in a corner. Feeling a bit tired, I laid down on the bed for a moment and stared blankly at the ceiling. I just loved it when I was doing nothing, it was very silent and peaceful. Huh, I guess laziness was genetic. But I was not as bad as my parents, at least.

After savoring the softness of my bed, I stood back up to change clothes. I removed my shoes, then my school uniform’s short skirt and top. After slipping into some casual house clothes, I made my way back down to the kitchen. I shouldn’t take too long. I still had homework to do.

I hate homework.

I swear if I were the president or something, I’d ban it.

I started cooking some dinner, mainly ‌meat and vegetables. As the aroma permeated the air, I only felt hungrier. I glanced at my mom, who was still watching TV, paying no attention to me whatsoever. Honesty, it just makes you wonder how they ended up this way — Mom and Dad. To be honest, it was quite disappointing.

But what I learned from living my brief life is that some people were just naturally that way. Some were naturally kind, while others were naturally jerks. But often, my parents just pissed me off so much that I imagined killing them — but of course that was just too dark of a thought. It didn’t please me either. In the end, they were my parents.

And I could never kill anyone.

Still, would it hurt them to be decent parents for once? When I’m in college, I’d leave this house.

Dinner was finally ready. I poured the food onto the large plate and put the plate on the table. After placing a couple of plates in front of the pair of seats, I walked over to my mom. It would appear she was watching some sort of romance series. I frowned in annoyance. I had watched it for a bit, and it was a crappy show.

“Mom, food’s ready.”

“Just wait a moment.”

I resisted the urge to sigh. Eating first was absolutely not an option. I couldn’t always predict how she would react when I did that, but a few times she got mad. She would end up rambling about how I was an ungrateful and rude child or something. I’d rather not deal with that right now. I was already exhausted.

Therefore, I waited, resisting my hunger. The episode should finish in a short while. As I was waiting, I couldn’t help but watch the show as well — it was in front of me, after all. Again, it was a crappy romance show, cringe. Basically, people who were just involved in a love triangle but were so ridiculous to the point that you’d just laugh at how hilarious it was. But Mom liked it, and I would never understand that.

A few minutes later, the credits rolled — the episode was over. Mom stood up from the couch and headed straight for the dining table.

I sat down and started eating.

We ate in silence, nothing sounded but the clanging of spoons on plates. It was always like this, we never talked but only focused on eating… And I avoided making eye contact with her. No asking me about how my day went, any plans in the next few days, and so on. Like she did not care about my life at all.

But that didn’t matter to me anymore. It was sad and disappointing at the start, but I grew used to it.

A moment later, the door of the house opened. It was my dad. He was wearing a suit. My dad was a salaryman. He put down the briefcase and immediately sat down with us. He started eating.

“How’s your day?” Mom asked him.

“Tiring and crap. The boss was annoying as always.”

“Huh.”

It was then that Dad looked at me. “Any plans this weekend?”

“... Nothing, just my job.”

“Oh good, you’re not fired yet.”

Why would you say that?

Almost sounded like he was always thinking I’d get fired at any time. Like he had had no faith and trust in me at all — well, I suppose that was exactly the case.

“You got some money left then?”

I subtly groaned. “...”

“I have a game coming up with my friends. Lend me some.”

I clenched my fists under the table. “... I need the money, Dad.”

“So you’re not going to help your dad? After everything I’d done for you? Whose house are you living in, huh?”

I averted my eyes. “... Fine…”

There was nothing I could do. I can save up again, anyway. But, it was a bit hard to swallow knowing this dad of mine was just going to gamble it away.

“Give it to me tomorrow.”

I nodded.

Once I was done eating, I immediately returned to my room. Staying in the room for too long with those two was draining me badly. I sat down at my desk and let out a tired and frustrated sigh.

What a bothersome household…

I grabbed my notebook and pen from my backpack. After placing the notebook on the desk, I started working on my homework. It was tiring. Aside from the homework, I still had to study. There was another quiz tomorrow. The hardship never ends.

The homework was a bit difficult, considering that it was mathematics. I was not fond of it. But as long as the teacher teaches well, I’d be able to understand the subject.

It took me about an hour to finish my homework — which I assumed most of it was right at least. It would be embarrassing if I got nothing right. But maybe I could compare answers with my classmates when I go back to school.

I glanced out the window. It was around nine o’clock now. I should really be sleeping, but I had to study a little bit. And so I went on to study. However, it was hard to study when you were already fatigued, physically and mentally.

Thus, forcing myself to read and learn only made my head hurt. I tried and tried to focus, but the words just went in one ear and out the other. This only agitated me further.

I slammed my notes onto the desk.

Aaaaah! I’m so sleepy!

I was extremely sleepy. I almost just wanted to scream ‘screw it’ and cast this study session aside. That I’d be willing to do. But I just couldn’t. If I didn’t study properly tonight, I might have it hard tomorrow. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and continued reviewing and studying. However, my eyes were getting droopy, heavy.

I lowered my notes.

… Ah… Can’t hurt to have a brief shut-eye. There’s no point in forcing myself to review anyway if I’m drained.

Forcing myself to study was like hitting a wall. Try as I might, I’d make no progress no matter what I did.

And so, I let myself drift into sleep, intending to wake up in a couple of hours or so. But of course we all know that wasn’t happening. Sleep at night, and you’d end up waking in the morning. And thus, I slept on my desk.

After some time of sleeping, I woke up. I slowly opened my eyes. I was still on my desk. However, there was something strange, something different. My eyes blinked, and I raised my body, staring at my desk.

This isn’t my desk…?

It was a different desk entirely, fancier and way more intricate than the one I had. And there were… small dolls placed on it. And an unfinished doll made of fabric was right in front of me, along with some knitting tools. The dolls were quite adorable, not only made of fabric, but of wood.

Was I kidnapped? What the heck…?!

It was then I noticed my hands were different. They were fairer and slender. I was wearing a black dress, I never owned anything like this. Amidst my growing confusion, I was starting to panic. I stood up and looked around anxiously. But my foot hit something, and I tumbled backwards.

“Ah!”

I landed on my rear. With annoyance, I stared at what I had tripped over. But that annoyance turned to fright when I saw a life-sized wooden doll. It looked quite plain. It had somewhat of a human face, but it was so uncanny that it was giving me the creeps.

“W-What the hell…?” I frantically stood up, and when I looked to the side, I saw another big doll in the shape of a woman. Its eyes were creepy. My apprehension about being in this place was only increasing.

“W-Where am I?!”

The more I looked around, the more dolls there were, each creepy in its own way. I hated dolls! I never loved dolls, nor did I ever have a lot of them in my life! And now I was surrounded by creepy dolls! Was I having a nightmare?!

“What’s g-going on?”

It was then that I stumbled upon a tall mirror. The moment I saw myself, I was both confused and flabbergasted. I placed a hand on my cheek, feeling the soft sensation. In the mirror was a beautiful young woman with the fairest and flawless skin. Her hair was long and dark akin to a raven’s feathers. And her eyes were crimson, like blood. I blinked several times, and I tried moving my hands and head — the girl in the mirror was following my movements.

This is me…?

“This is not me…”

There was no way…