~The Story of the Sheep, the Crowned Marionette, and the Manipulator~
An announcement is made and all men and women angle their waists into a bow. They are cloaked in grey wool. Like sheep, they follow what the other does. Hundreds of them bend their backs and tip their heads forward until they are ordered to do otherwise.
As raven black dress shoes hit the grandiose red carpet leading to the altar, they are again given a command. The order herds the creatures to simultaneously bend down on one knee. They are simple animals. These animals in particular have old and rotten minds. None of them could achieve what the puppet has. Their actions can be controlled, but their thoughts can only be swayed, not molded in the fashion that the master wants. The puppet prince has a pure and innocent mind. It was one that was taken in carefully when he was just a small piece of wood, and molded and sharpened in the way the puppetmaster wanted. He is his greatest masterpiece.
The sheep are not to see their prince until he is crowned the king, so they are forced to dip their heads and wait on bated breath.
Their prince steps forward with purpose but one must wonder…was it he who decided his steps? The strings between the Manipulator and the Marionette are visible. The connection between the two is undeniable, yet the Manipulator does not claim them. He insists that the Marionette moves on its own volition. Of course the Marionette agrees. It is what his master told him to say.
How proud the Manipulator must be to have this affirmed in front of the altar.
The Marionette prince kneels at the altar where the Manipulator stands. A few pigs stand behind him, robed in fake velvet capes like the Marionette and the Manipulator. The Manipulator saw a side of himself in the pigs, so he allowed them to cloak themselves in the same garb. Disgusting, yet useful, the Manipulator can see what he can take advantage of.
A shining crown is placed on the Marionette's head, and he turns to face his army of sheep. The pigs proclaim him to be the next king, and the sheep bleat and stamp their hooves in recognition.
The Crowned Marionette does not smile because he feels no joy. He was never ordered to be happy, so he is hollow. He looks up to his creator. Perhaps he will allow him happiness now? Perhaps he will acknowledge him now?
But no. The Manipulator does not smile. He will not smile. A restless dream torments him night after night and threatens everything that he has created. A Temptress seduces the Marionette in his dream. It makes him question the way he was made, and the written poetry he was told to speak. The Temptress cannot be allowed to get into the Marionette's mind. So the Manipulator looks stiffly down at his puppet and says,
"You must not fail."
The order has been given, and the Manipulator tightens the strings on the crowned Marionette.