The Curse of Strings

Chapter 4

Splinters

Drozell looked at his surroundings as if this was going to be his last day on Earth. The sun shown every detail to his eyes in vivid clarity. He paid attention to every smell, every color, every sound and to him, this was the most surreal moment of his life. To know that he may not live much longer if he didn't take care of himself humbled the tired and weakened man to the point that he took nothing for granted. On the outside, he appeared sickly and frail. On the inside, he felt stronger than ever yet broken at the same time. He needed to go back to his master, but he wanted to make certain that his promise was fulfilled first.

David watched his guest closely. He paid attention to Drozell's movements and sighed. "What did Frank tell you? You seem different somehow and I just met you this morning."

Drozell stopped in mid motion and sighed. "I don't know what you're referring to. He just said that I'm very sick." Drozell hoped that he hid his discomfort.

David hid his irritation well and he knew that Drozell was hiding something very important. "Don't give me that. I know he told you something else. I know my half brother well enough to know that when he has a solemn look on his face there are two things that it could possibly be. One, you're dying or two, you're pregnant and I don't think the latter applies to you."

Drozell stood up to his full height and sighed. "I suppose there is no avoiding it, then. Yes, I'm dying. He said that if I don't take care of myself, I would end my pitiful life." Drozell felt sardonic at that moment and his last words of the sentence held some bite to them. "However, meeting you and your family has given me some joy."

David clinched his fists and held fast in front of Drozell. His tall form dwarfed the lithe man greatly. "You're not pitiful and your existence is anything but."

Drozell didn't meet David's eyes. He was fast becoming uncomfortable. "Please don't flatter me. I don't deserve the praise. I abandoned my master and I have to return before I die. I also want to complete my promise here. If anything, the only thing that I leave behind is a doll that leaves a smile on a child's face, then I suppose that my existence isn't pitiful."

David regarded his guest's words carefully. "I don't know anything about your past and Christopher mentioned that you were born in Germany. You made puppets with your father. Why are you a butler for a master that abuses you?"

Drozell's eyes darkened. He knew that he could no longer avoid talking about his life much longer. The pain was too great in his heart and the weight was too heavy for him to carry around any longer. "I suppose he gave me purpose. When my parents died, I had no one left in my life. I was wasting away. All I wanted then was to die. Now that I'm getting my wish five years later, I suppose that it's fitting."

David furrowed his brow in thought. He pushed his anger down and looked at Drozell seriously. The balmy summer air blew lightly between the two bodies as they stood in silence on the field. "You looked so happy when you were talking to my daughter. Dolls and puppets make you happy. Maybe you shouldn't return to the life of a butler and continue to put smiles on the faces of children with your talent. You're very good at it."

Drozell sighed and thought carefully about what David said. "I can't."

"Why not?" David looked confused just then. The wind rustled the trees in the background and David waited patiently for a response.

"It was something that my father and I did together. Without him, it wouldn't be the same. Without my mother as my inspiration, it feels empty to me." Drozell looked at David for the first time since the conversation started. His bright blue eyes shown sadness in such depths that David almost felt swept away.

David inhaled deeply and closed his eyes to break eye contact with Drozell. "Any one can see that you are most happy with dolls and puppets. Maybe if you do create one more, you should make it in your own image so that you will forever be immortalized through your creation. This way, when we look at the doll, we will forever remember you as the beautiful person that you are. I barely know you and yet I feel like I've known you a lifetime. Please, don't give up on yourself. You're caring nature is much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Drozell bent down the moment he saw a rabbit in the brush and knelt in silence. The rabbit stared at the man for a while before it moved out of the brush toward Drozell. David stood in amazement as he watched the interaction between the tiny woodland creature and Drozell. "Amazing....." David whispered his astonishment.

Drozell often wondered what made him lose his way before in the past. Sadness drove him to become dependent on a man that abuses him. Loneliness drove him to create dolls with sad eyes. Despair drove him to many sleepless nights that drove him slowly to a madness that he was unaware of. The rabbit in the field came to him for his gentle nature and David noted that part of him. In David's mind, he saw a man that was weak and frail and about to die. He saw a man that smiled at his children for their innocence. He saw a man that has lived a very hard life and still managed to smile with a child-like innocence. David saw a man with an intelligence unlike anything he's ever seen. David saw a loyal man that was willing to return to a master that would continue to abuse him until his last breath.

Drozell sat in the grass and chuckled at the rabbit as it nibbled on his ribbon. He petted it with gentle hands and the rabbit eventually fell asleep in his arms. David smirked at the thought that came to his mind. "You would be great on hunting trips. Even the creatures aren't afraid of you. You're so meek."

Drozell looked up at David in surprise. "Meek?"

David knelt next to Drozell and smiled. "You're hard to hate. Those that do hate you don't know you very well. You have a friend in me if you ever feel the need to talk."

Drozell looked genuinely surprised. "Friend? I never had anyone tell me so." The rabbit nestled further in his arms. David chuckled at the sight.

"If a rabbit and children are drawn to you, then your life isn't as pathetic as you make it sound. Tell you what, I'll go with you back to London and I'll make certain that you're taken care of. I'm sure that my brother Frank would agree with me. I've wanted to see London anyway. It's been years since I last visited. Maybe I'll find my old army buddies and reconnect. It's about time I rekindled some old friendships since I made a new one." David smiled at Drozell warmly at the thought.

"Oh? That's very kind of you to look out for me so." Drozell looked back down at the rabbit and smiled softly. "Maybe this revelation of my dying has gotten me to think of something very important that I never really considered. Perhaps it's time that I did do something with my life, what's left of it anyway."

"That-a boy. Hell you're younger than me and you have shown a wisdom beyond your years that I wish I had." David laughed softly, "It would have saved me a lot of trouble."

Drozell sat in silence for a moment longer before scooping up the rabbit in his arms and stood up slowly as to not spook the tiny creature. "I think it's time that we headed back to the cottage."

David stopped Drozell for a moment before their walk back. "Something has me bothered."

"Oh?" Drozell's eyes widened for a moment as he tried to read his new friend's expression. "What is on your mind and I'll do my best to answer your question."

"Why do you stay loyal to a man that has hurt you so badly?" David looked pensive for a moment.

"I never said exactly that he was was abusive. You assumed correctly. The reason that I choose to return is because he has no one else to care for him. His children are grown, his wife has abandoned him and I'm the only one that stayed. At least until now.....but I have to go back to him. I made a hasty retreat when I should have stayed. He has no one to protect him. No one to confide in and no one to feed and dress him. I am his butler.....his servant.....his only friend. No one else understands him the way I do. His aging body is only a shell but he once loved beautiful things because he too was once a beautiful person." Drozell's eyes watered at the very thought that the aging man would die alone and David saw the hurt in his friend's eyes.

David inhaled deeply and thought for a moment what he should do. The thought had occurred to him that he should escort Drozell back to London himself without his brother knowing about it. His greatest concern was Drozell's health. "Tell you what, when you're feeling better, I'll go with you back to London."
Drozell didn't know how to respond to David's statement other than with a smile. "That would be nice."

A/N This chapter, to me has a feel that screams Kodak moment. Not typical for this type of story, but hey, it does give a little background.