Puppet

Some nights are made for torture, or reflection, or the savoring of loneliness.

~ Poppy Z. Brite 

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One night I was talking to Leslie on the phone.  Actually, that is every night.  Usually right before I go to sleep.  Unless we are in the same place.  Then we don't usually call each other on the phone.

Anyway, in a rather unexpected way - as she is prone to do from time to time - Leslie said a sentence that didn't quite fit with what we had been discussing earlier.  I think we had been discussing race and gender and larger societal issues.

Then she said, "Right now I'm trying to get the curriculum center to order me a female sailor puppet."

And then we said good night.  That was pretty much exactly how it went.

Well, I hadn't shut down the computer, so I went online to see if I could find a female sailor puppet.  All I found were a bunch of Sailor Moon items, but that wasn't what I wanted.

Then other weird things started popping up and before I could stop I realized I had crossed a line.  You know what puppets look a lot like?  Dolls.  Dolls that are made to SPEAK to you.  And some of them are even clown puppets.  The most horrific thing of all.

So now it's after midnight.  And I know that, sadly, I will probably never sleep again.