The Puppet Master and The Watcher

Not that he was a stupid person. He was trusting and there the big difference lies between why one is duped and this  duplicity was not uncovered for years and years. Eventually all the manipulations had to reach a conclusion. He walked. He needed to think. Something had been nagging at him for the past weeks. Bits and pieces of conversation were beginning to gel into a cohesive string of information. Through the woods he walked to an opening into a field. The large flat boulder was a favorite place to rest. A nice sunny spot to sprawl down upon his back and face the sky. He noted the clouds swirling above his head and he let himself become very calm. He closed his eyes against the sun and reviewed the past.

She called to say an injustice was battering someone in the family. She ranted. She raved and she mocked the person that was mistreating the sibling or the cousin. He listened to her tirade. She expected him to handle the problem and most of the times he did.  Voicing his opinion to the culprits did not ingratiate him to them while she remained in their good graces. She was never the one to confront anyone. She was the "good sister", the "good aunt" and she wielded her destruction through this man. She reveled in the fact that all the criticism was laid on him and she was exempt. She was good at what she did. Those closest to her, those who interacted with her on a daily basis were not fooled.

Years went by and never once did he suspect the game she played. The game that would make him the bad cop while she played the good cop. She was secure in the knowledge  that she would be perceived as sweet and kind while he took up the mantle of being the heavy. He wasn't endearing himself to the family and she enjoyed knowing this. To her it was all about being the favored one.

 One day she made a comment and he added that comment to ones made a few months earlier and the light bulb flickered and then streamed steady bright light. He was astounded. Right there in the field where he lay he reeled back over the years and the stories.  He added up the comments made lately and wondered if it was over confidence that led her to reveal too much or  was it that she didn't care anymore whether he knew what she had been doing.

He picked himself up and slowly walked back to the house. He was not in a mood for company. There was too much to think about. He spent the evening going over all the evidence again that he should have noted years ago. He questioned his own intelligence and he knew he had to talk to someone about this. 

Point by point he rolled by the years and reviewed his involvement in the family and the person directing him. He bounced his thoughts to verbal stream and shared them with a long time trusted friend, much like the counselor that sits and listens only.

Today another has taken up the reins of the puppet master and the once master is now the puppet. She repeats verbatim what is presented to her not realizing that others recognize the language as that of the puppet master. 

He watches as this scenery flashes by quietly and wonders when the light will flicker then stream brightly for her as it did him. 

He is now the watcher.