The Cage Stands Alone

It's been so long since I've come home to look at the joyful Roc in her cage. It isn't the same without hearing her chirps in the evening, and no amount of Robbie and his puppets are going to replace Roc's company. No puppet is going to fly like a bird can, and certainly they make less of a noise. I haven't even had the heart to take down Roc's cage, it still stands empty, just as she left it. I walked past it every day, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she'll return again. Why would she vanish like this? It confuses me so much, and the fact there is no explanation is worse than her vanishing in the first place. Robbie tries his best, but all I do is miss her more and more every day. I have to forget about her, just as I did Brian. I left the day care without a fuss in order to help move on from him, and now that lingering cage has to follow. The silence of the birds around here has begun to unsettle me, and the scars I have from the owl attack have no explanation. I haven't seen the owls since the attack, I haven't seen any birds since then, and neither has Robbie. I don't dare go into the forest again, I have a feeling it wants me to leave it alone. Everything has no explanation, and the more things that happen the less I can make of it. Without Roc, it's even harder for me get by.

Complications

I spent my day attempting to explain to Robbie what happened while I was gone. He was both shocked and happy to see me, while I wished he would have left me alone. With my return, he's become more of a nuisance, asking me what happened, or what's wrong when I yell at him for his constant pestering. He told me how much he missed me while I was gone, and he acts like I might suddenly vanish again if he leaves me alone. Even worse, he tried to make me 'feel better' by showing me the puppets he's made recently. As cute and creative as his puppets are, I found them all the more disturbing. A grown man shouldn't be spending his days making puppets, not as obsessively as he is. I couldn't take it when he showed me some new string puppet he created, so I decided in order to prove a point, to rip the strings off of it. I guess I left him to think about what he's done, although I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow, as always, trying to make amends for what happened today.

Merry Christmas

Well, I ended up spending most of the day with Robbie. He made a small meal for the both of us, which was pretty good. I felt bad not having much to give him, as I could tell just by walking into his house that he had more puppets than he had room for. I decided to get him something simple, a box of chocolates. He loved them, and we ended up spending the day just talking about what we do. His house was filled with the different puppets he had, each of them lining shelves on the walls. He apparently got into the hobby of being a puppeteer from his father, and has kept all of the puppets his father had. I talked to him about my bird watching, and he seemed eager to go watching with me. I didn't want to tell him too much about the police and everything, so I simply told him to wait until it got warmer. He seemed to believe me, but looked a bit down after I told him this. I plan on visiting him more when I have the time.

Robbie's Random Shenanigans

I finally was able to get home, and I'm very tired. I'll explain more tomorrow, but the puppeteer's show was called 'Robbie's Random Shenanigans'. His name was of course, Robbie. It was very unique, as he used more than one or two kinds of puppets, and as far as I could tell, only a few of them weren't home made. He was very entertaining, and it was easy to see how much he loved doing his job. The children all loved the show, Brian especially. It was worth staying at the day care late, even though I'm so tired now. I'll tell more about the show itself and Robbie tomorrow.