jack's puppets

She could still see their faces as she curled into a ball on the ice. They were watching as she struggled with the pain. Their expressions were blank; no emotion or remorse.

She knew that her chance of making it out of this situation was near impossible. Her end was near, and she knew it. She did not want to die this way.

This is so confusing. What was happening? This was not what we planned. What went wrong? she thought. The planning was excellent. We worked it all out, piece by piece. How could it have gone so wrong?

The ice-fishing hole was to her right, just big enough for a person to fit through. She could hear the water down below and could see the steam rise. She did not want to die.

He was slowly walking towards her.

“Please do not do this to me?! I don’t want to die! Please, no!”

He bent over, grabbing her by the arm. He slid her helplessly into the hole. He was strong. It was easy for him.

______________________________

Jonathan was not having any luck at all. He had not one bite, and was getting discouraged. Jack noticed his frustration and decided to help.

“You have to control the process, Jonathan. You have to manipulate the fish into taking the bait. Think of yourself as a puppet master. You control it completely. Watch me.”

“I don’t see you doing anything different from me, Jack. Why are you getting the bites?”

“Because I’m the puppet master and can manipulate the fish. It is a skill that you must practice, Jonathan, if you want to be any good at it, fish or people.”

“Do you manipulate people like you do fish, Jack?”

“Ha-ha Jonathan, what was that for?”

“I’m sorry, I should not have said that, Jack.”

“Okay, toss in your line and try it again, just as I showed you.”

Jonathan tried again and again, and finally he got the bite. He reeled it in and was very happy to see that he had a rainbow on the line.