“Coffee.” I heard a thin voice from poor Devil’s bedstead. I was so happy to hear his voice that I immediately ran to the kitchen to prepare him one, thinking it would be nice to choose the monkey cup.
“Not that idiot” he said, when he saw me coming. I wasn’t quite sure who he referred to, me or the monkey, and pulled away, but Devil grabbed my sleeve. “Ah well, I don’t have to look at his pancake face when I drink from the cup.” You better go back to sleep, I thought.
I hope you all know that the film was not real! Of course the Dedes wouldn’t be that vicious in real life. They wouldn’t try to decapitate the poor Devil, though in every story there is a bit of truth. Some parts of the film are recounted correctly: Devil got the sack last week and after having talked to a few puppets, that seems to be final. There is no way for him to get back his position. They have already appointed a new spokesperson. Devil knows that and now he is not getting out of the sack in the mornings. Of course we all know that there will be brighter times again, but right now he is inconsolable. Mouse says she has been there a few times herself and she can sympathise how difficult it must be for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had nightmares too, but no words of consolation would help at this stage. He has to go through this in his own time.
Nobody has seen the old fellow since he took part in the film on Saturday. I had a little peek in the corner of the stage. He obviously just rolled over after the filming had finished and pulled the blanket back over his head. Mouse begged me to leave him alone for a while. He has to grieve and come to terms with the injustice he thinks he has received.
We have another Dede workshop this afternoon. It is usually the job of the spokesperson and the administrator to select the actors who will take part. I was surprised to see Devil, who has just learned he lost his spokesperson job, at the stage door with Mouse who is the administrator. Devil’s dark glasses told their own story and he really looked like he didn’t want to be there. I commend Mouse for keeping her patience, as he wasn’t holding back with snipey and derogatory comments today. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the Dede world was right today. Truly, I wasn’t aware how vicious he could be when he is deeply hurt, which I think he is.
I asked Mouse afterwards what the story was. I thought maybe Devil got his job back. But she told me she had begged the Dede puppet committee to let Devil at least finish this one job, as pretty much everything was prepared for this afternoon and they only had to select the actors. It is no secret that Mouse loves to work with Devil. Honestly, these two guys are such a formidable team (Remember when these two organised the Super Dede Competition a year ago?). The outcome of the vote took Mouse as much by surprise as Devil himself, though she told me that Devil had an inkling that something was brewing for quite a while. It was her who always consoled him, saying he was just imagining things. Long ago she figured out that he has the tendency to believe everybody is out to get him. But boy, was he right this time!
Anyway, after having selected the actors for today she sat down with a big sigh and said, “Maybe it is for the best, if he’d always behaved like today I couldn’t cope with him for long!”
You might wonder what happened to the Dedes. I didn’t even realise how much we had drifted apart while normal life took over. Admittedly, I am not the best in-touch-keeper. And when it comes to the Dedes I didn’t need to be, as Devil at least (who is the spokesperson for the Dedes) seemed to drop in on a regular basis and kept me posted. But he too was very quiet lately. To be honest, I only realised this yesterday, when I heard through the grapevine that the Dedes had called for a special meeting (Dedes only). I try to keep out of their politics as much as possible, but I found it very strange that neither Devil (whose job it would be) nor Mouse (who is a well-known gossip) told me the reasons for the meeting. If I would have asked Mouse outright, she might have told me, but I didn’t want to put her in an awkard predicament. Anyway, last night they had the meeting and not long into it I heard the door slam and Devil galloping down the corridor. I ran after him to find out what happened. Typically, I thought the meeting was all about me and they were having a good rant about our flawed relationship. Devil would tell me all about if I asked him. I do consider him a friend. Surprisingly, I found him crying in the corner of the spare room.
“Hey, what’s up?”, I asked very startled. I was unaware that devils could cry.
“Leave me alone” he barked.
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad” I said and sat down next to him.
“They decided I am not a good spokesperson and they voted for someone else to take over my job”
“Oh,” I said for lack of other words. Since Devil didn’t volunteer any more information, I added after a pause: “I didn’t see this coming!”
He was shaken by another burst of tears. “Go away, pleeeeease, leave me alone!”
I know my Devil and decided it was the best to leave the room and close the door on my way out. But I promise, I will keep you up to date with the developments as soon as I know more.
I thought everything is honky dory in my studio. All the puppets are delighted about the latest film. Even Lil’ Sculpture came down from his shelf last Saturday to take a minor part in “A Dede day @ the bank”. He hasn’t had this kind of attention for ages. The visitors didn’t tire to tell him what a cutie he was, and of course he was extremely cheerful when he climbed back onto his shelf after everybody had gone.
Much to my surprise I realised today that Office Man must have been terribly despondent. I found him hanging upside down on his strings. No idea how this happened. He was very much in disarray and couldn’t speak after I rescued him. Lil’ Sculpture must have seen everything (after all he is sitting right next to Office Man) but he keeps mum. I hope Lil’ Sculpture wasn’t to boastful about his reception by the crowd. It could have made Office Man feel inadequate. I promise, once he had a bit of a rest, I will get to the bottom of the story. I won’t let him off the hook.
On the weekend another new thingummy arrived on the scene. Of course, Devil came barging in and wanted to shoo the little thing away. He definitely wants to put a stop to all these new and strange creatures. The wonderful studio is supposed to be a Dede only space. Much to his surprise he’d found his equal this time. The Whateveritis was not intimidated by Devil‘s browbeating behaviour.
He was a bit shaken by the treatment he got, but I didn’t want to get involved. Let them fight it out. That will teach him a lesson!
Last year when Pig was on stage at the Super Dede competitiion, he got terrible stage fright. I am happy that he has finally found his calling: He loves to work the camera and vowed to leave the stage in future to his mate Professor. Now that they both have found something to do, I hope they will move out of my liquor cabinet and find another place to live. Having them squatting there got rather expensive for me.
This morning Mouse walked up to Push Push, tutu in hand, and said “You shouldn’t give up. I had a go, it is not as easy as it looks.”
“I try and try and try so hard. I don’t seem to get anywhere” Push Push replied. “You know, at one stage you just run out of steam.”
“That is a common, but true tale. If you do something unusual, you get knocked back more often. You have to admit we are more used to dancing fairies than elephants” said Mouse when she handed over the dress. “I’d say, stick to your guns girl! And maybe compare yourself with elephants, not fairies, for now.”
Halloween is coming up and Devil is practising his tricks. He mustered a few ghosts from around the house and was keen to try them out on whoever walked past next. It was poor Mouse who came along the bookshelf, minding her own business, when all of a sudden a pair of giant eyes popped up on the wall. Devil was hiding behind the filing cabinet as he wanted to see if Mouse would get a big fright. But she is such a welcoming little thing. She only stopped for a second and gave a friendly wave to the newcomer. Guess who got the fright?
Our famous red sofa in the studio is operational again. It didn’t take long for Philosopher to settle there and take in the goings-on with his eyes shut. “So what is your plan then?” I asked him as I value his opinion.
“Do you always have to have a plan?”
“If you don’t have a plan, nothing ever happens.”
“I beg to differe here, love. The world goes on regardless of plans”
“But don’t you want to be the master of your own destiny like all the others?”
“So you have noticed that all the Dedes who revealed their plans were themselves at the centre?”
“Except for Witch or course who cooked this lovely pudding for me ”
“Yes, except for the wicked Witch! What would we do without Dedes like her?”
Why can’t Philosopher ever give me a straight answer?
dedepuppets 