Trabajar
Legacy Name: Trabajar

Made from the finest materials of the time, and crafted with delicate care. Stained dark, painted bright, as per the order’s specification. All to make the shoulder puppet you see before you. Yet, despite his beauty and how he adorns himself so in pretty beads and shining jewelry, the dust of disuse clings to his lonely soul.

It was a cold afternoon in January, after getting jumbled around for hours in a box that his girl first laid eyes on and christened him Trabajar. The young dear adored him like no other. She carried him, played with him, spoke to him, and brought him to places to show him off. He was her keeper of secrets, her confidant in troubles, and quite the eye-catching companion. He reveled in the attention, and loved his girl in return.

However, as the years went by, Trab’s girl would play with him less and less. A good year now became one where she at least brought him out to wear as an accessory for the local Renaissance fair. His once unfathomable admiration was in a downward spiral of despair. Why wouldn’t she play with him? Was he no longer beautiful to her? He would ask himself these questions day after lonely day. The other toys, most of who had accepted their fate, eventually stopped talking to him altogether as he had become too depressing to be around.

Somewhere along the line, the puppet realized that the love he used to hold for his girl had changed. Gone was the kind warmth, for it had transformed most insidiously, and in its place was a cold, burning hatred worthy of the dragon image he was created after.

This fire within Trabajar fueled his vanity into a newfound intensity. He looked down upon the other toys with contempt, for they could not hope to equal his dashing looks. His hours were now wasted in front of the closest reflective surface he could find. Muttering and gossiping to himself about the how hideous the world was. Whenever he dared, he would even steal his girl’s jewelry out of spite to enhance his own appearance.

But one day, the routine was drastically changed. His teenage girl looked his way with a smile. With gentle hands, she brought Trabajar down from his shelf, and took him with her to school. His corrupted mind didn’t dare hope for the best, dwelling only on what terrible atrocities might be in store. Nothing could have prepared the puppet for what greeted his eyes when he was finally dragged out of the depths of his girl’s backpack.

She was beautiful.

Sitting on the table next to him was a jointed doll from a faraway land, owned by one of his girl’s friends. She had pointed ears, a precisely painted face, and skin that was tinted blue. Everything about her had a soft, humble delicacy, and her kindness knew no bounds. She considered herself a faerie and loved blue butterflies. Her name was Rezin.

Trabajar looked forward to the days he got to see Rezin with hungry eagerness. He could deal with the dressing up and photo shoots their girls put them through as long as he got to spend time with the doll. They could talk for hours with ease about everything from tiny ants to the distant stars. Such fast and close friends the two of them were. Rezin even helped him break down his spoiled hatred and built it back up into an uneasy, but respectful peace towards his standing in his girl’s life.

Unfortunately, even this small slice of happiness could not last. Graduation was fast approaching, and their girls would have significantly less opportunities of seeing each other, much less bring the dragon puppet and faerie doll with them. Trabajar was heartbroken by the news. A life without his dear Rezin was not a life worth living! At their last get-together, the faerie did not seem so upset.

”How can you be fine with this, my dear? How can you be so complacent towards such terrible circumstance?” He asked Rezin, choking through his sobs.

She looked Trabajar in the eye with her warm, saddened gaze, before saying, “Because, my darling, goodbyes are never meant to last forever. It might be later rather than sooner, but we shall meet again. Either in person or after our souls have left this world.”

After exchanging favors and speaking their final farewells, they were separated once more.

Now, after so many more years, a fine layer of dust has settled into his once lustrous fur. He is still painfully vain, and steals away jewelry from his girl. But whenever Trabajar spies a blue butterfly, flitting just beyond the window, he lets out a lone sigh. For he is remembering a jointed doll that shall forevermore be the one closest to his heart.