• Every day was the same in the life of Aiera Sladek. Every morning, he would view the people of the world walking past his window to buy their every morning coffees and cappuccinos; even sneaking in a doughnut when everyone was looking away. Then, the numbers would diminish, slowly people would leave to their destination and leave Aiera to only view the sidewalks where only a few people passed. Sometimes a car would zoom by, though, usually that was only the case if a person had woken up late and was now pressed for time.

    Later on, he would once again view the streets come back to life from their previous state of gray. By this time, Aiera figured it was everyone's lunch break and they were once again being pressed for time. Aiera had to deal with no such thing, time was unimportant for him. His entire day consisted on being stuck in front of the smudged, glass window that had been declared his for 3 years. No one dared to clean off his window, nor enter the shop where he lay.

    The building was old and rundown, out of business and abandoned. Just as he had been. Aiera could cry no tears for this reason, it was something he was incapable of doing. Dust resided on every inch of his body; holes on every article of clothing; and sadness written on his face.

    Aiera has been unable to see the world around him for years, he could not even glance around the empty room though he knew it held nothing of importance. It was just rotting wallpaper of a murky brown that was peeling in uneven strips. He was certain that some of the wallpapering had gotten to the point where it was littered about the cement floor, covering up the edges of the room so much that it hid the planks of wood that had been placed on the bottom of the walls.

    Every so often, he would hear a few doors near the back creak as the wind blew in through a few cracks in the wall. Dust filled not only the cracks of the floor, but every square inch of flooring and objects. The dust also made the air horribly stuffy. The dust occupied most of the air within the space, making anyone who entered most likely sneeze uncontrollably. One would normally start to question how the building could be in such a run-down state after so little time - not that anyone would truly care - though, Aiera couldn't even give them an answer in the rare event that he would be asked.

    The building had been in such a state even when it had been inhabited. The extra 3 years it had been unoccupied just advanced its progress, or so it seems.

    The little shop had once been so lively before he took his spot in the window. Though it had been run-down, the shop had been known as a second-hand toy shop. Though it had been second-hand toys, it had attracted many peoples' attention due to the keeper's idea of decoration and entertainment.

    It seemed that the shop keeper knew a few people, along with himself, that had taken up puppetry as a past time. So, every day at 3 p.m. the shop would hold a puppet show, every day bringing in new puppets and new voices. It got the shop so much attention that soon people stopped coming for the toys and only for the puppet shows.

    Then, eventually, everything just went away.

    Everything was empty one morning, nothing was left to point anyone in any certain direction. All that was left was the counters and Aiera, whom had been left behind and perched by the window.

    Aiera's past was strange, at least, it was strange in his eyes. He had been one of those happy children that viewed the show after school every day. Though, he technically shouldn't have even been there due to his age.

    Aiera was 15 years of age, but because of his abnormal height, which was about the average height of a fourth grader, he was passed as a young child, thus being eligible to watch the shows with the younger children. His hair was black, reaching just past his ears where a little tuft flipped out when it hit the tops of his ears.

    His skin was paled now, though it had also been fairly pale at the time as well. His eyes were blue, usually brightened, but he considered them to be fairly normal. They were nothing worth mentioning, not the sparkly kind that females seemed to adore. Nor were they so blue that people could just 'drown' in them, getting lost in the 'depths'. They were just blue and Aiera was just fine with that, it kept him out of the spotlight and that was what he always aimed for.

    When he was at school, being considered a wallflower was something he was constantly striving for. Instead, Aiera was in the limelight of the school bullies and was constantly the target of the abuse. The main aspect of the bullying was because of both his height and his name, which was fairly feminine according to anyone who has questioned his name or read it out loud.

    Now, Aiera lives his life within the old shop with enough time to spare but no one to share it all with.

    All because of a little thing called puppetry, only with a twist.