Blue Felt

by Paddy Clarke

Rat Head, a scouse rat puppet (not a scouse mouse, he hates that), was abandoned by his creator in a world where puppets are brought to life by taking a portion of their creators’ souls. One evening, after too much tiny wine, Rat Head felts a small face to try and curb his crushing loneliness – however, he accidentally imbues a bit of his own soul into the face and brings it to life. In a world where puppets are not allowed to make puppets of their own, as they ‘don’t have the right’, Rat Head risks dismantlement for bringing a new puppet into the world when his landlord uncovers Rat head’s inadvertent tiny bean child.