The Cruelty of the Piper

Some advice to a "friend" who enjoyed trying to play a role between piper and puppeteer a little too much that I got used to it.

You say you're my friend. You smile and nod without hesitation. You bring me along to your little escapades. You hide behind your lies, knowing I'll do much for peace.

Whenever you need me, I'm here. This is where your lies hurt you. You think that I'm here because I want to, or because I have to. You believe you either have my love or you have my strings. You believe me a puppet. You believe me putty in your hands. The truth is, you have neither my love nor my strings. The truth is I am not your puppet any more than I am putty.

I have choice. I choose to be your friend for those four months you decide to "put up with me". I choose to smile back. I choose to keep the peace. You should know by now that I am no stranger to drama, nor am I shy of it. Cause drama is just another way for me to live, and I'm not about to deny it.

So you can continue to pick me up and drop me, believing it hurts every time you do. You can continue your whispers in all those ears, making others believe the lies you say. You can do whatever you wish, I really don't care.

Why am I so confident? After you get used to the puppeteer, you can expect the movement, and you can change how you land. No longer does it pain me when you decide to toss me to the ground. I really couldn't care less.

And I'm sure it irritates you to hear, after all you've said about me, I have said little about you. I'm sure it surprises you that I do not cry out or fall to my knees when I hear what you say, what you've done. But you see, that's where you misjudge me. Though I might doubt many things, I know that the friends that are worth it are those who will ask me before they believe your lies. They are the ones who know me a little bit better than you, who have that seed of doubt that all you said might not be true. After all, most have seen you play them before, they know how far you will go to get back at me.

You've stolen my friends away before, and I have no doubt you remember. I suspect you think that you can do that to me again and again, and it irritates you when my friends don't follow you like the mice to a piper. Your tune is too well known. Your songs no longer amaze. I regret letting those few friends get away from me, but I understand that if they fell to you that easily, they weren't all that good to me anyways.

There may be days I'll begin to bend, but I am too truthful to myself to bend all that much. Those days I might feel responsible for how you treat me, but I will soon realize there is nothing I have done wrong. This is your choice, and I am not to blame for it.

I have adapted to your cruelty. There isn't much you have shown me that I haven't seen before. My suggestion? You find a new habit, a new game to play. Maybe this time you will decide to play a nice game, instead of one that hurts not only others, but you. After all, this might happen again- where your target becomes immune while you continue to hurt yourself.

One day, I hope you will come to me as someone who does not look to hurt others. You can do it, I am sure of that. But it will take much work upon your part. The poisonous friends of yours, including some of those you have piped away with your old songs, will help you none. Cruelty is easy- a habit that is hard to break. As said in The Foretelling, The weak are cruel, the strong have no need to be.

As funny as it may be, I have some belief in you. I will not wait for this change to happen, though. I will already be changing. I will not watch as you get farther behind (even if you believe you are ahead of all of us!). You will see none of this, but maybe you are telepathic, or maybe you will smarten up. Lets hope one of these apply.