Puppet Government

Brandon is a master carver whose hand‑painted wooden figures have earned a modest reputation and a steady livelihood. When the Secretary of the Interior appears at his desk, the polite yet unsettling invitation to join a new government department turns his quiet routine into a frantic scramble of interviews and impossible deadlines. Exhausted by paperwork and the constant pressure, Brandon wrestles with the allure of prestige against the simple joy of his craft.

The conversation spirals into a subtle power play: the officials promise a personal ministry, promising that only the President and the Secretary would answer to him, while repeatedly dismissing his puppets as “dolls.” As the sun sets outside his office, Brandon faces a choice—accept a role that could elevate his name but bind him to a bureaucracy, or cling to the autonomy of his workshop and risk being left behind. The story balances wit and unease, probing how far a talented individual will go when the state reaches out with a seemingly generous hand.