The Mask Maker Read Online Free

"It's a good thing that you're here then."
    He sat the sculpture on his desk and smiled at it. From where I was standing, I could see the note I had written to him that read, "With some luck, I'll see you again." It was a cheesy thing to say, but it seemed perfect when I had been sleep deprived.
    "Why's that?" Why could he possibly need me here?
    "It's your mask that I can't seem to figure out."
    Alexander used his thumb to point to a shelf behind him, where a collection of five masks were on display. Each of them was in the shape of an animal, which was the traditional custom of every Festival of Parth. Each candidate for graduation was given a mask that the maker deemed to be a proper representation of that person.
    "I've got one for every other member of your class, but you were the complicated one," he smiled weakly. It was his attempt at a joke.
    "Out of morbid curiosity, which one of these belongs to Pat?"
    He immediately reached up and plucked one from the shelf that was in the style of a confused looking donkey.
    "That looks about right," I laughed.
    "Yeah, Perry had some choice words about him. Plus, I've heard how much he likes to talk about me. The stories he likes to tell. It'd almost be hilarious if it wasn't so sad that he actually believed them."
    For a second, I thought about excusing myself and leaving. I suddenly felt very sick for not telling Pat off the day before. He was obviously an idiot, and I was an idiot for even listening to anything he said.
    "I'd say that you're not alone on that one," I croaked out.
    "You don't have to be so nervous around me."
    "What?"
    "I can tell that you're uncomfortable. You don't have to be. We're just two people talking, right?"
    "Yeah, you're right," I said and tried to relax a little bit. Things were running a lot smoother than they had the day before.
    "Perfect. So, maybe this will start off a little easier since we know each other. Let's just work from there." He smiled at me again and this time I smiled back.
    "I'm sorry if you got in trouble for what happened that day," I said as he offered me a chair.
    He paused as he pulled a stool to sit across from me. "You're very polite to apologize for it. You didn't do anything wrong to show me a little kindness. Besides, if I had any hard feelings about it, then the slug would have made up for it all anyway. He's pretty cute."
    I blushed and quickly blurted out something to change the subject. "You mean your father didn't show you kindness?" It was a stupid thing to ask him, but I was curious. The one experience I had had with his father hadn't been pleasant. What could he have possibly been like behind closed doors?
    Fortunately, Alexander laughed. "My father was not a happy man. I know that might come as a shock, but I'm pretty sure that he scared anyone who came in contact with him. If he wasn't so good with what he did, there's no way this shop would have ever been a success." He bit his lower lip as if he wanted to say more but cut himself off.
    "What do you mean by that?"
    "He didn't like me talking to other people, for starters. He blamed me for a lot of things that happened in his life." Studying my face, he picked up the wood and a carving tool and began to shave away pieces on it.
    "That's not very fair. If he was acting like that when I first met you … You couldn't have been that old to begin with."
    More chunks of wood fell to the floor. "At that time? I would have been  about ten, I think. But he hated me before that." There was a moment of silence between us before he sighed. "He blamed me for my mother's death. She died during childbirth so in his messed up world, it had to be my fault. To him, I was nothing more than the person who killed his wife. He couldn't stand me." More wood shavings fell to the floor.
    "But that's not fair to you. How could that have been your fault?"
    "I don't know. I really don't know."
    "Alexander." He flinched when I said his name.
    "Sorry, just really not used to people