{"id":483,"date":"2014-08-17T15:08:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T19:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/?p=483"},"modified":"2014-08-17T15:08:57","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T19:08:57","slug":"the-tin-mans-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/the-tin-mans-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tin Man’s Puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is how it works:<\/p>\n

First I hurt you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u00a0find all your cracks and pull you to pieces; I\u00a0unmake you.<\/em><\/p>\n

I leave you a sobbing mess on the soft bed when I'm finished with you.<\/p>\n

Skin wet. Heart slows.
\nEyes gentled. Hands gentler still.<\/p>\n

Now let me put you back together.<\/p>\n

All your little puzzle pieces. The corners\u00a0and edges and all\u00a0the ones that look\u00a0identical\u00a0but that I know are as different as the sun and the moon.<\/p>\n

Breathe. I have you. You did so well.<\/p>\n

I am proud of you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are you ready? It's your turn to hurt me.<\/p>\n

Only you have the key to open the tin man's chest and pull out\u00a0what's inside.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is how it works: First I hurt you.\u00a0 I\u00a0find all your cracks and pull you to pieces; I\u00a0unmake you. I leave you a sobbing mess on the soft bed when I’m finished with you. Skin wet. Heart slows. Eyes gentled. Hands gentler still. Now let me put you back together. All your little puzzle pieces. The corners\u00a0and edges and all\u00a0the ones that look\u00a0identical\u00a0but that I know are as different as the sun and the moon. Breathe. I have you. You did so well. I am proud of you.\u00a0   Are you ready? It’s your turn to hurt me. Only … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Tin Man's Puzzle http:\/\/wp.me\/p4sexs-7N","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[72],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beys-tales-writing-2","tag-poem"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tinman.png?fit=600%2C376&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4sexs-7N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1083,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/rice-is-nice\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":0},"title":"Rice is Nice","author":"Bey","date":"April 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"David reached for the old black switch with the cracked faceplate and flipped it up. The fluorescent lights below flickered on with a soft hum, but over that he thought he could hear the sounds of breathing. Descending the worn wooden steps slowly, David took his time, savouring the anticipation.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bey's Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Bey's Tales","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/beys-tales-writing-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2347,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/a-mans-toy-flash-fic-giveaway-at-bmbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":1},"title":"A Man’s Toy – flash fic & giveaway at BMBR","author":"Bey","date":"November 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was invited to take part again this year in the anniversary shenanigans over at Boy Meets Boy Reviews and wrote a flash fic for this image prompt: Curious? Go check it out and enter the giveaway while you're there! A Man's Toy","rel":"","context":"In "Bey's Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Bey's Tales","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/beys-tales-writing-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"img_9033","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_9033-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":540,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/sacrificed-heart-beyond-the-spires\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":2},"title":"Sacrificed: Heart Beyond the Spires","author":"Bey","date":"September 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Seven months ago, I sat exactly where I'm sitting now, on my old brown couch, and pressed submit (or... publish? or... whatever it says in Smashwords and KDP) and sent Caged into the world. Then I walked away. There was no cover reveal. No excerpt. No ARC reviews. Just a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sacrificed"","block_context":{"text":"Sacrificed","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/book-updates\/beyond-the-spires\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"openstar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/openstar.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4084,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/win-a-copy-of-varian-krylovs-new-book-hurt-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":3},"title":"Win a copy of Varian Krylov’s New Book: Hurt Me","author":"Bey","date":"March 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Look who's back... and with a brand new book! Welcome to my blog, Varian. What do you have for us today? Hi friends and fans of Bey! And thanks, Bey, for inviting me to visit! I'm excited to be giving away three ebook copies of my latest novel, Hurt Me,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "giveaway"","block_context":{"text":"giveaway","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/announcements\/giveaway\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2341,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/the-wanderer-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":4},"title":"The Wanderer – Part One","author":"Bey","date":"November 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"KO by Zdzis\u0142aw Beksi\u0144ski I'm lost. In more ways than one\u2014lost in time, lost to myself\u2014but right now I'm literally lost in the centre of the badlands at the ass-end of the galaxy. I'm on Chornoboh-7, the last human colony before the empty disappointment of space... cannibals and rapists all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bey's Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Bey's Tales","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/beys-tales-writing-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZB4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZB4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZB4.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZB4.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3985,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/the-wanderer-part-fifteen\/","url_meta":{"origin":483,"position":5},"title":"The Wanderer \u2013 Part Fifteen","author":"Bey","date":"October 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks later, Apple and I are at the bar down the street, sitting up against the stage, watching the performance. I\u2019ve got a cold can of beer in front of me, and Apple is sipping at a candy-coloured drink, the straw twisted down to reach his lips as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bey's Tales"","block_context":{"text":"Bey's Tales","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/beys-tales-writing-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/w15.png?fit=1200%2C641&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/w15.png?fit=1200%2C641&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/w15.png?fit=1200%2C641&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/w15.png?fit=1200%2C641&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/w15.png?fit=1200%2C641&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}