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It was late one fall night at a fairground near town |
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When Esther first saw the |
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Armenian man |
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Who groveled toward her and stood by her side |
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With a bucket that swung in his hand |
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His grin stretched the folds of his pasty white cheeks |
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And his lips hurled a dollop of murk on the curb |
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And the lights from the rides showed a mischievous sparkle |
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That flashed in his hollow eyed stare |
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He said, "Little girl, you can chop off my legsAnd then peel off my socks if you want toBut I'd rather you took this old puppet from meThat I hold in my pail as we speak" |
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And he stood looking down at the innocent girl |
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And she stared at the bucket bewildered |
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Then he lifted the doll for the young girl to see |
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And a giant smile grew on his face |
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She saw the doll's eyes and she couldn't resist |
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And she thanked the man quickly and ran to the church |
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And she burst through the door with puppet held high |
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And a hush filled the chapel and the people looked mean |
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Esther tried in vain to pacify the mob |
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Quibble grew to spat, to wrangle, then to brawl |
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The frenzied congregation struggled desperately to fetch |
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The pretty puppet snugly nestled deep in |
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Esther's leather sack |
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Through the window of the church, a storm began to rage |
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And Esther knew the time had come to flee |
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She scurried down the aisle toward the doorway in the distance |
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And out into the rainstorm where she felt she would be free |
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But the wind was blowing harder |
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And her skirt began to billow, until finally her feet began to lift |
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And she rose above the houses and the people and the chimneys |
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And Esther and the doll were set adrift |
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Floating higher over the hills |
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And the valleys and treetops they'd flutter and glide |
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Soaring and turning suspended on air |
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With the earth far below them they'd tumble |
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And dive through the clouds |
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And she began to plummet earthward |
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Till she landed in the nasty part of town |
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She glanced about the village sure to find the evil men |
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Who rob and pillage in the darkest hour of night |
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Nervously she fumbled for the pouch that held the puppet on her rump |
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Feeling quite outnumbered |
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Esther hid behind |
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A nearby pile of lumber, where she waited till the dawn' |
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Cause it would have been a blunder |
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To succumb to a hoodlum on the prowl |
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When the morning came, she wandered through the streets |
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Along the chilly lake that lay beside the town |
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At last a peaceful moment, but she thought she heard a sound |
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It was an angry mob of joggers coming up to knock her down |
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As Esther stood and shook her head the joggers were approaching |
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And she knew she had no choice left but to swim |
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As the frosty water sank its bitter teeth into her hide |
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She tried to slide the heavy clothing from her skin |
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Naked now she made her way toward the shore |
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When suddenly she felt a tiny tugging at her toe |
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And the puppet she'd forgotten wrapped its tiny |
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Little arms around her ankle and wouldn't let her go |
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The waves seemed to open and swallow her whole |
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As the doll pulled her down through the eerie green deep |
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And the sound of the laughing old man filled her ears |
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As she drifted away to a tranquil and motionless sleep |
