it was late one fall night at a fairground near town when esther first saw the armenian man who groveled toward her and stood by her side with a bucket that swung in his hand his grin stretched the folds of his pasty white cheeks and his lips hurled a dollop of murk on the curb and the lights from the rides showed a mischievous sparkle that flashed in his hollow eyed stare he said little girl you can chop off my legs and then peel off my socks if you want to but i d rather you took this old puppet from me that i hold in my pail as we speak and he stood looking down at the innocent girl and she stared at the bucket bewildered then he lifted the doll for the young girl to see and a giant smile grew on his face she saw the doll s eyes and she couldn t resist and she thanked the man quickly and ran to the church and she burst through the door with puppet held high and a hush filled the chapel and the people looked mean esther tried in vain to pacify the mob quibble grew to spat to wrangle then to brawl the frenzied congregation struggled desperately to fetch the pretty puppet snugly nestled deep in esther s leather sack through the window of the church a storm began to rage and esther knew the time had come to flee she scurried down the aisle toward the doorway in the distance and out into the rainstorm where she felt she would be free  but the wind was blowing harder and her skirt began to billow until finally her feet began to lift and she rose above the houses and the people and the chimneys and esther and the doll were set adrift floating higher over the hills and the valleys and treetops they d flutter and glide soaring and turning suspended on air with the earth far below them they d tumble and dive through the clouds and she began to plummet earthward til she landed in the nasty part of town she glanced about the village sure to find the evil men who rob and pillage in the darkest hour of night nervously she fumbled for the pouch that held the puppet on her rump feeling quite outnumbered esther hid behind a nearby pile of lumber where she waited til the dawn cause it would have been a blunder to succumb to a hoodlum on the prowl when the morning came she wandered through the streets along the chilly lake that lay beside the town at last a peaceful moment but she thought she heard a sound it was an angry mob of joggers coming up to knock her down as esther stood and shook her head the joggers were approaching and she knew she had no choice left but to swim as the frosty water sank its bitter teeth into her hide she tried to slide the heavy clothing from her skin naked now she made her way toward the shore when suddenly she felt a tiny tugging at her toe and the puppet she d forgotten wrapped its tiny little arms around her ankle and it wouldn t let her go the waves seemed to open and swallow her whole as the doll pulled her down through the eerie green deep and the sound of the laughing old man filled her ears as she drifted away to a tranquil and motionless sleep 1