The Storykeeper

[Verse 1] Easy now. You'll break the fittings. Fold those wings and mind the wall. You can scream until the morning. There's no one upstairs to call. You may call me Ong. It's shorter Than the names I've worn before. Now you've seen behind the counter. No more shopkeeper anymore. That little book was only paper. Ink and staples. Nothing more. Till I laid it in your fingers And you took it through the door. Throw it out and I'll return it. Burn it. Watch it come back clean. You were never bound to paper. You were bound to me. [Chorus] Turn the page. Give them a story. Give them something they can swear. One man sees you by the roadside. Ten more tell him you were there. Let them argue. Let them doubt it. Let them pass it down the line. Every telling feeds the doorway. Every tale buys time. [Verse 2] Jenny Jump and haunted waters. Pirates walking by the sea. Most were stories long before Their usefulness occurred to me. I don't need to write beginnings. I don't need to make them true. Just a frightened mouth to open. Just a shape that might be you. There's a difference in the telling When the witness bears a scar. When a horse comes home without him. When they find an empty car. Men who laugh at printed monsters Lock their windows after dark. You will give them something living. They will do the other part. [Chorus] Turn the page. Give them a story. Give them something they can swear. One man sees you by the roadside. Ten more tell him you were there. Let them argue. Let them doubt it. Let them pass it down the line. Every telling feeds the doorway. Every tale buys time. [Verse 3] See those wires? They've been idle Since the men who worked here fled. Left their coats upon the hangers. Never checked who stayed instead. They went home. I watched the doorway. Nothing answered. Nothing glowed. They could draw the whole contraption. Never knew what made it go. I can't walk beyond this chamber. But a window lets me see. And a man who takes my stories Goes where I can never be. There are other ways to feed it Than the current in a wire. Fear can travel through a village Faster than a field of fire. [Instrumental] [Bridge] You keep looking at the calendar. Thinking I have made a slip. Why would someone print your picture On a page from nineteen-six? Because you haven't been there. Because you haven't flown. Because the thing they saw that winter Hasn't left this room. Yet. [Verse 4] Find the roof above the farmhouse. Let the horses hear you land. Give the farmer time to see you. Let him try to understand. Then the silver will be waiting. Then you'll wake upon this floor. I'll have somewhere else to send you. There is always somewhere more. You can keep your own opinions. You can hate me if you please. But those wings will take you flying When I tell you where to be. [Final Chorus] Turn the page. Become the story. Give them something they can swear. Let a hundred winters pass. They will still insist you're there. Every child who hears the warning Gives the next one reason why. Every telling feeds the doorway. You will keep the tale alive. Turn the page. Another witness. Turn again. Another year. You may never leave their stories. I may finally leave here. [Outro] Don't mistake this for a punishment. I had nothing against you. Now. Spread your wings. There's work to do.