[Spoken Word: male storyteller, close whisper, slight smile] [Sound effect: stuttering wooden clicks, clacking jaw, ticking like a broken music box] [Instrumental: 3/4 waltz, 90 BPM, creepy music box, low cello, brushed drums, detuned violin] [Verse] [stuttering vocal: d-d-dance, c-c-click, cl-cl-clack] Dance, my darlings, dance for me... Spoken Word - Your Storyteller, slow, close to the mic, with a smile in his voice] Well, hello, your storyteller friend here. Out for a stroll in the cemetery on a lovely Hallows' Eve. Why are you in such a hurry? Nothing here to bother you. Listen, I'll tell you a tale while we take this lovely stroll. A click, a clack, a withering sound, not a skeleton to stir around. But don't you worry, don't you fear, there is one, the puppeteer. [Music In - Slow Waltz, 90 BPM, Minor Key. Creepy music box, low cello, brushed drums: ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three] [Verse 1] See the stones all lean and sway, Dancing when the night turns gray, Mossy hands reach for the string, Hear the little dead things sing. [Chorus - all voices, sweet but wrong] Dance, my darlings, dance for me, On a thread you cannot see, One, two, three, and round we go, Where he pulls, you have to go. Tip-toe, tip-toe, hollow and light, He's been waiting all night. [Verse 2] He sits high on the marble King, Fingers thin as spider string, Every joint a rusted hook, Every soul an open book. He knows your name, he knows your step, He counted every tear you wept. [Chorus - bigger, strings sawing] Dance, my darlings, dance for me, Smile for your family tree, One, two, three, the cold wind blows, The puppeteer already knows. Click and clack, you cannot run, Now you dance till morning sun. [Bridge - Waltz breaks down, whisper-sung, only ticking and strings] Shhh... do you feel a tug behind your knee? A little pull? That's him, and me. Your feet are moving on their own... You're not alone. You're not alone. [Violin Solo - frantic, out of tune waltz] [Final Chorus - Slow, grand, and terrible] Dance, my darling, dance with me, Now you're where you're meant to be, One, two, three, forever more, On his cold and creaking floor. Don't you worry, don't you fear... You will always... dance... for... the puppeteer. [Outro - Spoken, chuckling] Well now... wasn't that a lovely stroll?
