The Doll Hunter’s Song

> Little doll shoes tap on the floor,

> clicking and creeping across the boards.

> Echoes at night when the world is still —

> a runaway toy with a restless will.

>

> *Knock, knock, knock... on the old wood door.*

> I find what you’ve lost, but I ask for more.

>

> The doll you dropped, the one you named,

> has whispered the path — it knows your name.

> Its eyes don’t blink, but they always see,

> and now they’ve turned their gaze on me.

>

> *Knock, knock, knock... one, two, three.*

> I bring it back... but you pay the fee.

>

> Little doll shoes dance in the hall,

> though no one walked there, none at all.

> A shadow passed, a curtain sways —

> a child is gone in the strangest way.

>

> *Knock, knock, knock... you know it’s me.*

> I trade what is lost… for a soul set free.

>

> You cried for help, you screamed and pled,

> but every return leaves something in dread.

> I give you back what vanished fast —

> and something else becomes my grasp.

>

> *Knock, knock, knock... I stand and grin.*

> And whisper the debt… before I come in.