Dora

1. In Autumn 1994, I worked in outside sales,
Telephones and fax machines and electronic mail.
Up North in Wisconsin, not far from Ashland town,
The car that I was driving for the company broke down.

	I was due at 8 a.m. next morning in LaCrosse,
	And if I wasn't there on time, it wouldn't please my boss.
	I found a map that showed a route through backroads with no towns,
	At 6 p.m. I set out on the "short cut" I had found.

2. I drove a hundred miles or so, the going there was good,
But then the sun went down and I was closed in by the woods.
The road began to twist and turn, and it was hard to see,
A deer appeared from nowhere, she ran right in front of me.

	I was driving 55, I knew I couldn't stop,
	I turned the wheel and hit the brakes, and hollered "Omigosh!"
	I crashed into a roadsign, the deer just ran away,
	And though the car was totaled, I was shaken but okay.

3. I started walking down the road, the moon had risen bright,
And then I heard the sound of music drifting through the night,
I saw electric lights, it was a nightclub way out there,
With couples dancing merrily, their laughter filled the air.

	A young girl stood outside the door, dressed up in gold and green,
	She looked just like the flappers in old movies I had seen, 
	Spit curls and a spangled headband, five foot two and lean,
	"That costume's really cool," I said, for it was Halloween.

4. She said, "Your head is bleeding;" I said, "I crashed my car
Into a sign just down the road, it isn't very far.
Could I please make a phone call?"  She laughed as she replied,
"Honey, there's no phone out here, but I'll give you a ride."

	She led me to her car, it was a shining Model T,
	"Great car," I said, and then she rolled her big green eyes at me,
	"I took my Daddy's car tonight, he'll be a tad upset,
	I got my license just last week, he doesn't trust me yet."

5. I won't forget the ride we took that moonlit Autumn night,
I held onto the leather seat, my knuckles turning white,
The flapper smelled of whisky, and she drove at quite a clip
A sweet, sweet smile beaming from her pouting painted lips.

	And when we got to town, she put her hand upon my knee,
	"You look so plain and shabby, please accept this gift from me."
	She took from off her auburn hair her sparkling jeweled band,
	She said, "My name is Dora," and she pressed it in my hand.

6. I stepped into the street as Dora sped back toward the bar,
I made some calls and left next morning in a rented car.
Though I was late, I made the sale, and though my car was gone,
The company was pleased, and that was why they kept me on.

	The spring that followed after, I was up north once again,
	And I remembered Dora, who had acted as a friend,
	I wanted to return the antique band she'd given me,
	The lining bore a hand-stitched date of 1923.

7. I drove back down the winding road by daylight, going slow,
Until I reached the sign I that I had hit six months ago.
But when I walked on down the road to where the lights had shone,
The only thing still standing were the weathered chimney stones.

	I found my way back to the town where Dora dropped me off,
	I took the jeweled headband to the local antique shop.
	Behind the wooden counter was a lady with white hair,
	And when I showed the band to her she dropped into a chair.

8. She pointed to an old and yellowed photo on the wall,
And there I saw my flapper Dora, Model T and all,
Sparkling round her forehead was a brightly jeweled band
Exactly like the one that I was holding in my hand.

	The white haired woman said to me, "That Dora, she was wild, 
	She liked to drink and dance though she was nothing but a child.
	She died on Hallow's Eve way back in 1923,
	Passed out from bootleg whiskey, she drove into a tree."

9. I told my tale of Dora and our midnight ride to town,
She said, "that fancy headband should be rotting in the ground.
She wore it when they buried her, but every year she's seen
By lost and lonely travelers the night of Halloween."

	And now on Hallow's Eve, when dusk is turning into night,
	I hold the headband in my hands before the firelight.
	It sparkles and it shimmers; as I wonder whence it came, 
	I see sweet Dora's smiling face aglow amidst the flames.

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