The Hunt

Darkness crawls, into the sky

The mountain wind, a sullen sigh.

Trees stand tall – they’re all around

And snow falls bright, upon the ground.

Boughs are bare, of all their leaves,

As children creep – like little thieves.

They pile in, the silent groves,

They come in groups, they come in droves.

They make their circle, to spin and dance

Thoughtless, and wild, like a fairy trance.

They spin and laugh – they’re playing games

They do not know the Shadows’ Shames.

For something comes, in the pale moonlight

Creeping silently, just out of sight.

They do not see – they do not hear,

The Beast of Darkness – the Beast of Fear.

They do not know, what Darkness hides

All is good, inside their minds.

It sees them – But they see friends

They can’t know what Fate intends.

So while their backs are turned away

The Beast will hunt – the Beast will slay

It is released, from its hidden lair

Now it’s free to rip and tear.

The Beast escapes, into the night

Snow is red – but once was white

The children scream – the children cry

A child lays beneath the sky

Their eyes are open – but they don’t see

The other children run and flee.

When they run, the Beast will chase

Their blood to drink – their flesh to taste.

It’s hard to run on tiny feet

When all around, the ice’s a sheet.

Their hearts, they pound inside their chest –

There is no time, to sit and rest.

A child slows – she can’t go on –

An easy target – a helpless fawn.

And when a fawn is all alone,

The Beast will eat its flesh and bone.

A scream – it cuts the icy chill

The girl, she falls, and now lay’s still.

A muzzle lined, with razored teeth

Drips her blood – to snow beneath.

Her skin it’s cold, as cold as stone

There’s still so much, she’s never known.

Innocent child, not meant to die,

Hears the Beast’s soft mournful cry.