(A dark tale to be told)

 

Befitting

of the Victorian room

the Christmas tree

stood tall & handsome

Needles of lush green

strangely shimmered deep reds

when caught in moonlit shards

 

It had taken Mother & Jacob

hours to decorate

I stayed in the corner

holding Teddy, just watching

 

From the day they brought it in

I didn't like it

They could dress it up

as fancy as they wanted

But, still, I wouldn't like it

...and it didn't like me

 

I could feel its little pins

stabbing at my eyes

Trying to blind me

to what it really was

 

Could feel its gnarly roots

creaking under the floorboards

trying to get under my feet

to drag me away

 

But, Mother & Jacob

rejoiced in its completion:

Dried fruits, foiled sweets & red bows

dimly shone in candlelight

 

But, for a moment

Something shone that didn't belong:

Something watching

Unblinking

Jacob saw it, leaned in

squinting passed flickering flames

'Mother, there's…'

 

'God rest ye merry gentlemen!'

 

Carol singers at the door!

 

'Let nothing you dismay!'

 

Mother skipped away

Jacob blinked

And the watcher was gone

 

His eyes began to tear

As he turned

to follow Mother 

 

'To save us all from Satan's pow'r!'

 

His head spun

It wasn't the carol singers

They didn't creak, & wheeze, 

& croak, & hissssss

 

Mother opened the door

Only the fading light of dusk

And a cold chill of breeze

lay before her

 

Jacob ran

 

I jumped up from the darkened corner

Teddy, held tight in my arms

'You won't get them!'

I screamed, knowing now what it was

'Not like you got us!'

 

Everything creaked

Even my lost soul

'I'm not afraid!' I said

But, truly, I was

More than I'd ever been

 

Even though we'd been dead

These past three years...