we are doomed forever, and cannot be released,
unless it is granted by the Scobberlotcher beast.
But we, the children of the tower, have nowhere to go,
yet pray for release, to be free of this limbo,
we are past salvation, as our physical bodies have died,
and expelled from the castle, then thrown down the
mountainside,
for without physical form, we are weak and cannot work,
we are of no use for the Scobberlotcher’s slave work.’
Suddenly, Augustine and the others are slowly
pulled back,
by unseen forces, an invisible attack,
Augustine fights hard and puts up a mighty struggle,
he continues to speak, but his words are inaudible,
Augustine fights so bravely to resist, looking so afraid,
soon his struggle is over and he starts to fade,
moments later all the children are gone,
leaving Minty alone in the dark, as the storm rages on.
MOONSTEPS TO A MONSTER
The hissing vapour around the tower casts a feint glow,
as Minty crosses the bridge, for her task to undergo,
she reaches the tower made of stone, jagged and serrated,
it is razor sharp, Minty feels despondent and deflated,
she looks up, the tower is so high,
any slip or fall and she will surely die.
How can she climb this? She will be cut to pieces,
Minty thinks she should turn back, as her inner doubt
increases,
but there is no way back, and she will never be freed,
without fulfilling Juhee’s deed,
there must be a way, maybe on the inside,
to climb the tower safely, and not on the outside.
Standing before her is a gap, a dark space,
maybe a pathway into and beyond the rock face,
Minty holds out a hand to feel her way through,
her hand vanishes, a possible way to continue?
Once inside Minty finds it dark, smelly and wet,
the tower is hollow but has no way forward as yet,
for daylight must shine through the hole up high,
for any way out to identify.
Daylight arrives, the tower fills up with light,
but the tower is empty! No ladder or stair in sight!
However, the walls are bedecked with protruding
small, smooth, square stones,
scattered randomly up to the top, possibly climbing stones,
Minty starts to climb, easily at first,
higher and higher, many stones are traversed,
about half way up is a recess in the wall,
she climbs inside, before her arms fail, leading to a fall,
Minty looks down, her head starts to spin,
such a long way up, but soon it is time once again to
begin,
to continue her climb, to reach the top,
‘Do not look down,’ she says, ‘And do not stop!’
Arms to the left, legs to the right,
Minty climbs steadily towards daylight,
her beard is a nuisance and gets in the way,
but on the stones she manages to stay,
her hands are sore, legs and body ache,
she rises to the challenge she has had to undertake.
Almost there now, nearly at the top,
eventually she climbs out, her weary body then does flop,
upon a flat walkway, around the tower of stone,
Minty is more exhausted than she has ever known.
The climb has taken most of the day,
but once again, Minty is on her way,
the tower rises as high as yonder tall mountain,
however, no passage can be seen over the hissing fountain,
but what she sees straight ahead and down far below,
is Scobberlotcher castle, sitting above ice and fire flow.
This castle I will warn, is not of princes and princesses,
nor of pretty fairy tales, and magic kisses,
here lies only doom and great despair,
in this place, there is no escaping the Scobberlotcher’s
snare,
do not imagine a castle made so pretty,
but one of hostile looks, a vision of brutality,
made of black stone, with evil throughout,
two towers abreast a centre building, no doors to go in
or out.
The gap between tower and castle is great indeed,
but can she figure out the way to proceed?
Minty is tired, all her energy spent,
she sits down to rest, and ponder her predicament,
very quickly she falls into a deep slumber,
and wakes to find the cloak of night, now upon her,
a million stars sparkle in the heavens,
covering all the sky, a glittering array of constellations.
Minty notices her pathway is still unseen,
despite Juhee’s words of a light to glean,
then something stirs behind Scobberlotcher castle,
a light rises, bright but not enough to dazzle,
a silver sphere ascends, and casts its light,
from castle top to tower, a moonlight searchlight,
for the light it gives, shines upon a hidden pathway,
hovering circular stones are revealed, here lies a
celestial causeway.
Without hesitation Minty jumps onto a stone,
then one to the right, and to the left as each stone is shown,
now she waits for another to come around,
she grows impatient, at the pathway newfound,
Minty leaps onto two more, straight ahead,
the next one sits a way below, her jump cannot be
misread,
she has only one chance to get it right,
if she misses and falls, her death she will invite,
but Minty makes it, just about,
the stone then rises quickly, racing towards the
monster’s hideout.
But then it stops, only darkness ahead,
Minty is now trapped, there are no more stones to tread,
slowly the moon rises above the castle fully,
more moonstones now come into view, but rise up
alarmingly,
three stones rise higher, each one in turn,
Minty jumps the first two, but the third causes concern,
after this one though, the pathway is clear,
a straight line to the castle, and the rising silver sphere.
Minty jumps high and scrambles onto the stone,
then she races forwards, jumping all of the moonstones,
a clear path now leads to the castle top,
she jumps off the last stone, landing on the castle’s rooftop,
Minty lands roughly, stumbling and rolling on,
before stopping at a circular platform, where something
sits upon,
the moonlight casts a silvery soft glow,
upon a wooden device, with a large wooden wheel to show,
could this be it? Is this Juhee’s wheel?
Has Minty found the cure to end her ordeal?
But Minty is unaware of a black mist approaching
in the dark,
slowly surrounding her, as she imagines her chance to
embark,
to find her way back, even though she is lost,
but this will not be, as something waits to accost,
the mist soon covers Minty, the Scobberlotcher draws near,
with a cackle and a laugh, its wicked intention is clear,
in an instant they both vanish, gone deep underground,
below the bowels of the castle, where no soul can be found.
THE MONSTER’S MISTAKE
Minty is thrown violently into a barred cell,
the door slammed shut, with Scobberlotcher saying,
‘Welcome to hell!’
As Minty bounces off the wall, and slumps to the
floor,
the last thing she sees through the barred door,
is the Scobberlotcher leaving, with a dance and a twirl,
a sinister laugh with a prance and a whirl.
Minty’s world goes black, she has had a blow to the
head,
she is out cold, trapped in a place of fear and dread,
many hours pass before Minty wakes up,
she wakes with a sore head, after the heavy wallop,
she looks around the cell, where she lay,
lit by fire and bedecked with hay,
Minty slowly stands and does see,
’tis one of many cells, but all are empty.
The room is a dungeon, as grim as you can imagine,
a dark scary place, used for the Scobberlotcher’s
abduction,
but the monster has grown careless, and made a mistake,
perhaps Minty has an opportunity for escape to take,
as the monster pranced and twirled around,
it dropped its keys upon the ground,
but can Minty reach the keys that lay around?
She reaches out, but only frustration is found.
They are just out of reach, despite many, many tries,
Minty must think, she needs to improvise,
under some hay, a solid item is found,
it is part of an old chain, that held shackles and
prisoners down,
old and rusty and shaped like a fishing hook,
good fortune smiles upon Minty, giving her a stroke of luck,
she has an idea, a way to reach the keys,
she grabs hold of her beard and drops to her knees,
then shuffles up to the bars of the cell,
and then begins her escape from a demon’s hell,
Minty ties the old chain into the end of her beard,
she is now glad her beard has not disappeared.
Minty throws her beard towards the keys,
like a fishing line, for the keys to seize,
the beard is a fraction too short,
but she must find a way, she cannot abort,
so Minty lay belly down, chin through the bars,
and tries again for her beard to throw far,
her plan has worked, she hooks the keys,
then pulls them towards her, the keys have been seized!
Minty then removes the hook,
then puts it in her waistcoat pocket, to keep just for luck.
Minty opens the cell door, and walks out,
what does she do now? She nervously takes a look about,
at the end of the dungeon the exit lay,
along a fire lit corridor, that reeks of decay.
Minty walks along the corridor, fire dancing on the
walls,
she nears the exit, but then stalls,
small figures in white now gather,
around the exit, looking bedraggled and sombre,
there, stand children from every nation,
united in fear, without consolation.
They start to walk towards Minty, steady and slow,
dirty bare feet below hospital gown, many more lost
souls now show,
unhappy faces, each child with a bald head,
their misery is obvious, without a word being said,
their hands look sore, with bleeding fingers,
damage from a hard days toil, always lingers,
Minty knows their tale, why they are here,
trapped forever in a realm of fear,
can she help them? She decides to do her best,
all she can do is try, only time will attest,
Minty walks towards them, as they her,
for they are now one, abducted by the Scobberlotcher.
ALICE AND THE SCOBBERLOTCHER
Out from the children shuffles a tiny old woman,
bent and croaked, her ancient body broken,
her gown is black, like her bedraggled waist length hair,
Minty wonders about her plight, her living nightmare,
the woman creeps forwards, ever so slow,
a pitiful figure, in the gloom against the fire lanterns glow,
she walks with withered arms, reaching out,
desperate for aid and release no doubt,
she reaches Minty and takes her hands,
then smiles warmly, and speaks polite commands,
‘You must return to your cell,
for any hope of the Scobberlotcher to repel,
soon will see the return of the beast,
stay in your cell, pretend to be locked in at least,
please listen to me, you must take heed,
if you do not, you fate is already decreed.’
Minty kneels down, to be eye to eye,
then speaks softly as the lady starts to cry,
‘Who are you? What is your name?
Why is your body old and what causes such bane?’
‘My name is Alice, the youngest child here,
for centuries each day is pain, sorrow and fear,
I am trapped at the Scobberlotcher’s mercy,
for it takes much delight in others agony,
each night, a bell sings a single toll,
then I die an agonising death, beyond my control.
I awake the next morning, once more a child,
with great excitement, feeling quite beguiled,
I am back home with mama and papa,
on the seashore, with our dog, Strider,
running on the sand, playing in the sea,
I feel so happy and so full of glee.
But then the vision turns dark, and disappears.
and so, my daily nightmare reappears,
very soon, my body ages,
as the Scobberlotcher’s spell within rages,
everyday I grow old, and will die,
this knowledge lingers all day, to distress and horrify.’
Minty asks, ‘Why is this so? What have you done?
Is it possible for the spell to be undone?’
‘The spell cannot be broken, while Scobberlotcher
lives,
I am to remain forever, a tortured hostage,
this is my suffering, this is my punishment,
for once I knew a way to hurt the beast, so abhorrent,
I was a threat, bringing the monster to its knees,
but torture and age has blanked my mind, forgive me
please,
if I could recall what power I hold,
I would use it to destroy the beast and its stronghold.’
Suddenly, a sinister cackle echoes around the chamber,
fire lanterns on the walls dance amidst a bluster,
as unsettling movements hiding in the gloom,
disturb the air, a forewarning of doom,
the Scobberlotcher lurks in the shadows of the dungeon,
skulking with intent, to seek malevolent ambition.
The beast nears Minty, creeping up from behind,
then grabs her beard violently, she is aga
in to be
confined,
Minty is dragged back to her cell,
against her will, with a protest and a yell,
she is thrown back inside, the cell door locked,
the key snapped in two, Scobberlotcher laughs
intending to mock.
The monster turns slowly, with desire to taunt Alice,
it smiles and cackles, a personification of cruel malice,
but without reason, or knowing why,
Alice walks towards the beast, singing a lullaby,
she holds out both hands, the Scobberlotcher backs
away,
as though afraid of the tiny old soul, embraced by decay.
Alice says, ‘Dear Scobberlotcher, come and take
my hand,
’tis time to release me, for your spell to disband,
come closer, sing with me my song,
release all those here that do not belong.’
As the monster slowly backs away,
it says words to hurt and bring dismay,
voice of a demon, deep and menacing,
each word full of anger, devilry always attesting,
‘Soon you will hear the death bell,
and enter once more your daily hell,
whence you will shrivel up, combust into flame and die,
do not beg for mercy, your suffering I will never deny,
go now, shuffle along, poor, poor Alice,
this is your eternity, your fate in my castle of malice.’
Upon these words, a black mist swirls at the
monster’s feet,
then engulfs Alice, helpless and petite,
moments later, the mist and Alice vanish,
she is taken away to endure her fire and anguish,
Scobberlotcher now stands facing Minty’s cell,
speaking wicked words that will foretell,
‘You will never escape, and shall die in this cell,
but before that, I will take your soul into hell,
when your body fails, going into the long sleep,
my music you will hear, then around you I will creep,
I shall watch your soul slip, slip, slip away,
then make my move, to have my way,
you will be my slave, to do with as I will,
maybe the fate of Alice, is also yours to fulfil.’
Scobberlotcher vanishes, leaving poor Minty alone,
‘I am forsaken,’ she says in quiet undertone,
she reaches out to turn the key snapped in the lock,
it is impossible, the door will never unlock,
The Lambshank Redemption Page 7