Gretchen was on her way home,
The leaves crackle under her feet,
And there was a pleasant smell in the air.
When she walks through Main Street,
She hums, she does this every time comes to town even in the sleet.
Suddenly she stopped humming, making her song incomplete.

Soon the wind started up,
She look back as the bushes start to sway,
For a second she thought she saw pair dark red eyes,
She stares at them a long time trying to convince herself that no one is really there and that she is okay.
She knew she should have never wandered away,
From the path but if you knew her; you would know she simply had to disobey.

It is dark,
So dark, it was like ink spilling from a pen
Every step she took the trees covered the moon even more.
She’d stop every now and then,
To count to ten,
Then she look back to reassure herself she’s not being followed, that’s when she saw the eyes again.

She was shaking now,
Afraid to budge,
Should she run? Hide?
She feels something touching her, was that a nudge?
Is she being punished? Misjudged?
Wait, what’s that smell, is it sludge?

She manages a step,
Then she dashes,
Not knowing where she should go,
She stumbles and crashes,
As she falls she takes a lash,
It causes a gigantic rash.

She cries out in pain,
But, she continues on, crawling now,
At this point she would do anything to be in the safety of her bed,
“If I make it home, I will never leave”, she vows.
She winces as she runs over a bush and the tree boughs,
She still moves at a fast pace but only as fast as her body allows.

She reaches a pond,
Not too far off from her house,
She can see the lights,
She can’t wait to get home but, she looks at her blouse,
All dirty and torn, so she jumps into the water, making her clothes dowse.
She doesn’t mind though she can’t wait get home to her spouse.

She soaks her body,
And rinses her hair,
Dunks her head for a final rinse,
She pushes towards the surface for air.
But, she is pressed down by none other than, a pair,
Of red eyes, she said a prayer.

But, her fate was chosen,
She drowned that day,
And she was used as an example,
I guess you could say,
Mothers now tell their children don’t go astray.
Unless you wish to be the next prey.