The Disenchanted Cottage

The Disenchanted Cottage There was a clearing in the wood where once a charming cottage stood. It was a dark and dismal land, a barren place of stone and sand, Where nothing green had ever grown, the reason why was never known. A dreary land, and what is worse, the rumor was it had a curse. ‘Twas never said by who or why, and interest faded by and by. It was here a newlywed did bring his wife to hearth and bed. And even in their wedded bliss, they felt that something was amiss. In early days, these two would toil to try to grow crops in this soil. It never happened. Things were bad. And then they lost their new-born lad. Yet they both worked until they dropped, and still not one poor measly crop. After years of working hard, their hands were calloused, tough and scarred, And still no respite was in sight. They knew they could no longer fight. One evening, sitting by the fire, when nearing time they should retire, The husband looked up at his wife, remembered only years of strife, Back-breaking days of endless work, and in his mind some evil lurked. It isn’t known what happened next, but reader, here’s what I suspect. Some demon hand took hold then fled – the man set fire to hearth and bed. The wife he’d loved was never found, and nothing’s left –burned to the ground. The devil took the poor man’s mind, and now he roams, alone and blind. His memory’s wiped away and gone, a victim of The Temper’s spawn. A shallow grave deep in the wood where long ago a cottage stood.