Prologue

A winding road stretched ahead
As a young girl wandered past
Her whole life had been torn to shreds
Since the night of Sunday last

Her shoes were worn to nothing
Her hair in matted knots
Her heart was pained with something
The past few days had taught

Surrounded by the darkness
Heart pounding in her chest
A sound disturbed the silence
But what, she could not guess

A chill shot up her spine
As she recognized the sound
The brakes let out a gentle whine
She knew that she’d been found

A head peered out the window
A face that shined with glory
I’ll take you where you need to go
If you tell a great story

The girl accepted his request
And stepped into the truck
She began to tell the story
Of three girls and their bad luck

The tale**

Many moons had come and passed
Since Alice, Lena, and Margaret
By one, their fate was so cast
They now stood as a target

At home that day they were alone
Their parents out to lunch
They did not hear the floorboards groan
Or the break of the door; crunch

A scream disturbed the pleasure
From the youngest of the three
A man grinned at his new treasure
Then whispered, “Follow me.”

The girls were struck with some new fear
They had never felt before
They feared the end was drawing near
With no hope left anymore

He drove them to his house
On the dark side of the town
A lonely life without a spouse
He was tired of his frown

I want to see the youngest first
He ordered with a deep voice
To let her die, that’d be the worst
If only they had a choice

Their sister’s blood-curling scream
Ringing loudly in their ears
Why must life be so mean?
Their eyes then filled with tears

A minute later she returned
Very bruised, but still alive
On this night the girls must learn
Just how they might survive

Throughout the night the man came in
And ***** them one by one
They cried at his unforgivable sin
With fear they’d never see the sun

The morning came and Alice knew
The man would come to **** them
Her sisters didn’t have a clue
That death would lie before them

And she was right, for he came
At seven forty two
They had no one there to blame
There was nothing left to do

A shot rang out, then a yell
Her blood trickled to the floor
Lena? Margaret? She couldn’t tell
But she bolted for the door

Before the man could see her
Yet another shot rang out
They were dead now, she was sure
The pain made her want to shout

She ran out into the street
She had no clue where to go
The only sound was the birds tweet
They had happiness left to show

She wandered on the empty road
As the day turned to twilight
The birds replaced by loud toads
She walked on into the night

As the girl finished her tale
The man demanded her name
Alice, she said, his face went pale
Alice, the girl, one in the same

For her story was the truth
Down to every last thought
But this was the same man too
This time he would not get caught