As firetrucks pass
And crowds gather round
The smoke billows through
From the sky to the ground

The town just watches
And silently gapes
At the mansion that’s burning
Right past the big gate

It’s four houses wide
And three stories tall
With a narrow tin roof
It would be easy to fall

The paint was chipping,
There was rust everywhere
But that was all covered
By the smoke in the air

“Is the monster gone?”
A boy asks his mother
She caresses his ear
And whispers in the other

“I’m not sure, baby.”
“But I hope that it’s true…”
She doesn’t finish the sentence
‘…or he’ll come and take you’.

You see, in this town
They suffered quite a plight
Of a demon that takes children,
Steals them into the night

Also in this town,
On the hill past the gate
Lives a solemn old man
Er well, lived I should say

If you guessed he resided
In that rickety castle
Well your guess would be right,
Now was that such a hassle?

He moved in last summer
And that’s when it started
Parents waking to find,
Their children departed

Without much thought,
The town formed a mob
To track down their kids,
Revenge the lives that were robbed

The signs slowly pointed
To the top of the hill,
To the castle past the gate
And the mob grew shrill

“It’s that man!”
“It’s that creep!”
“Let’s take him down!”
“We’ll band together and drive him out of our town!”

But as you know,
Mobs can be hectic
Then there was fire,
That part wasn’t directed

No one pointed fingers,
No one placed blame
For, you see, their goal
Was ultimately the same

Dispose of the monster,
The man in the house,
And now they all watched
As the fire was doused

The body was covered,
All white with a sheet
He was gone, they did it!
Good job, what a treat!

That night, the children,
All safe in their beds,
Slept soundly and safely
Happy thoughts in their heads

Their parents were jubilant,
All worry-free
Their babies were safe,
So they sighed “Yipee!”

But then midnight came,
To that boy with the mother,
When she awoke.
She cried and she shuddered

Her son, he was gone
Not a trace of him left
But an etching that said,
“I’ll be back for the rest”