Deep in the heart of the Wilbury Wood
By a tree, near a stream, where an old house stood
Lived a wrinkled old dame and her green-eyed cat
Who could purr like an engine at the drop of a hat
These two lead a quiet and comfortable life
They were strangers to hatred, trouble and strife.
But although all was peaceful, there was a slight hitch
For the cat performed magic and the dame was a witch
Now most witches are gentle and nothing to fear
They worship the moon for most of the year
They have to be kind, gentle and nice
Because harm they may cause will come back to them thrice
They heal with their herbs and the good in their hearts
And they dance in the light of their fires after dark
But although most are sweet, there are some of them bad
And the trouble they cause makes people so mad
And just as it happens, on a nearby mountain
Lived loony old Pemblock, who was wicked as sin.
She made all of her brews from the wings of small bats
And she hated all creatures, especially cats!
But the cat that she hated the most above all
Was the sweet green-eyed Lexis, as she is called
By gentle old Genta, who lives in the wood
And who uses her magic to do only good
Of all of the witches she's known as the best.
Genta always came tops, on each witches test.
People asked for her help from both far and from nigh
And all the folk loved her in the village nearby
In the village nearby lived a kindly old man.
Grandad to two children called Michael and Jan
Whose young hearts were filled with such happiness
For they loved all creatures, especially Lexis
And when school was out, later on in the day,
They would run to the woods to go over and play
With the cat who lived with the witch in the wood
And who played better games than anyone could
They could do anything that their brave young hearts dreamed
With Lexis all was possible, so it seemed
Because please don’t forget the most interesting fact
That their small furry friend was a magical cat!
They could drive to strange lands in brightly coloured cars
They could run with the wolves or fly to the stars
But the most special game of all for these three
Was pretending to live deep under the sea
Where they swam with the fishes and heard the whales sing
And just around sunset, their favourite thing,
Was to ride on the backs, gliding high through the surf
Of the most gracious creatures on this great earth
For just as the sun would begin its descent,
The dolphins would come, as if heaven sent.
They would whistle and click in utter delight
As they started their joyously, watery flight
But while all seemed so peaceful that nothing could change,
There were forces at work that were fearsomely strange.
For Pemblock had thought up a terrible plan
To get rid of all creatures, in all of the land
She had stayed up for days and all through the night,
Sitting and plotting with all of her might
When suddenly near to the end of a week
She leapt from her chair with a horrible shriek
She ran to her parlour to fetch all she could
Still running, she stoked up her fire with some wood
Then she opened her spellbook to see what she’d need
And she scooped up ingredients with terrible speed
She used strange herbs and spices from faraway lands
She grabbed all she could in her wrinkled old hands.
She grabbed pieces of creatures of which no one knew
And she sprinkled them into her bubbling brew
When the gooey grey gump began to go red,
Pemblock added a drop from a vial which was said,
To be laced with a poison so deadly and rotten
That if only smelled it would knock out a victim
Then holding her nose, she started to sing,
In a quivering voice, that was reedy and thin,
She whispered the terrible words of the spell,
So not a soul hearing would possibly tell
As she finished the words her voice became strong
She’d get what she’d wanted for so very long
But she’d get something more, something better than that
She would get rid of Lexis, the magical cat!
As a loud clap of thunder boomed over the land
Through a great puff of smoke Pemblock held out her hand
And there in her palm after all of her work,
Lay a small heap of something that looked just like dirt
But the dusty strange substance had come out as planned
It would send all to sleep in all of the land
And while they all dreamed of things bright and happy
She would finish her plan with horrible glee
She would fly through the night on her long witches' broom
She would seek creatures out by the light of the moon
She would pick them up sleeping and carry them back
To her house in the hills in a massive old sack
She would store them all up in her cellar in cages
(She had hundreds of these, she could keep them for ages)
To use in her hideous bad smelling brews
Or to sip them in soups or to eat them in stews
Now with all this in mind Pemblock summoned the wind,
As it swept through the valley, she started to grin
Then she threw up the poisonous dust in the air
And the wind quickly scattered it everywhere
The wind carried it high and carried it low
Through the fields to the village in the valley below
As it flew through the streets and it blew beneath doors,
The sounds of the village slowed down to a snore
People dropped in their tracks and fell into a sleep
A sleep unbelievably, awesomely deep
This quickly and silently carried on 'til
All the cars had grown quiet and machines had gone still
And all of the animals, right down to the rats
The rabbits, the horses, the dogs and the cats
The cows and the goats, the fish and the birds
Fell deep into sleep until no sound was heard
As the silence descended upon the small town,
Pemblock’s laughter rang out from the hills all around
Then to finish the terrible thing she’d begun,
She grabbed on to her broomstick and started to run
As the last golden rays of the sun's daylight fell
She leapt onto her broom and she let out a yell
And flew into the darkness, grabbing a sack
She would use to bring all of the animals back
But while Pemblock was out busy getting things done
The children and Lexis were off having fun
At a wood fairy party, eating sweet rainbow cake
So while everyone slept, they stayed super awake
As they all danced along in a bright fairy dell
Lexis had a strong feeling that all was not well
Her fur stood straight up when she sensed the attack
With a swish of her tail, the cat carried them back
They found Genta there, waiting, beneath the old tree
Looking into her crystal so that she could see
What had happened below in the small sleeping town.
And her smile slowly faded down into to a frown
Patiently quiet stood Michael and Jan,
As Genta told Lexis and them of her plan
A plan they would execute that very night
To make everything fine and put everything right
Genta had heard of a magical lake,
Whose cool, clear waters would keep you awake
Or if you were sleeping would open your eyes
At the stroke of midnight on a full moon rise
With the full moon rising that very night,
They would have to move fast, they would have to take flight
To get back to the village to finish the plan.
It was all up to Lexis and Michael and Jan!
Lexis leapt in the air and started to sing
‘Look!’ whispered Michael, ‘She’s growing a wing!’
Then she ended her song with a stretch and a purr,
As two beautiful wings sprouted out of her fur
But that wasn’t all that the cat had in store
Then she winked one green eye and flicked one sharpened claw
Which made her begin and continue to grow
"Jump onto her back," shouted Genta, "And go!"
Lexis flapped with her wings and all of her might,
Carrying Michael and Jan through the darkening night,
Jan held tightly to Michael afraid she would fall,
For they flew up so high that the earth looked quite small
Suddenly there up ahead, near a tree
Was the great shining lake known as Tripolitelee
Where the waters gleamed orange and purple and pink
And where strange looking creatures had rested to drink
"This must be the place," murmured Jan to Michael
And they stood back and stared in wonder until
The cat me-owed gently and off Michael went
Clutching the water-jar Genta had sent
They flew back through the night with remarkable speed
as soon as they had the ingredient they needed
They carefully handed the jar over gently
And Genta poured from it until it was empty
She poured all the magical water straight into
Her cauldron that bubbled – and yes, it was meant to!
She fanned at the flames and then it began
The start of her wondrous, marvelous plan
As the fire burned hotter and crackled aloud
The water boiled up and became a great cloud
That hovered right over the Wilbury Wood
And suddenly Michael and Jan understood
They laughed as the wind slowly started to blow
At first, oh so softly and ever so slow.
But then Genta waved her hands high in the air
And the wind became stronger and blew everywhere
It blew and it blew the cloud far off the ground
And right down the mountain and over the town
Where it darkened the sky which grew heavy and grey
Then it rained - washing all Pemblock’s dust right away!
As the townsfolk awoke and they looked all around
They saw that the animals weren’t in the town
And they shouted, “It’s Pemblock, that nasty old crow
We must get her and stop her – come on let’s go!”
Then they gathered together and ran up the hill
All the way to her cave, they hurried until
They found Pemblock’s cavern all dirty and grim
But none of the townsfolk would dare to go in
So outside they stood wondering what could they do
When Michael and Jan who were standing there too,
Said, “Listen. Just listen. Just listen to that!”
For out of the cave came the wails of the cats
The horses, the dogs and the birds and the bats.
Lexis and Michael stood quietly with Jan
Then suddenly Lexis just took off and ran
Right into the cave where they heard a loud smash,
A hiss and a growl - and then a great crash!
And a scratch, scritch, scratch …
Creeeeeeeeak …
Out came the animals, as cages swung free
They ran to the people who shouted with glee
The folks scooped them up and they petted and stroked
The animals' beautiful soft shiny coats
But where was old Pemblock?
Where had she gone?
What had just happened and
what had been done?
Michael and Jan decided to see
By tiptoeing into the cave carefully
They walked in the dark holding on to the wall
'Til they came to a room that was smelly and small
There they found Pemblock, crouched on a tall chair
Looking wildly and fearfully 'round everywhere
Then she shrieked and she pointed in terrible fear
As Lexis appeared and walked over to her
Lexis purred and rubbed on the witch's old knee
But this only made Pemblock cry more dreadfully.
“Help me!” she wailed. “I’m being attacked!”
And the kids understood. Just like that!
The reason behind the plan Pemblock had made
Was simply and clearly the witch was afraid
Scared of all creatures, especially cats!
She had plotted to rid the world of them so that
She wouldn't fear anything
In the small town
Or the woods on the hills
Or the mountains around
“You silly old thing,” said Jan and Michael
“There isn't a reason to hate or to kill.”
“Get to know Lexis and you’ll surely see
What a cuddly friend a cat like her can be.”
Nervously Pemblock stretched her hand
It trembled and shook as it softly did land
On the fur of the creature she feared above all
The sweet green-eyed Lexis, as she is called
But Michael and Jan stood quietly by
Until Pemblock looked up at them with a big smile
And she laughed out aloud with delight and with glee
“Hey look,” Pemblock giggled, “She's purring at me!”
Then she picked Lexis right up and she gave her a hug
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, “I’ve been such a thug.”
"I was simply afraid and that made me feel bad,
Which made me so angry, unhappy and mad.”
“But now that I know that I’ve nothing to fear
I’d love if you’d all come to visit me here.
I promise to be good and gentle and nice
Because harm that I wish for comes back to me thrice."
Then Pemblock was happy and made many new friends
And this, my dear children, is where this poem ends
For no more was she filled with anger and fear
Pemblock was like Genta, a kindly old dear
Just watch for it children, I’m sure you will see
That all creatures and people could live happily
If we only learned from our father and mother
To not be scared to be friends with each other
This is a children's book I wrote many, many years ago!
Once upon a time I wanted to work with kids and write stories for them in my spare time.
This book was (maybe) going to be developed into a series of children's books to encourage a conscious way of walking in the world... based on tolerance, kindness, curiosity and empathy.
Then life happened and I had to toughen up.
I'm putting it on the blockchain to record it for posterity.
I hope some parents on here enjoy reading it to their kids at bedtime.
Bedtime stories create avid readers!
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.
The man who never reads lives only one.”
~ George R.R. Martin
Featured image gif created with images from LMAC
Thanks to the following contributors on LMAC for their creativity:
Contributed to the #LIL by @eve66.
Contributed to the #LIL by @agmoore.
Contributed to the #LIL by @quantumg.
Contributed to the #LIL by @quantumg.
Hardened Dreamer
Mother
Warrior
Determined Dancer
and Stargazer
still...
Beyond fear is freedom
And there is nothing to be afraid of.
To Life, with Love... and always for Truth!
Nicky Dee