The Tale of the Lost Ones

Here a nameless grave
That I have stumbled upon
And behind the slate

Papers written on
I shall attach them to this
This story so long

"I find myself lost I fear
I know not have I came here
Lost now amongst the grass
I fear these words will be my last

When I came here I was not alone
Many new people have I known
Here with me came a woman
A boy, a girl, and one man

None of us knew how we arrived
Just that we all saw a flash of light
Then on this soil did we stand
Strangely enough hand-in-hand

All of our names, long forgotten
Like old enemies who now are rotten
Calling ourselves by appearance
Big or small, colors on our faces

I am Small Man who writes this note
So I'm not forgotten, this I hope
So read on, this dreadful tale
Or else, in this, I will have failed

At home I was, eating supper
With my wife, lovely Heather
The only names I've not forgotten
My Heather who resides in heaven

We've known each other all our lives
Born in the same place, at the same time
Raised by parents who were best of friends
Next-door neighbors, and in the end

It was at High School, a Sophomore Dance
We first walked in holding hands
I knew right then I'd hold no other
Except for one day, a son's or daughter's

One year later at the creek
Each other's bodies did we seek
We became lovers intertwined
It felt like we'd stepped out of time

Our senior year, at the prom
I found one knee, was I on
I looked up, and in my hands
A black box, and wedding band

I was proud, and quite elated
Never had I hesitated
Our parents somehow always knew
Not only that, but they approved

Two months later, on a date
We met a man intending rape
I said, 'Take all I have in this world
But please sir, please, don't take the girl'

And that night we both did cry
I for her, and she for I
For in my gut, the knife was planted
Nothing to the horrors granted

To the woman that I love
Why my Heather, oh God above
Given time our wounds did heal
No more pain left to feel

The back to the day of which I'd written
Eating dinner in our kitchen
Heather collapsed to the ground
Almost no pulse to be found

The doctor said she's very ill
If any last words, take my fill
All night long I stayed beside her
In my head a silent prayer

Like some cliché country song
I prayed this prayer all night long
'Lord take the last breath I have in this world
But please God, please, don't take the girl'

It happened then, late that night
Did come that cursed, flash of light
Just as she had closed her eyes
I saw her lifted to the skies

I think now maybe it was a blessing
That damned light's cursed flashing
For from it came that lovely image
And it was worth this great challenge

When the light finally faded
I arrived here with the fated
All but one of us wept openly
Tears from our own great tragedies

Big Man's story so much like mine
If you will but take the time
I will tell it whole and true
Of him and his husband Drew

From Scotland did Big Man come
He was an orphan all alone
But for a good life did he fight
He was not beaten by strife

Never had Big Man known love
Or even kindness, but from above
He was gifted when his heart of ice
Was melted by a man so nice

He was at a bar, drowning sorrow
Something whose name he did not know
He'd felt it as long as he could remember
It felt like it would go on forever

That was when a man came over
And asked him for his phone number
Big Man said 'My ass, kiss it'
But Drew was ever so persistent

Every day he asked again
Each time drinking like he was a friend
One day Drew came in bloodied and beaten
He had picked a fight and was defeated

Big Man laughed but inside was angry
For this man who had been oh-so-friendly
He found the man who Drew had lost to
Claiming he just enjoyed a fight or two

The man was battered, bruised and beaten
Big Man felt as though living in Eden
But Drew seemed to know, it was all for him
Gave Big Man a hug and a kiss on the lips

That month they were wed, with no hesitation
He's never before felt such elation
But that same night after the wedding
Drew was shot, not time for tear shedding

Big Man saw it too, his lover's ascension
Showing even the gay are let into heaven
When he arrived he shed not a tear
Only these words, 'I'll miss you my dear'

Woman was different, she hated her husband
He was a monster, a blight to this land
It was not his death, that brought her here
It was her first son that she held so dear

When she wed him he seemed like a perfect man
Until the day that he struck her with the back of his hand
She wanted to leave him, but it was too late
She'd born him a son who grew-up so great

She tried her hardest to cover her bruises
So her children wouldn't see how he would lose it
They though he was perfect, 'til 2009
When he hit her before them, for the first time, she cried

Two lears later, John was sixteen
Boy and Girl were nine, they saw this scene
Monster went to strike, John saved the day
He bested his father, they all walked away

They made a new home, in a new state
For a few weeks they thought they were safe
Then one night while they all slept
Into their house the monster crept

John heard a crash, rushed down the stairs
Woman, and Boy, and Girl were all there
He tackled monster and Woman screamed, 'No!'
Monster had a bomb set to explode

John saw it and screamed, 'Get out, just leave!'
Death was better than having to see
His mother and brother and sister all die
He looked the monster dead in the eye

Then with a roar and determination
Did he trigger the detonation
The explosion was massive engulfing the building
Mother and children barely escaping

Woman saw something the rest of us didn't
No just ascension but monster's damnation
When she arrived she was clutching her children
Saying, 'Don't cry, John went to heaven'

Now that you've read all of our tales
Read the next note and know your peril"

That note led to this
Now there are two more of them
Please read the whole list

"I'm the only one left, just me and the children
Woman and Big Man have both been eaten
Though I did not see it I can't think of what else
That beast would have done with those who fell

We've fled to the coast where we arrived
I've planted a gravestone three feet high
If you see it then know there is no surviving
Beast will find you wherever you're hiding

Remember our tales and pass on your own
For never again will you see home
I pray I am wrong but fear I am not
Still worth the sight, that we all got"

I do believe him
But I've no tale to tell
I am not like them

I just merely fell
Into a deepest slumber
And awoke in hell

So I remember
Thinking this place was there
Wrong was I ever

"We are not Small Man but Boy and Girl
We have stayed behind in this world
To tell you the truth as it unfurled
Despite all the things in these notes curled

This place isn't hell or even bad
The angel's not evil he's only had
The for of an animal, it's really sad
But don't be scared, it's time to be glad

He didn't kill them, he took them home
Where the blind see, and streets are of gold
Those who have left will never grow old
He is not the beast made of hatred so cold

Now it is time for us to ascend
Our lives on this rock have come to an end
We join now our families, our hearts to mend
Now with the Angel, who's really your friend"

The Angel is here
It is time for me to go
I see it so clear

I want you to know
There is nothing left to fear
Believe in or don't

God welcomes you here
I am ready for heaven
With nothing to fear.