FOURTH NIGHT

Read OMAR 1 here

Read OMAR 2 here

Round 3 Challenge: Incorporate the death of a dog into your next passage. It should be no more than 400 words long.

III

For years gloom swallowed Hamelin,
Which could not yet believe
That Pied Piper had ambled in
And snatched their progeny.
They cursed his name at every meal,
Burnt effigies at night,
Wished upon his lineage,
Famine, drought and blight.
As mentioned prior, two survived,
The first, the mute boy Hans;
Deaf to Piper’s music,
He fell not in its trance.
But the other one, the blind boy Claus,
Heard Piper’s siren song;
The music how it haunted him;
To hear more he did long.
The townsmen called him lucky;
The cruder ones, they said:
“In five years all the lasses will
Line up to give you head.”
But Claus ignored their crass remarks
All turmoil was his heart;
The music that he heard that night
Possessed him like black art.
His parents tried to lift his mood,
They hired skilled musicians
Who played in private for their son
For outrageous commissions.
But Claus remained subdued, unmoved,
Politely sent them off;
He’d rather thirst for beauty
Than drink from their vile trough.
Tortured with the memory,
Claus wandered off alone,
Hoping he might stumble on
A piper’s song, wind-blown.
Soon he found some company,
Or company found him:
A jaunty young stray mutt
Unnamed, let’s call him Jim.
(We’d like to call him Fido
But we must preserve the rhyme
“Then change the words around” you say
Alas, we’re short on time.)
Jim led Claus into a cave
And rested at his feet
As if to say, “Come on, my boy,
It’s time for us to sleep.”
They slept, first Claus, then Jim,
A touching scene inside that cave,
Until a poisonous adder
Thought it would misbehave.
The snake slithered up to them,
Wondering who to strike;
You’re probably guessing it’s the dog,
Whose death you expect tonight.
You’re wrong, the snake reared for the boy
(Not that Jim won’t die.)
Jim woke, he leapt, he yelped,
He blocked the strike with his own thigh.
The snake was torn to pieces
But the damage had been done;
The poison coursed throughout Jim’s veins;
His end had now begun.
Claus wept as he cradled Jim:
He’d known him just one day.
But when one saves your life
By giving his, tears are okay.
Jim let out a mournful howl;
Such sound Claus hadn’t heard
Since that day in Hamelin
When the kidnapping occurred.
Claus then made a vow
Before the limp body of Jim:
Since he could not find Piper
He’d make Piper come find him.

Read OMAR 1 here

ROUND 2: Write the opening paragraph of your novella. It should be no more than 300 words, not including your opening sentence, and should be about interactions that take place over the web.

II

Before I start this period piece,
There’s something you should know;
The form I use is dated,
Just like the minstrel show.
But modern is the medium;
The page is now the screen;
I do not rhyme by quill or stub
Or pencil, but machine.
You do not hold me in your hands
But conjure me online;
Best not to read me in a bath
Of freshwater or brine.
I shall not whine or groan,
Nor carp or moan of bygone times;
Technology is here to stay
So I’ll adapt my rhymes.
Now and then I may surprise
By offering a link;
Click on it and ah, voila!
You can’t do that in ink.
I think I’ll stop, I know I’ve not
Used up three hundred words;
But better to make one clean break
Than drop a mess of turds.
I hope you feel that you and I
Have formed a kindly bond.
Leave a comment if you’d like;
If I’d like I’ll respond.
It’s time to end this prologue,
Return to myth and lore,
Assuming that our host does not
Derail our plot once more.

Round 1: Write the opening sentence of your novella

I

Once upon a time,
(’twas the year 1284 to be exact),
the Hamelin hamlet suffered;
its easy days attacked;
the victims were the children,
and hence the elders too,
Pied Piper the offender,
revenge for payment due;
just two returned, one blind, one dumb,
they both had lagged behind;
of the blind boy’s life I now shall tell:
his tale deserves our time.