Dark Forest

by Christina Sng

The ground shifts again

And I struggle

To regain my footing,

Lifting

The children higher

Over my shoulders

So they may, one day

Find a safe branch

To climb up to.

Each step takes us

Deeper

Into the unknown,

This dark forest

We have never

Ventured into before

Yet, we have been

Left here to die,

With no way home.

We scramble, blind,

Holding each other tight.

We do not let go.

Each night,

We curl up inside

A tree hollow to sleep

Like an owl

With her owlets

Hoping for a better day.

And as time passes

In this place

Of eternal night,

We soon see

A faint light ahead

Brightening.

We stumble toward it,

Hoping it will lead us

To a safer place.

Minutes away now,

We reach for the light

And it embraces us.

I look up to see

A cottage made of candy

And an old woman

Holding a shovel,

Swinging it at my head

Before I see red,

Grabbing the handle

Just before it hits,

Snapping her wrists.

I am out of mercy

And in hours,

She‘s buried,

Parts of her

Preserved in the larder

As bait for traps.

The children and I

Make her cottage our own.

Here, we will be safe.

Here, we will be home.