Le Danse Macabre
Bells rang announcing midnight had arrived,
the moon disappeared, the stars were already gone.
The world of the living was already sleeping;
nobody walking in the cold streets could be found.
...
In the roofs things changed, it was very much alive;
it was the night for the four green creatures to arise.
No restrictions, no fear… no people screaming
while the youngest of the four went down for trick or treating.
...
But beware, oh beware! of the enchanting melody
That will come, softly, from the old violin.
This is the night! And this is the place!
for the old spooky song to come out from the instrument.
...
At the sound, magical sound of the old violin's song,
rotten flesh, bones and skulls leave their resting place.
One by one, very slow but eager to come out
The world of the dead ones follows the sound with a dance.
...
Unaware of this event in the darkness of the night,
the four green creatures carry on with their games.
But the ancient melody has caught the eldest of them
guiding him and his brothers to the local graveyard.
...
There's a saying, very old: "Curiosity killed the cat";
but these four brothers added: "Satisfaction brought him back"
Opened coffins and fresh removed dirt,
torn pieces of clothes laying everywhere.
...
"This is creepy, this is odd!" screamed the youngest of them,
"An explanation for this there must be" the genius claimed.
"What's that smell? It's really gross!" the one in red said,
"It came from that corpse!" the one with swords exclaimed.
...
Walking, putrid flesh rose from the ground
on the center of the cemetery, gathering around.
In front of their unbeliever eyes there were dancing skeletons;
aristocrat dead ladies with their deceased chaperons.
...
"This must be a weird dream, I can't believe my eyes!"
said the one in orange while scratching his head.
"We must find the source of this" the purple one said
"There is no way people can dance once dead"
"Wait a sec" said the eldest "do you hear that sound?"
"From the mausoleums is coming, not sure in which one of them"
"He or she must be the one calling all this ghouls!
Time for us to stop this madness" the red one exclaimed.
"Just a song, nothing bad" said the one in purple
they don't look so terrifying dancing like this"
"Even so… I'm curious" said the blue one
"Who is playing that melody?"
...
There he went on his quest, the warrior in blue,
searching for the player of such beautiful spooky song.
Without fear, hesitation… not even a clue
while his brothers enjoyed the dancing corpses' show.
Like puppets they moved; some graciously, others clumsily;
ones chose a partner to dance, others did it alone.
In circles, in lines, rapidly or slowly
danced and waltzed the whole night, corpses and bones.
The music and dancing continued by the hours;
only happiness and skeletal smiles, not consuming sorrows.
But for him, the one who searched for that sound
was consumed in anguish for that music he haven't yet found.
...
In the time of his growing despair and grief,
there it was, before his eyes! Mysterious player of the enchanting melody!
Pale hands, dressed in black from head to toes;
on its back, not revealing the face… not even the nose.
...
Those skillful fingers ran through the violin,
breaking into the silent night, making corpses want to sing.
"One more step, just one more" that was the young warrior's thought
as he approached very quietly at the dark violin's player
"To see his or her face, that's everything… nothing more;
maybe find out why and how this music can bring to life dead souls"
At the moment his fingers touched the robe
a sharp and strong pain on his heart he could feel;
shivers down his spine, his skin turning cold,
deep inside of his mind reappeared his most horrific fears.
The other three warriors had found his brother as well
and all of them prepared for the worse
as they spotted the eldest brother removing the robe
AND REVEALING THE FACE… !
… …
… …
That face… no… it wasn't a face and that, for sure… wasn't a corpse.
...
...
The sun in the sky started to make its entry
and the dancing corpses, bones and many more
abandoned the center of the cemetery
returning to their resting places in the soil.
...
No moaning ghosts, no spooky souls;
no voices, no sounds… not even from the old violin…
just the four green creatures' blood-icing screams
as they left the graveyard almost flying on their feet.
...
What did they see, who did they meet?
Who was the dark player of the old melody?
My friends, I can only say: when your life comes to its end
you will meet the face and you will be awaken by the same violin… only on Halloween.