T’was upon a dark and eerie Salem night in 1861,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQSyNkLEia
The blood moon shone like a ruby-lantern and the war had begun,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlWb0CTNnV
The air was thick and frosty and the bats and owls ruled the sky,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3C7r8IbP9
And inside a wooden house I sat, wailing so much that I almost died.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGBugYVcuR
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Oh, how I missed Regan Hawthorne, my nineteen-year-old sister,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HDzvh2tYD
Oh, how I missed my Regan, my enchantingly dearest sister,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTib4TDnRaw
Oh, how I loathed the day The Grim reaper rapped upon your door,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4pzM7TaXC
I despised the very day your heart ceased beating and you fell to the floor,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hwuaS3Nlm
I missed the good ol’ days when you picked me up and laid me in your lap,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZHEl4VbIX
I missed the days when you read books for me while I curled up in your lap,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVGLe4BtJM
The night the scarlet fever slayed you and left your dead body in the bed,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxLCFKgxSe
Was the very day tears drenched my eyes and left me bawling on my bed,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpVXHpgnxq
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I couldn't stand living without my dearest sister in my life,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUGeoOKV04
No, I couldn't stand living living a life filled with sorrow and strife,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXkr0sHIEI
I thought, I thought, and I thought, and suddenly I knew exactly what to do,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4bC8XRAuz
I went to my bedside table and opened the crimson box laying there,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIvO1pe4Ox
I opened it, and I saw the emeralds, green as the color of a pear.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoPH5OYMhZ
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I picked up one of the emerald stones and laid it upon my open hand,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwjG5nHtO0
It smelled of dreams, desires, hopes, happiness, and it was sleek as sand,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSDfYHI2SK
I closed my eyes, the only thing I could see now was the color raven-black,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL9RZ9SUAH
Then, I said with a loud voice: “Bring back, Oh bring me my sister back!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiattY253Q
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That’s when I heard a rappin’, a furious tapping, upon my bedroom door,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJuOStmehS
And I heard an angry hiss and spotted a pool of blood runnin’ through the floor,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaW8hAUdO1b
Could it be a demon, could it be sinner, could it be a ghost behind the door?408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepdvZpWqSb
Or could it be a madman, brandishing a bloodied carving knife behind the door?!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxp03ZEyS5
Then it hit me! The being outside my door were my dear sister Regan Hawthorne!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcjAGanHZd
My dear dear, nineteen- year-old sister who’d been with me since I was born!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsRMZ6QmF5
But I was afraid, afraid that I would meet a rottin’, reeky, and bloody corps,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYMgIAQnaW
Yes, I was deeply afraid that I would meet a disemboweled and mutilated corps.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhP8UoNiz8
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I grabbed the other emerald-stone, I picked it up, it felt both cold and warm,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyBr3XfrAM
I said: “I want my dearest sister to return in her normal human form!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzsvtvxlXe
At that moment, the huge pool of blood started to run backwards through the floor408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5Nf8FLWkp
At that moment, the furious hissing and growling stopped behind my door,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnBxisBSlB
The next moment, I heard someone gently knockin’ upon my bedroom door.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZWgyH84W4
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I opened the door and what I found standing there made me scream in joy,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkTRqA6hk4
Behind the door stood my sister, and she too was smiling in pure joy,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8niAXjjs7
Her lavender nightgown looked normal and so did her hair,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHqkkNVMTW
The once gloomy and melancholy air was replaced by a huge joyful air!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvQPYY5Hgf
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“Oh my dear, dear, sister! You’ve returned to me!!!” I yelled in delight,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mGdQDBRUY
My sister hugged me and then she smiled, her eyes shone bright,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKUNzeoluj
“Oh, how I missed you little brother, my sweet, sweet, sweet little lad!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8T9F7p29G
“To hug you and hold you near again makes me so, so, jolly and glad!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiSdXJGmJB
She crawled into bed, right next to me, and picked up my favorite short story,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT72FDqh1U
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will always be my favorite short story!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡij91lS3Ace
“Would you like to hear me read for you about that cowardly Ichabod Crane?"408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqm2NmbQH4O
“The schoolmaster whose fear of ghosts and demons nearly drives him insane”.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB5qGdO3WJ
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I smiled and I nodded and then my sister began to read aloud,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9252Xofx6x
While a flock of unsettling, red-eyed crows started cawing outside,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZH92m7Z6qI
My sister read aloud for me while pulling funny faces and laughing,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEJpegmj6G
My sister looked so silly that I started giggling and laughing,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATcaKOCnX6
I laughed so much that I eventually started coughing!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf8N5kQsKo
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When she was done reading she tucked me to bed,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTiGYP408o
She said “Goodnight my little darlin’, now, please rest your weary head”,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHZ2ieBfFv
"Tomorrow it’s Saturday and I’m pretty sure that’ll be lots of fun!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XqfHCssfo
“We could play outside the whole long day beneath the sparkling sun!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMlhUH78nO
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“What a splendid idea!” I said and hugged my big sister,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbbbcM5TJ8
No one in all of New England could have a better sister than my sister!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dwMlXPt0d
She kissed me on the forehead, actually she did it twice,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBnaC9G6JU
She crawled out of bed, gave me a throwaway kiss, that was very nice!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKNScuN4D9
Once she’d closed the door I sat straight up in bed,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmaz4RjYhG
I felt too happy for laying down and resting my weary head,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhp6In0jG3N
“I’m so happy that my sister has returned to me!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8BCKLCIZ1
“Tonight’ll be the night where I feel as happy as a young lad can be!”408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GOIxUE3p0
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That’s the last thing I said before laying down and falling asleep,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3inJrOn2j
Out of pure joy and satisfaction, my sleepy eyes did weep,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1AiNmzVDM
My Regan Hawthoren had finally returned to me,408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWW40VsvC7T
And that, that made me as happy as a young, American lad could be!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLkOEV4077
So, I hope you enjoyed my story, I hope that you enjoyed it a lot!408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVPnrVldVJ
But I leave you to guess if the tale I just told you was real… or not?408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJELpgbGP0f
Let me give you a hint: I love my wonderful big sister, I love her a lot!
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Afterword:408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqbaTOTBji
When writing A New England Ballad: The Night She Came Home, I found myself returning to the works that first introduced me to the uncanny pull of gothic horror. Stephen King’s Pet Sematary showed me the grief-fueled desperation that makes us willing to disturb the natural order, no matter the cost. W. W. Jacobs’ The Monkey’s Paw impressed upon me how dangerous wish-fulfillment can be, especially when driven by love and longing. And Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven revealed the beauty and rhythm of sorrow, the way grief can take on a voice of its own in the darkness of the night.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL7rlr5l64
This ballad is, in many ways, a small homage to these literary works, a blending of grief, superstition, and the thin veil between life and death. I wanted to capture not only the terror of resurrection, but also the fragile sweetness of memory, and how love can turn even the most unsettling events into something almost tender.408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiz8jH4Ychb
If the story feels like it strays between nightmare and lullaby, that was my intention. And if you catch an echo of King, Jacobs, or Poe in its verses, then I can only hope it stands as a humble tribute to the writers who inspired me408Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwGmnspXd8
and then Add to home screen.