“It was perfectly dark, now, but the opening door disturbed the air, and I heard things rattle gently, like dry bones in thin bags, in the slight wind. Click. Clack. Click. Clack.” ~Trigger Warning; Neil Gaiman
~*~
Beware the rattlebones, my child
Who runs every hallow’s eve in the wild
Beware its sharp teeth and sharper smile
That charms like a flower and bites like a file
Beware the thin fingers and nails of green
The chants of red and whispers of mean
And trifle bones that rattle and shake
As if your own heart, it quivers and breaks
.
Beware the rattlebones, my child
For its soul is black and mind grimmer wild
When the fell night is sparse and serene
It goes click click click through the evergreen
As yonder ravens forebode a shrill cry
Still under ominous mist and past the starless sky
It thus waits, for a wandering victim to walk
Into its precarious winds so the poor one it could stalk
.
Beware the rattlebones, my child
Who treads the forest beyond the wild
As its glowing eyes of blinding white
Shall take you on with such a vicious sight
Beware the inky blood that steadfastly drips
From its mangled dry skin and stretched-out lips
Touch not the roughness of its crackled flesh
Hear not its bloodcurdling cackles, or else
.
Beware the rattlebones, my child
For it lives and breathes not only in the wild
It can sneak up to your bedroom window
And no nightlight nor blanket can make it go
But beware if it visits you as you peacefully repose
For you are chosen to be its supper close
If you do unfortunately meet the rattlebones, child, then
Run like hell, or you’ll become one of them.