T’was upon a dark and eerie Salem night in 1861,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwHk6C0OXt
The blood moon shone like a ruby-lantern and the war had begun,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0LFD2xe2R
The air was thick and frosty and the bats and owls ruled the sky,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLvYHtioSu
And inside a wooden house I sat, wailing so much that I almost died.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQNMwnRfUC
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Oh, how I missed Regan Hawthorne, my nineteen-year-old sister,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujX7BksxXb
Oh, how I missed my Regan, my enchantingly dearest sister,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0A85WOMl8
Oh, how I loathed the day The Grim reaper rapped upon your door,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKb5E8k7qRX
I despised the very day your heart ceased beating and you fell to the floor,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYJTx4MzfL
I missed the good ol’ days when you picked me up and laid me in your lap,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaHUpEnofb
I missed the days when you read books for me while I curled up in your lap,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7OPR7JE4P
The night the scarlet fever slayed you and left your dead body in the bed,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGROuAJkxkT
Was the very day tears drenched my eyes and left me bawling on my bed,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG17VTBtD2w
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I couldn't stand living without my dearest sister in my life,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJIXRI8I3o
No, I couldn't stand living living a life filled with sorrow and strife,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSq6A7ubLC
I thought, I thought, and I thought, and suddenly I knew exactly what to do,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gjJpYdRzw
I went to my bedside table and opened the crimson box laying there,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvJm5vuUaS
I opened it, and I saw the emeralds, green as the color of a pear.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZgLd5aVIK
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I picked up one of the emerald stones and laid it upon my open hand,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgKAJdVxWk
It smelled of dreams, desires, hopes, happiness, and it was sleek as sand,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeqVuEo83y
I closed my eyes, the only thing I could see now was the color raven-black,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkIyf3GIQv
Then, I said with a loud voice: “Bring back, Oh bring me my sister back!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4youq1jsB
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That’s when I heard a rappin’, a furious tapping, upon my bedroom door,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3ValMNW0E
And I heard an angry hiss and spotted a pool of blood runnin’ through the floor,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmupS77zvd
Could it be a demon, could it be sinner, could it be a ghost behind the door?371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bsY95x8qV
Or could it be a madman, brandishing a bloodied carving knife behind the door?!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpaSS9sDqu
Then it hit me! The being outside my door were my dear sister Regan Hawthorne!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLxZEQvOXC
My dear dear, nineteen- year-old sister who’d been with me since I was born!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPy6NBLUhQ
But I was afraid, afraid that I would meet a rottin’, reeky, and bloody corps,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6nSgpdoWw
Yes, I was deeply afraid that I would meet a disemboweled and mutilated corps.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvU772j0M1
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I grabbed the other emerald-stone, I picked it up, it felt both cold and warm,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EdlCMoRTP
I said: “I want my dearest sister to return in her normal human form!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJvHGr305L
At that moment, the huge pool of blood started to run backwards through the floor371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbTnBphp8A
At that moment, the furious hissing and growling stopped behind my door,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbHBIvSZ5e
The next moment, I heard someone gently knockin’ upon my bedroom door.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCf5PfKLIU
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I opened the door and what I found standing there made me scream in joy,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy26XcuFcgk
Behind the door stood my sister, and she too was smiling in pure joy,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MCJ4aakPi
Her lavender nightgown looked normal and so did her hair,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXmXRTZeJT
The once gloomy and melancholy air was replaced by a huge joyful air!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqeTSIbAYQ
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“Oh my dear, dear, sister! You’ve returned to me!!!” I yelled in delight,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyt1FrlU9K4
My sister hugged me and then she smiled, her eyes shone bright,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡng8fkB15gy
“Oh, how I missed you little brother, my sweet, sweet, sweet little lad!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWD2sTuZSS
“To hug you and hold you near again makes me so, so, jolly and glad!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoODGHXxj6V
She crawled into bed, right next to me, and picked up my favorite short story,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BfDoAuEHn
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will always be my favorite short story!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEfAtbQnUm
“Would you like to hear me read for you about that cowardly Ichabod Crane?"371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRork4jbYX
“The schoolmaster whose fear of ghosts and demons nearly drives him insane”.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92SJnhfU93
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I smiled and I nodded and then my sister began to read aloud,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFmZ2PGJeD
While a flock of unsettling, red-eyed crows started cawing outside,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgiyYukqmf
My sister read aloud for me while pulling funny faces and laughing,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfoAkPwa19
My sister looked so silly that I started giggling and laughing,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqvpKtjOMS
I laughed so much that I eventually started coughing!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnO2KDcv3gE
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When she was done reading she tucked me to bed,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAF4yhzLv5M
She said “Goodnight my little darlin’, now, please rest your weary head”,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qPrOz3Oo4
"Tomorrow it’s Saturday and I’m pretty sure that’ll be lots of fun!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfkMq2RllY
“We could play outside the whole long day beneath the sparkling sun!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYTK2ryyM4
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“What a splendid idea!” I said and hugged my big sister,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6TF9LJa3x
No one in all of New England could have a better sister than my sister!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiecwPEoDAY
She kissed me on the forehead, actually she did it twice,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOe8PzfpMXs
She crawled out of bed, gave me a throwaway kiss, that was very nice!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELywyelXv6
Once she’d closed the door I sat straight up in bed,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPpbStBBCa
I felt too happy for laying down and resting my weary head,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrmx1z2vrs
“I’m so happy that my sister has returned to me!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMQWqqWzDp
“Tonight’ll be the night where I feel as happy as a young lad can be!”371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH8QblYUyf
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That’s the last thing I said before laying down and falling asleep,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdvFLjg8I4
Out of pure joy and satisfaction, my sleepy eyes did weep,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKF1zwiXCl2
My Regan Hawthoren had finally returned to me,371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRLmOiqBQF
And that, that made me as happy as a young, American lad could be!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLVORcdp9Z
So, I hope you enjoyed my story, I hope that you enjoyed it a lot!371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF07wD7mEMM
But I leave you to guess if the tale I just told you was real… or not?371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaq98Uu85t
Let me give you a hint: I love my wonderful big sister, I love her a lot!
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Afterword:371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvn7zmZAYXC
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.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQL3rnwILE
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.371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0KAGn41P3
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 me371Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfHAW4p6Jg
and then Add to home screen.