T’was upon a dark and eerie Salem night in 1861,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQRG1o2pcN
The blood moon shone like a ruby-lantern and the war had begun,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpw7iUn1rG
The air was thick and frosty and the bats and owls ruled the sky,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWpbJ9k4qt
And inside a wooden house I sat, wailing so much that I almost died.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpPoGQqNb5
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Oh, how I missed Regan Hawthorne, my nineteen-year-old sister,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTT7rkLokMs
Oh, how I missed my Regan, my enchantingly dearest sister,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWuQ81Ntl0
Oh, how I loathed the day The Grim reaper rapped upon your door,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0e4hiWB0l
I despised the very day your heart ceased beating and you fell to the floor,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZHoYBnbRN
I missed the good ol’ days when you picked me up and laid me in your lap,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XRP05rdDN
I missed the days when you read books for me while I curled up in your lap,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHeZR73XPu
The night the scarlet fever slayed you and left your dead body in the bed,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL39wA3xKsB
Was the very day tears drenched my eyes and left me bawling on my bed,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAey1IvXas
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I couldn't stand living without my dearest sister in my life,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmglijNttEx
No, I couldn't stand living living a life filled with sorrow and strife,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7SZlvIUZs
I thought, I thought, and I thought, and suddenly I knew exactly what to do,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4AVE63FoM
I went to my bedside table and opened the crimson box laying there,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ15dSzxjO
I opened it, and I saw the emeralds, green as the color of a pear.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRWF19rtgK
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I picked up one of the emerald stones and laid it upon my open hand,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmW0WEULoQu
It smelled of dreams, desires, hopes, happiness, and it was sleek as sand,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLouDCJhld
I closed my eyes, the only thing I could see now was the color raven-black,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsyJEQwuk2
Then, I said with a loud voice: “Bring back, Oh bring me my sister back!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuq6J28weG
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That’s when I heard a rappin’, a furious tapping, upon my bedroom door,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaCstCtKKe
And I heard an angry hiss and spotted a pool of blood runnin’ through the floor,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKG8u6IaJE4
Could it be a demon, could it be sinner, could it be a ghost behind the door?372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGRWzVcL1M
Or could it be a madman, brandishing a bloodied carving knife behind the door?!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKswpYilFL4
Then it hit me! The being outside my door were my dear sister Regan Hawthorne!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbpoDeyctO
My dear dear, nineteen- year-old sister who’d been with me since I was born!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHwGefUI0P
But I was afraid, afraid that I would meet a rottin’, reeky, and bloody corps,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacRl0VQjbI
Yes, I was deeply afraid that I would meet a disemboweled and mutilated corps.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDbfQDl6E8
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I grabbed the other emerald-stone, I picked it up, it felt both cold and warm,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMxB90iGr8
I said: “I want my dearest sister to return in her normal human form!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTfbmF5aEX
At that moment, the huge pool of blood started to run backwards through the floor372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAHIxN4uP7
At that moment, the furious hissing and growling stopped behind my door,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDLBIJ8inD
The next moment, I heard someone gently knockin’ upon my bedroom door.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoi2IqTaTJ
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I opened the door and what I found standing there made me scream in joy,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5wk5PYxx7
Behind the door stood my sister, and she too was smiling in pure joy,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kM7IkmXxo
Her lavender nightgown looked normal and so did her hair,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwiwqmPdrR
The once gloomy and melancholy air was replaced by a huge joyful air!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwawPaMlQj
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“Oh my dear, dear, sister! You’ve returned to me!!!” I yelled in delight,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkK71AD5aFK
My sister hugged me and then she smiled, her eyes shone bright,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVNeRCJ33D
“Oh, how I missed you little brother, my sweet, sweet, sweet little lad!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ITLjWG9pT
“To hug you and hold you near again makes me so, so, jolly and glad!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4v2jhzpTb
She crawled into bed, right next to me, and picked up my favorite short story,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU53mBFgRT2
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will always be my favorite short story!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOsBgyOBa8
“Would you like to hear me read for you about that cowardly Ichabod Crane?"372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGKHQfzDGx
“The schoolmaster whose fear of ghosts and demons nearly drives him insane”.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JeZos5ajV
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I smiled and I nodded and then my sister began to read aloud,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPTHIOg26y
While a flock of unsettling, red-eyed crows started cawing outside,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwjDYSkwKY
My sister read aloud for me while pulling funny faces and laughing,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyzfJr0Pjt
My sister looked so silly that I started giggling and laughing,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ksrb9mJ83
I laughed so much that I eventually started coughing!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75IJrSamTF
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When she was done reading she tucked me to bed,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuie1tu5GD
She said “Goodnight my little darlin’, now, please rest your weary head”,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WEZOkxQS2
"Tomorrow it’s Saturday and I’m pretty sure that’ll be lots of fun!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFR9FbZcs2
“We could play outside the whole long day beneath the sparkling sun!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUtQQnVLwC
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“What a splendid idea!” I said and hugged my big sister,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6DKSinKrz
No one in all of New England could have a better sister than my sister!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzarieW3mMR
She kissed me on the forehead, actually she did it twice,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75cyh5LJqG
She crawled out of bed, gave me a throwaway kiss, that was very nice!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMZ8D33Ouy
Once she’d closed the door I sat straight up in bed,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3Vfhs8sE3
I felt too happy for laying down and resting my weary head,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPREDuR6Dz9
“I’m so happy that my sister has returned to me!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2GEsiOudv
“Tonight’ll be the night where I feel as happy as a young lad can be!”372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljKVcgD1Dv
372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzq1EzJ1qv
That’s the last thing I said before laying down and falling asleep,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzOo87qlps
Out of pure joy and satisfaction, my sleepy eyes did weep,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QXd1XlVYg
My Regan Hawthoren had finally returned to me,372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7ReXgVojA
And that, that made me as happy as a young, American lad could be!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjf87oXCmt
So, I hope you enjoyed my story, I hope that you enjoyed it a lot!372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPZq1OWzXR
But I leave you to guess if the tale I just told you was real… or not?372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwQwQ7GxBD
Let me give you a hint: I love my wonderful big sister, I love her a lot!
372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsN7B1U9VF
Afterword:372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03b6FuVAhj
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.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpAYpAtUSD
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.372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKBq8B98CL
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 me372Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmjx7EvBNd
and then Add to home screen.