She rides through the woods, they say, they say she rides through the woods
they say
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage despite its four walls
floor roof and wheels
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage
it once was a house, they say
The carriage she rides in it once was a house and it stood
in the wood
in the wood it once stood
Not big nor imposing
but everyone knew
(they say)
everyone knew it was there
The carriage she rides in it once was a house
not big nor imposing
but terrible, true
stood in the wood
squatting
and waiting
for someone like me
and someone like you
the house (now a carriage) housed something much stranger
than they can remember
or dare even to try
the house (now a carriage) made villagers shudder
if they spoke of it then in the village nearby
The house was a place of which villagers warned
and not just to children
to keep them in line
the house was a place
they all did avoid
and always from travelers tried it to hide
She rides through the woods, they say, they say she rides through the woods
they say
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage despite its four walls
floor roof and wheels
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage
it once was a house, they say
The house was a place of which villagers warned
especially to children
to keep them just fine
but one of the children would not be forbidden
one of the children went wandering one night
The folk of the village don’t talk of what happened
(The village is gone many years by, you see)
The child to the house went
Alone and determined
In love for her village
she set the house free
The carriage she rides in it once was a house
Now walls and four wheels and a roof and a floor
Protected with thick thick thick velvety curtains
drawn back
rope-and-tassel
in place of a door
The curtains are russet
matching the carriage
and in it the child forever she rides
pulled through the wood by a clip-clopping horse
with a single dark forehoof
and dark-blinkered eyes
She rides through the woods, they say, they say she rides through the woods
they say
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage despite its four walls
floor roof and wheels
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage
it once was a house, they say
The curtains are russet
the carriage is too
and gently it rocks slowly to slowly fro
and in it she waits
as she rides
as she watches
and carefully cradles in one hand a rose
The curtains and carriage
and rose they are red
and the horse that is pulling is deeply sorrel
but the girl she is pale
as her dress (which is samite
and matches the horse’s three other hooves well)
The horse is unhurried
in pulling the house that now is a carriage
in pulling the girl as she searches
they say
for wandering vagabonds
bandits and hooligans
haunting the paths and the travelers’ way
She rides through the woods, they say, they say she rides through the woods
they say
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage despite its four walls
floor roof and wheels
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage
it once was a house, they say
The carriage is quiet so long as the horse
pulls it softly and slowly
the carriage is red
and so is the rose
that the silent girl carries
while riding alined in the wood
(so they said)
The carriage does shimmer
when dappled with sunlight
it catches the eye of the wandering thief
and draws them a-toward it
and coaxes them inward
where waiting the girl sits
and watts sans relief
The carriage (it once was a house)
them it beckons
and in past the velvety curtains they’ll crawl
and the ropes she will pull
and the horse will keep walking
the carriage keep swaying
as curtains they fall
Then the strange carriage
the red it does darken
as paint it the girl does within and without
with rose as her paintbrush
she feeds it all over
with all of the blood
that her captives spill out
She rides through the woods, they say, they say she rides through the woods
they say
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage despite its four walls
floor roof and wheels
the carriage she rides in is not just a carriage
it once was a house (they say)
~~~
This piece of Nightmare Fuel was inspired by this picture by Beanhugger:
See this and more of her work on DeviantArt!
For more info on the Nightmare Fuel project, click here.