It's a dark, lonely night outside
and I'm alone in this big house
It's raining with thunder and lightning tonight
and silly me gets startled by a little mouse

Oh no, I heard something drop
Or is it just my imagination?
It came from upstairs I do believe
I'll check it out, but not without hesitation

I'm so afraid of what I might find
lurking around the corners
I get upstairs and look out the window
and see the lights on in the gardeners quarters

But the Gardner has taken his vacation time
and has gone to visit a friend
So I get even more spooked and Dial 911
and find that the phone is dead

I have no neighbors near to me
and my cell phone, it is dead
I don't know what I'm going to do
And I have god awful things going through my head

So I dawn my coat and go downstairs
and start walking towards the light
And when I open the Gardner's door
I see such a frightful sight

A little boy wrapped in trash bags
trying to keep himself warm
He's dirty all over and hungry too
And his clothes are all stained and torn

I reach out my hand to comfort him
and he curls his body into a ball
I tell him it's OK, I'm not here to hurt him
And ask if he had anyone I could call

He shakes his head, to tell me no
So I tell him to follow me back
There I can feed him and give him clean clothes
and for a long time the little boy did snack

I asked him who he was hiding from
and where was his mom and dad
He suddenly stopped eating and curled up again
And the look on his face was so sad

I knew there was nothing I could do that night
so I made him a bed by the fire
He looked as though his eyes were heavy
And I know I was ready to retire

The following morning when I awoke
I didn't see the little boy in his bed
I looked around the house for him
I was afraid he had fled

But much to my surprise I found
him in the kitchen eating
We talked awhile and he told me things
Like everyday his dad would give him a beating

So I called the police to come over that day
and they took him to the station with them
I didn't know what else I could do
and to god I prayed for him

Dianna Nally
3/2/09
This poem is from a story I heard on the news