On a Winter's night, as cold as death,

The dew had turned to ice.

I saw a stag walk through the mist

And vanish out of sight.

The stag, a most majestic sight,

Took my breath away.

I followed him as far as I could,

But lost him in a wood.

As so I came to a clearing,

Where all sound and light had ceased.

I lost my way here, and so gave up

And settled down to dream.

A figure walked up, through the mist,

A fearsome foe, I fear.

Her heart as black as that dark wood,

A monster to the core.

As I slept, she ambushed me,

And magicked me away.

My screams resounded through the wood,

But nobody could hear.

She took me a grim black cave,

Where bones and blood did lie.

I feared for my life as she approached,

A monstrous hook she bore.

A night of torment found me there,

That witch she tortured me.

I thought I died upon that night,

For suddenly all was black.

I awoke from a dream back in the wood,

The daylight lit my way.

The stag awaited, watching me,

And led me back to life.

That monstrous night still haunts me now,

Though I dreamed the whole affair.

There were no hook marks in my skin,

My blood did not stain the ground.

Copyright © Catriona Elizabeth Mowat 2006