Burning Shelter

Daylight was fading as the night chased the sun,

A storm now approaching with nowhere to run.

Then once upon a clearing, my eyes delighted to see,

The silhouette of a barn with windows above a tree.



This ground became treacherous as I marshaled my horse,

My only companion during this long winding course.

As we approached I observed to examine its color,

A faded autumn red that resembled no other.



The rain and the moon had overcast the sky,

My body, it trembled, with slight fear I might die.

So onwards toward shelter I ran to the barrier,

Opening an eerie shriek that could have been scarier.



Carefully I trod to bring us inside,

But the mare now complained and had not complied.

So gently I tugged and convinced fear to sway,

With the monsoon overbearing we had no other way.



A quick move to the entrance and the dust started to soar,

Our senses beguiled until our sights became no more.

Then the moon came to life in this colorless night,

Illuminating the barn with its celestial light.



Confident now with cleared vision I could see,

Lighting a match for the torch beside me.

It fully functioned, so towards the heavens I praised!

Triumphantly held, a fire I raised.



However, the wind it had blown,

Threatening the spark I once now had owned.

Quickly towards the entry, I sprinted to the gap,

But before I could seal it, I heard a loud yap.



“Wait,” the lady declared from afar.

I halted my action, its timing bizarre.

Closer and closer, her form suddenly appeared.

Towards my direction, the old barn, she had steered.



“Thank you,” she declared when she walked through the door.

Her presence refreshing, making loneliness no more.

So I pushed the door shut, the wind now had stopped.

I picked up the fire I had recently dropped.



Towards the stranger I faced, her clothes soaking wet.

She uncovered her hood, her eyes I now met.

A flame inside me started to spark,

Mixed with the fire, it felt no longer dark.



The sparkle from the light captured her gaze,

And for a moment I fell in a transcendent haze.

But pulling it together, my body was now in command.

“They call me James,” I declared as I reached out my hand.



She smiled a bit as she started to undress,

The outer layer, towards the floor, she laid it to rest.

“It’s a bit cold,” she replied with a smile.

“The name is Melanie. Have you been here a while?”



“Certainly not,” was what I remarked.

“In fact I just got here once you had embarked.”

“Perfect,” she wryly said.

“If not for the barn, then we’d probably be dead.”



Zap and a flash, towards lightening we looked,

A few seconds later the thunder had shook.

Chills started forming as the storm reached it’s peak,

The comfort of warmth we both now seemed to seek.



“Come closer to me,” with shaking hands she invited.

“The cold is our enemy, together we can fight it.”

So there we were together, snugged in each others embrace,

Covered by a trusted blanket, the heat started to race.



“Where are you headed?” I asked once it calmed,

Creating a space to converse but see seemed alarmed.

“I don’t know yet,” was what she replied.

“People are looking and I’m trying to hide.”



“What did you do?” I dangerously inquired.

“It’s none of your business!” she instantly fired.

“But if you must know,” she released once unwinding.

“I’m running from a marriage that is eternally binding.”



“My family has trapped me,” she continued and bursted in tears.

“I just want to be free and not be locked up for years.”

In the moment I reflected on her current situation,

What a darn thing to be kept in, a dreary indignation.



“How far have you ran?” I finally asked.

“Are they unknowing, or are they dead on your tracks?”

“It was just recent,” she sadly admitted.

“Waited till night until the storm had permitted.”



She further proclaimed that her family did not care,

Snuck off after dinner when no one was aware.

Nature’s commotion would clear the steps she took,

But in the morning she was sure her family would look.



So calmly I said, “Everything will be okay.

I will help you to run once this night turns to day.”

“Thank you so much,” she returned with a smile.

Then she squeezed and embraced by right hand for a while.



Feeling the touch of her soft tender skin,

I felt the happiest in memory that I’d ever been,

I thought of the ways that this could last forever,

The adventures and children we’d have together.



Now my horse started mocking me with a whine,

Probably just jealous of my lovely good time.

“It’s okay my darling,” I began to utter.

“The heavens have blessed us with the likes of another.”



Then the wind sang a lullaby and dear Melanie fell asleep.

Right into my arms her warmth I did keep.

Slowly I too started drifting away,

Imagining words my heart tried to say.



To dreams I surrendered, when eve surely came,

Visions of romance beginning to frame.

With all the days kisses and the nights by the fire,

The love in my chest grew higher and higher.



Engulfed by this light, my eyes now pried open.

The night turned to day as the roosters had spoken.

I turned and noticed the feint warmth from yonder,

Melanie disappeared and there my horse was no longer.



Quickly I arose and examined the scene,

No signs of belongings, no companion, and no queen.

An anger then blazed for this treacherous stranger,

I felt a fool not listening when my steed signaled danger.



Out of the barn I had fled so I could see,

A trail of their marks waiting for me.

Gathering my spirit to put my body in motion,

Towards their direction was destiny that I have chosen.



Eventually I caught wind and made haste down the road,

There I saw them together, my horse now had showed.

She galloped and neighed as she noticed me then,

And there surrounding her was a group numbered ten.



Tall men with scowls, weapons in arm,

In my direction was now the alarm.

“That was him!” Melanie pointed at me.

“He took me at night til the day I broke free.”



“Get him!” They shouted revealing my location.

So I scrambled quickly without hesitation.

I hustled and struggled with my surest stride.

I knew I wouldn’t last so I would have to hide.



Luckily for me, I tracked the old barn,

And I turned to it’s shelter to run away from the harm.

Then I locked up the door as the men now arrived,

They knew my hideout so I was not safe inside.



“Get out and face us,” one had loudly proclaimed.

They promised no violence but to trust them was insane.

Then I heard dear Melanie as she clearly stated,

Telling of this dungeon that I had created.



“Feeling trapped with no escape,” this she said about me.

“How I hoped towards the moon till the day I ran free.”

With the statement the men now roared even louder.

They broke through the windows and I smelled the powder.



However, the bullets seized from penetrating the barn,

With an eerie passing as I became alarmed.

Then my senses cleared up and I knew what awoke,

From the sides of the barn, the smell was now smoke.



As fire engulfed and the heat started rising,

My heart felt tyranny of romance despising.

The love that once came, one I thought I had earned,

I felt the warmth of a stranger, now my whole life had burned.