New Arrivals
Author-Freya-Kendra
Titles

Quoth the Sentinel: Evermore
by Freya-Kendra

Originally Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven (an abbreviated remake).

Disclaimer: I lay no claims to the original song nor to the characters described here, but have merely borrowed them for the sake of personal entertainment. There is no financial gain coming from this endeavor.

Once, beneath a jungle curtain, while I pondered Richard Burton,
All the things he wrote of certain secrets out of tribal lore,
Another man, an Army Ranger, started on a path far stranger,
More dangerous than any path he'd ever come to face before.
"I will find a sentinel," I muttered, "we'll come face to face before
I write my dis -- or nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I recall my running through that sterile hall
To reach the subject of a call I'd taken from a friendly nurse.
Eagerly I wished to see him; vainly I had thought to lead him;
From his shock I sought to free him -- free him? No, it was no curse.
Like those rare and honored heroes: a sentinel! It was no curse.
A special gift -- it was no curse.

And to see him there, uncertain; ancient myth described by Burton;
Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic feelings never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stumbled, greeting,
With my business card entreating entrance at my office door;
I gave my business card entreating entrance at my office door.
A sentinel! A myth no more!

As time went on my soul grew stronger; hesitating then far longer,
"Jim," said I, "Man, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is, I was stalling; to study you became appalling,
Friendship overrode my calling, calling like nothing before.
So I stopped my dissertation -- 'til Naomi opened wide the door.
Now darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
Doubting; thinking things I'd never dared to think before.
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only words there spoken were the whispered words "no more!"
These I whispered, and an echo murmured back the words, "no more!"
Merely this; and nothing more.

Cast out from the college, turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I felt a yearning, even stronger than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely there is something I can do to fix this.
Let me see then how to nix this, and a new mystery explore"
Let my heart be still a moment; then a new mystery explore.
Just one path ended; nothing more.

To the press I spoke a fiction; then, given like a benediction,
In there came the wounded captain with an offer to explore;
Not the least objection made he; not one comment to berate me;
But, with earnestness displayed he my full confidence restored
With the shining shield he offered, there my confidence restored.
One of them, and nothing more.

Then my sentinel beguiling my sad features into smiling,
By the brotherly emotion in the countenance he wore,
"Though my goals have all been shattered, you," I said, "were all that mattered.
Both of us are bruised and battered, but we've new paths to explore.
Do you think we can get past this, and those new paths now explore?"
Quoth the sentinel: "Evermore."

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