Abby the Stabby (A Dark Seussian Tale) - 1

The year was nineteen hundred forty (plus two),

When the world was at war with, umm... You-Know-Who,

In a quaint little house, in a darkly lit room,

Abby the Stabby lies in the gloom --

Not sleeping at all, staring up at the ceiling

While deep in her gut there's a tight, ugly feeling:

"I can't go to sleep or the Monster will come,

Silently creeping (to not wake my mum) --

He'll crawl in beside me without any warning,

Take what he wants and be gone before morning,

Demanding my silence, or risking my life --

The reason for hiding this long kitchen knife."

Grey eyes in the darkness, with small flecks of green,

Watching for him to return to the scene;

As deep in her chest, her cold, broken heart

Summons her demons to rip him apart.

The first time he visited her late at night,

She pulled up the covers and trembled with fright --

The smell of his cigarettes and of stale beer,

His voice like sandpaper, he slurred in her ear:

"Be a good girl and don't struggle too much

(Although I do like it - the violence and such);

I don't mean for you or your mom to get hurt, 

But Jesus, you're pretty -- and such a huge flirt!

Long hair that goes down past the small of your back, 

That body that makes my knees wobbly and slack --

I just can't take it -- I just need a taste;

So youthful and pure, irresistibly chaste...

But this is our secret. We must never tell,

Or both of us stand to catch all kinds of hell -- 

I say what I mean and I mean what I say:

One little sound, and your mom goes away."

Silent tears fall on the blankets and sheet

Her mind wanders off as he treats her like meat

To shadowy places of darkness and rage

(A monster's not meant to be locked in a cage);

Sooner or later she's going to break,

Ball up her fists as they rumble and shake, 

Pull out the knife, plant it deep in his chest,

Close both her eyes, and finally rest --

'But that's not enough for you, Abby --now is it?

Mom's got to go too, for she was complicit;

She's known for a while about his appetites,

And yet has done nothing to help Abby's rights,

In fact, she's told Abby that she is to blame

(As if she seduced him, as some kind of game) --

Such shame and disdain, as if Abby's a whore,

But Abby's not going to take anymore.

----

© Jackson Cambridge, 2016