The Drowning Chapel
Story by charles_they on SoFurry
A short horror narrative on a tourist wolf, a skeptic fox, and a ghost town.
The Drowning Chapel
A lonely prairie chapel stands
in north Saskatchewan's lost lands
where rails had once been said to lie
where towns were left to rot and die
A touring wolf was keen to see
A ghostly town drowned in debris
where always did it seem to rain
where moon would wax and never wane
A cynic fox, Lou's riding mate
on roads forsaken by the fates
where life had pattered long ago
where static choked the radio
A sea of grass consumed the plains
and underneath were emptied veins
where prospectors had drained her blood
where bodies lay entombed in mud
A chapel damned could do no harm
not one that stood beside a farm
where grain by folk was yearly reaped
where wives with scythes had softly weeped
A door was found in search of loft
it lead down to the undercroft
where tunnels sprawled in many ways
where mine met God and ur met praise
A skeptic fox said turn and run
but Lou had not yet had his fun
where both would find some mystery
where bones were lost to history
A trail was laid to keep their track
and yet it failed to lead them back
where light had met the underground
where things once lost again were found
A dying torch at last went dark
and neither one dared birth a spark
where yellow birds had sang and fell
where darkness like the waters swelled
A cloud above did roar and break
and with it fox and wolf did wake
where puddles pooled around their paws
where weather wore the tunnel's flaws
A frantic splashing filled the mines
when cave-in showed its early signs
where tourists met a common fate
where cynics found their strength too late
A lonely prairie chapel stands
in north Saskatchewan's lost lands
where rails had once been said to lie
where towns were left to rot and die.