Love's Cure

An old shack, rickety and broken
In it, an old man, waiting to be woken
Someone young and full of life paces just outside
Questioning if his journey was ill-contrived
A crow’s screech startles the man
He jumps, into the door he slams
Opening with no living soul in sight
A black room exposed to the silence of the night
The man slowly creeps forward
Five steps in, and there is nothing to be heard
Alas, a moan, a stumble, then light returns
In the form of a lamp, in it a small fire burns
It is not a warm and cheery glow
For the old man it protects is a scary sight indeed
Causing the soul to go cold
As the light looks for a host so it may feed
The words choke out soft and squeaky
A quick cough to reclaim sanity, then the man begins speaking
“I was told you offer freedom and peace,
My heart was broken, my wife was a cheat,
Now I am depressed, nightmares fill my sleep,
Tears run in rivers, I cannot forget her”
A dark grin fills the old man’s face
As if he has heard this story before in another place
He asks “was it a man dressed in black that pointed you my way”
“Why yes” the man replies excitedly and with haste
“I am sorry, but I have no cure for your sickness” the old man proclaims
“you alone can fix yourself, for you alone are to blame”
“I cannot, that’s why I came to you, you’re a fake, and I am a fool”
The young man yells with anger and spite
The old man lets out a giggle as his beady eyes gleam
“Fine, I’ll see what I can scheme”
The man’s luck has finally turned,
The past and all its misery will finally be burned
The old man leaves to retrieve his cure
Upon his return, the young man surges with fear
A gun in one hand, a bullet in the other
He shouts “I will not kill my old lover”
“well, think it over for a while”
He places the gun on the table, fading into shadow
The young man feels its beckon
His heart beats faster with every second
He reaches for the gun
He understands what must be done