Part I : The Return

Two Bridges on my mind, Old and New at once, together side by side,
Fond-remembered place of hazy carefree games
Now I returned, Oh how I yearned for those days
Perhaps to cross to find again the man I used to be?

There before me, hallowed ancient Dartmoor
Druid stones, velvet moss, just how it always was
A thousand feet beyond the bustling, frantic valley
The wizened oaks of Wistman's Wood, at Sunset I would go

This magic place, last surviving trace of an older vanished time
A time before the anxious life, a prisoner of the clock
Taking photographs, the trees, the sky, the rocks
To freeze the view and free the feelings I had lost

As I stand amongst the twisted mossy oaks
A sense that I belong here, swells to fill my heart
In the flooding warmth of golden evening sunshine
I rest awhile, these sentinels will keep me safe from harm

I'm coming home
I am home
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Part II : The Haunting

It all feels different now, the Wood transformed as I slept
Where once was beauty, Gnarled twisted trees, they snarl grotesque

All in darkness, no welcome in this sun starved place
A hissing whisper grows, from creviced rocks, from ancient graves!

What is this place?
Something's wrong here
I don't belong here

Golden sunlit welcome gone, Twilight, sterile, in its place
In haste I came to Wistman's Wood, to regain all I lacked

Choking on the air of sadness, contempt for those alive
This stunted copse now mocks my weakness, its magic holds me fast!

I must escape here
I have no place here

But how?
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Part III : The Hunt

Across the moonlit slopes of Crocken Tor, a figure moves
I'm not alone, the fear dispelled, moving fast he'll reach me soon

He's drawing closer now, he must have heard my cries
His dogs run free, they've got my scent, they'll soon be at my side

Frenzied barks and howls and clouds of breath
Flashing yellow teeth and eyes of red

This is the Wisht Hounds Hunt!!

I've got to run for my life - I've got to try to get home

Nooooooo!
Help me!
Leave me alone!
You can't have me, you can't have my soul!

Running for my life now, Terror on the open moor
Relentlessly pursued by The Devil's Spectral Hounds!

Almost at the track, a gate, a stile I recognise
Another quarter mile beyond the Dewerstone
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Part IV : The Testament

As I reflect upon my testament
I try and fail at making sense of that night's events
My broken bones have healed but mental scars
Are with me still, in restless nights and feverish midnight hours

All I saw, all I heard
I give my word this story's true, this warning is for you

Rocks inscribed with rites of druid sacrifice
Spirits evil lay in wait to trap lost souls at night

The past should stay the past, good and bad interred
Decide the future here and now, please just heed my words!

Will no one believe me? Condemned to live that night over again eternally....