(151) Time Portal Poem by Risha Ahmed (12 yrs)

Once upon a time in a land far away
Lived a woodcutter five hundred years before today
Being a pauper, he had to use all his energy
To earn atleast the meager sum to provide bread for his family
One fateful day as he was meandering in the forest
In search of a suitable tree to cut down
Watching him work in the hot sun was a fairy
Sitting on a cloud, wearing a flowing gown
Feeling sympathetic towards the woodcutter
Who seemed barely strong enough to stand
She decided to relieve him of his sufferings
And held out her right hand
She said, “Oh water from the sky above,
And earth down below
Send this mortal to a land
Where he won’t have to work so hard no more”
Thunder clapped, the ground shook with force
Great flashes of lightning blinded the planet
As the woodcutter was sucked into a time portal
Into one of life’s unexplored facets
The man landed on all fours
On a black surface made of an unsung substance
He turned to face some weird creatures
Creatures by the thousands
They seemed to be made of metal
And it had such an unpleasant sound
Like a flock of geese rampaging
Its legs were perfectly round
The honking of the monsters grew louder
The woodcutter’s heart was filled with fear
He saw humans inside the monsters
Had the people been devoured by them? Oh dear!
The man grabbed his axe and fled
Trying to shut his ears from the horn
He spotted some trees within a fence
He sighed, “Atleast the trees aren’t gone! ”
He jumped over the fence and started cutting down a tree
As that was what he did best
Trying to forget about the scary new world
Just forget about the rest
Suddenly from behind he heard voices