text: [Themes: horror, fantasy, drama, horror]
  
  'Twas dark and dreary Christmas Eve
  
  And all the world was mute.
  
  No wind nor rain disturbed the peace
  
  No bird would give a hoot.
  
  The moon was hid behind the clouds
  
  Which softly wept with snow
  
  That formed a blanket on the ground
  
  And hid what lay below.
  
  A coldness lay upon the fields
  
  And frost encased the trees
  
  The temperature, with every breath
  
  Would drop a few degrees.
  
  'Tis there we find a tiny shack
  
  With crooked walls and floors
  
  Where winter's cold and summer's heat
  
  Crept through the crooked door.
  
  Inside, there stood a tiny bed,
  
  Inside a tiny room.
  
  And in that tiny, tiny bed
  
  Lay Isabella Gloom.
  
  Her blanked cracked and creaked with cold
  
  That froze the frazzled seams.
  
  But Isabella didn't mind
  
  Her head was filled with dreams.
  
  [Author's Note: A little girl falls asleep on Christmas Eve, and wakes up in a town filled with wonder. But as she explores her dream world, she slowly discovers she is not alone. An unspeakable evil is on her trail, and the weather is turning cold. This is my ballad entry for Bucky's 2017 December Contest.]
  
  > let's take a closer look at what she was dreaming...
  A coldness lay upon the town
  
  Where Isabella strolled
  
  But sunlight warmed the cobbled streets
  
  That shone in shades of gold.
  
  Its cottages were decked with wreaths
  
  And candles, all aglow.
  
  On every gable roof there lay
  
  A smattering of snow.
  
  And on the sides of every street
  
  As green as they could be,
  
  Stood, dressed in gold and silver gifts,
  
  A shining Christmas tree.
  
  In front of Isabella lay
  
  A market, filled with stalls,
  
  Where tinsel-covered holly wreaths
  
  Concealed the wooden walls.
  
  Around the square lay silent streets
  
  With buildings all throughout,
  
  With homes and shops, a tiny church
  
  Beneath a snowy shroud.
  
  Poor Isabella couldn't choose
  
  What she then wished to see,
  
  But then "let's check this funny place
  
  And see the sights" thought she.
  
  > And she went to the market square.
  A thousand Christmas ornaments
  
  Adorned the market square,
  
  That shone beneath the golden sun
  
  And spread the season's flair.
  
  The stalls were filled with winter treats:
  
  With drinks all nice and hot,
  
  With wooden toys and gifts, all wrapped,
  
  Warm food, all freshly caught.
  
  But no one tended to the stalls
  
  Or bought the wares there shown.
  
  In Isabella's market dreams
  
  She dwelled there all alone.
  
  And though the sun was shining bright
  
  And warmed the silent square,
  
  Poor Isabella felt a cold
  
  Creep through her sleeping wear.
  
  Some goosebumps and a shivered shake
  
  Upon her arms appeared.
  
  Within this unfamiliar town
  
  She was alone, she feared.
  
  Right in the centre of the square,
  
  She found, now losing hope,
  
  A gleaming, marble pedestal
  
  That held a snowy globe.
  
  Now curious again, she thought
  
  To touch the novel thing,
  
  Though in her head, where fear remained,
  
  Some warning bells did ring.
  
  > But she approached the pedestal.
  The snow globe had a heavy pull
  
  On Isabella's eye.
  
  With quickened step she quickly saw
  
  All that she could descry.
  
  Within the globe a town appeared
  
  Not much unlike this own,
  
  Where snow-white flakes past market stalls
  
  And silent streets were blown.
  
  But darkness lay upon that town,
  
  By shadows overcast,
  
  Which swirled and swelled in angry clouds
  
  That hail and ice amassed.
  
  And in the dark, the girl could swear,
  
  She saw a bony hand
  
  That spread across the model town
  
  And strangled all the land.
  
  A chill again took hold of all
  
  Poor Isabella's spine.
  
  An anxious voice ran through her mind
  
  One she could not define.
  
  And then she saw a pedestal
  
  With tiny snowy pearl
  
  There in the model market stand,
  
  Besides a little girl.
  
  She rubbed the snow globe's frosty glass
  
  To clarify the scene
  
  But as she did, around the girl,
  
  Some shadows did convene.
  
  When Isabella saw herself
  
  All warning bells did ring
  
  And in her head, the voice now yelled:
  
  "Beware the Winter King!"
  
  > Frightened, Isabella turned around...
  A bitter cold encased the square
  
  Beneath a darkened shroud
  
  As, borne upon an icy gale,
  
  A wicked voice rang out:
  
  "Welcome, welcome, tiny lady,
  
  Here, in my domain.
  
  All your pitiful existence
  
  Here, you will remain."
  
  The wooden stalls with winter treats
  
  Stood empty and forlorn,
  
  And dancing twixt the rotten wreaths
  
  There rung the ghastly scorn:
  
  "Do not look for ways to run, for
  
  None can here be found.
  
  My domain, eternal winter
  
  Knows no edge nor bound."
  
  Across the dark'ning square there blew
  
  A whirl of ice and snow
  
  In violent, raging, savage gusts
  
  That not much else show.
  
  The little girl suppressed a sob
  
  The weather gave no way.
  
  Poor Isabella knew not then
  
  To run, or there to stay.
  
  "Stay now, stay, my little girl."
  
  The voice called out once more
  
  "Let me see that pretty face and
  
  Taste your every pore."
  
  > Isabella Screamed...
  "Leave me alone, you horrid thing!"
  
  The girl screamed loud and clear
  
  "I want to go to my own home
  
  So let me go, you hear!"
  
  The girl could swear that in the dark
  
  She saw a savage maw
  
  That held a hundred razor fangs
  
  As drool ran down its jaw.
  
  "My oh my, such disrespect you
  
  Show, to me, your king.
  
  Soon, you'll learn what punishment your
  
  Insolence will bring."
  
  The little girl then tried to run
  
  And screamed a dreadful sound.
  
  But Isabella couldn't move
  
  Her feet froze to the ground
  
  Around her blew a bitter wind
  
  That chilled her to her core..
  
  Before too long the girl would find
  
  That she could scream no more.
  
  And all the while, she hear within
  
  That horrid frozen place,
  
  The laughter of the Winter King
  
  Though never saw his face.
  
  But in the dark, and in the cold,
  
  Behind her she heard creep
  
  The vile and horrifying beast.
  
  She started then to weep.
  
  "Soon now, soon, you little one"
  
  She heard the gloating swine
  
  "Winter claims your feeble life
  
  And then you will be mine!"
  
  A bony hand clasped round her neck
  
  She had no strength to part
  
  And in her soul, she felt a cold
  
  That froze her beating heart.
  
  > Continue...
  On Christmas Day we come again
  
  To one familiar shack
  
  Where icy winds the walls once more
  
  With bitter cold did wrack.
  
  A single holly wreath adorned
  
  Its crooked wooden door
  
  And yet, a noble Christmas tree
  
  Adorned its earthen floor.
  
  There Isabella calmly lay
  
  Within her tiny room,
  
  But over her, stood mournfully
  
  Poor Mom and Father Gloom.
  
  Her woeful name they often spoke,
  
  But Isabella never woke.