Lost Girl

My girl went out on a Saturday night

They said that she was alone,

I’d said, ‘We’ll meet at the Cineplex,’

But the movie was postponed,

I waited there in the vestibule

For an hour, or maybe more,

But she made me feel a total fool

And I left by the same front door.

 

Where are you Ruth, now tell me the truth

Did you go to meet some guy,

Did you think the movie a total bore,

Did you plan to go and get high?

Your friends all said you’re a scatterbrain

And I think they might be right,

But you’ve been gone for a couple of days

And your mother’s taken fright.

 

She called the cops when I went around

To see what happened to you,

Your mother thought we had spent the night

So she had a piece of me too,

I told her I hadn’t seen you, girl

Since the Friday afternoon,

Her face went white, and her eyes were bright

With the tears that she cried for you.

 

So where have you gone, my Ruth, my girl

Since you wandered into the town,

Did you walk right past the Cineplex

And carry on further down,

Where the lights are bright in the dead of night

And the clubs begin to rage,

With the music’s beat in the summer heat,

Did you walk right off my page?

 

They called me in and they grilled me there

At Precinct Forty Six,

A squad of detectives yelled at me

‘Til I thought they were having fits.

I told them you hadn’t met me there

But they said that it was a lie,

I couldn’t answer their questions

Cross my fingers, and hope to die!

 

A lawyer came in to see me

So they had to let me go,

And now I wander about the streets

Just looking for you, you know.

I tried to phone but they found your cell

In some old back alley bin,

Behind the Hospital Organ Store

But they wouldn’t let me in.

 

I passed a nurse on the street today

And she carried a bag like yours,

And on her wrist was a trinket chain

With an elephant and a horse,

I ran beside her and asked her where

She’d bought those silver charms,

But then she threatened to call the cops

And scream! - raise the alarm.

 

I have a terrible feeling, Ruth

But don’t know who to tell,

And visions rise in my fevered brain

Of you in a makeshift hell,

Your kidneys sat in a freezer pack

Your liver and both of your eyes,

I asked for you at the hospital desk

But the nurse there told me lies.

 

I asked if you’d had an accident

Were lying in one of the wards,

She said, ‘We never do accidents,

We’d just be swamped by the hordes.’

The place was run by a specialist

In transplants, great and small,

He had a long, continuous list

At a hundred grand a call.

 

The weeks have flown and you’re still not home

So I watch, and stand outside,

And every patient that leaves the place

I look for your purple eyes,

They’ve got you listed as missing, girl

A poster on every pole,

But I know, whatever they find of you,

They’re not going to get you whole!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[David Scott]

This story felt like it tood a long time to develope for me... I was ready for the last four stanzas before they arrived. Maybe it was just my state of mind today... Enjoyed the tale as usual, but felt a drawn out with details that added nothing to the flavor.
Enjoyed this as always David.

[minisla]

The stuff of nightmares

[Enid Blake]

Ha Ha - it wouldn't surprise me :)

[Siren]

Hm.... This is interesting. A little dark. As always, it's a good write. There's a great deal of mystery here. I enjoyed this, though. Thank you for sharing it with me.

[Tarry Franck]

Brilliant

[TPK Stories]

Loved the story ...

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

:) 100/100

[Valentine]

David, a little different that what I expected..I like the ones based on history..this was a lot of poepoles nightmare when a child goes missing and is never found..A good story tale non the less..love Kathie

[Fréyjä Helv..]

Tragic ballad... Brilliantly written.

[emmy bon]

Sad story, well structured welldone