THE KINDNESS OF NEIGHBOURS

 

This story wasn’t written,
In the Eldridgeville Gazette.
I’ve checked the archives thoroughly, 

And have not found it yet. 

 

It began in nineteen twenty, 

With the death of Mr. Ball. 

His wealthy widow Alice, 

Was adored by one and all.

 

Her mansion up on Elm Street, 

Was a haven for the poor. 

The widow helped the needy, 

If they showed up at her door. 

 

One night a man named Winston, 

Came tugging at her heart. 

The life of Widow Alice,

Was about to come apart. 

 

Now Winston knew the lady, 

Had been left a load of cash. 

So he set a plan in motion, 

Things happened very fast. 

 

The townsfolk didn’t like him, 

He was a conman, they all knew. 

But widow Alice loved him, 

And was sure he loved her too.

 

As time went by she realized,
The error she had made.
Though she begged the man to leave her, 

Winston stayed and stayed and stayed. 

 

Alice took some time to work out, 

What she knew she had to do. 

Rewrote her will and left it all, 

To a cousin no one knew. 

 

With the aid of willing neighbours,   

The plan was carried out.  

Though it all seemed very drastic, 

 It would succeed, she had no doubt 

 

One night while he was sleeping, 

They gathered ‘round his bed. 

Winston never knew what hit him. 

He was well and truly dead. 

 

They dressed him in an outfit, 

That Alice often wore.

And dragged him to the woodshed, 

Where they lay him on the floor. 

 

They set the shed on fire, 

And the next step had begun, 

To make it look like Alice died, 

With Winston on the run.

 

The coroner did his duty, 

You see he wasn’t very bright. 

He determined it was Alice, 

Who Winston killed that night

 

As her estate was being settled, 

She hid with neighbours, right next door. 

Then returned as cousin Bertram,

To the life she lived before. 

 

He continued doing charity, 

For strangers who would call. 

But avoided future con-men, 

And was adored by one and all.

 

The old folks speak in whispers, 

Of the body that was burned. 

Now the mansion’s not quite empty, 

The ghost of Winston has returned. 

 

The story wasn’t written,
In the Eldridgeville Gazette.
It was buried along with Winston,  

But the town will ne'er forget.