The Adventures of Sir Malchance, Part 2

When we last left Malchance and Loyal they had just sighted a burning village. Seeing a group of dejected villagers, they go over:

"What happened here?" asked Malchance. A sooty mayor stepped forward,
"The dragon, Sir Knight!" Malchance quickly scanned the sky,
"What dragon? Where? I don't see a dragon."
"The dragon that burned down our village of course!" replied the mayor.
"Drat!" said Malchance, "There goes my quip about playing with flint and steel. I don't suppose the dragon was playing with fire, was he?" The mayor looked at Malchance, perplexed,
"ou're wasting your time, Sir Knight! What about the visiting princess? The dragon carried her off to it's lair!"
"What's this?" asked Malchance, smiling, " A damsel in distress?Why didn't you say so? Which way?" He paused. "If she is a princess, where are her guards? I don't see anyone here, begging your pardon, who looks like a castle guard." The mayor sighed. This knight was giving him a headache.
"The guards ran off when they saw the dragon coming. They weren't very good guards."
"Oh," said Malchance, "Anyway, which way is the dragons lair?" The mayor pointed, and Malchancerode off, leaving behind a very confused group of villagers.

TO BE CONTINUED....

The Adventures of Sir Malchance; Part 1

Once upon a time there was a knight named Malchance. Being newly knighted, he had set out with his steed, Loyal, to find great deeds to do. Loyal was not an ordinary horse, he had the gift of speech. Having no idea where they were going, the two heroes traveled aimlessly, hoping to come upon a damsel in distress, or something like that. Malchance was just about to remark on this when a gang of thieves ran out into the road and surrounded them. That was just his luck.
"I can handle this." muttered Malchance to Loyal.
"Hand over your coins or pay the price!" sneered the man whom Malchance took to be the leader.
"Why don't you just say one or the other?" asked Malchance. The leader was caught off guard,
"I don't see what you mean."
"It's quite simple, really," replied Malchance. "You said 'Hand over your coins or pay the price'. Handing over my coins will be paying you, and if I pay the price you'll probably take my coins anyway. So why say both?" The leader pondered this for a moment.
"I never thought of it that way," he paused, "If you help me you can go free." Malchance agreed.
"Why not try 'Hand over your coins or else'? That could imply almost anything, and would leave victims to ponder their fate."
The thieves murmured amongst themselves in approval.
"Or," said Malchance, "you could accept gold coins from me, go to King Arthur, and ask to be of service." The leader shrugged,
"How may coins do we get?"
In the end, Malchance gave them ten gold marks, which was a sizable amount of money then. Malchance and Loyal soon left the bandits behind.
"I can't believe you actually thought of that," Loyal remarked. Malchance smiled happily. Coming over the ridge of a hill they saw a burning village.
"What happened here?" asked Malchance.
"I don't know," replied Loyal, "Let's find out.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Just an Update...

Dear Reader:

As a change from my normal poetry, I have decided to post a short story series I have written. I will post the first section today, and each next section every other day. I hope you enjoy this change of pace!

In Christ,
Molly

The Forest Walk

Deep among the ancient trees,
Where no wind dares stir the leaves,
Where the sunlight, tinted green,
Plays upon a quiet scene,
The babbling brook makes no more sound,
Gliding silently o'er it's path worn through the ground,
The netted shadows shift and shake,
Spots of sunlight to overtake,
The birds are piping their lilting song,
Quieter as the day wears long,
And o'er the mossy forest floor,
Deer step as out of folktale lore,
The light takes on a golden hue,
As the sun fades to become new,
And as you walk away again,
You close your prayer for peace, "Amen".

Day After Day

As the day lays down to sleep,
And clouds the sky so gently sweep,
The trees are cast in shadows long,
The birds are winding down their song,
The wind picks up and hums a tune,
To the slowly rising moon,
Now the stars come out to dance,
Shining brightly at first chance,
For soon the dawn will come once more,
Without even a whisper, much less a roar,
And shed a light again o'er the world,
A sail made of light, sudd'nly unfurled,
That rides overhead through the blue sky,
Reaches higher and higher, 'til no more it can fly,
And sinks again back, down past the sea,
No more 'til morning it will I see,
Once more I go to bed to rest,
And say, "Oh Lord, I'm surely blessed".

My Lord, My God

In this world of pain and grief,
With people devoid of all belief,
Sometimes it's hard to carry on,
Clouds obscure the Son's bright dawn,
But when I cry out to my King,
He takes me under His shelt'ring wing,
He picks me up when I fall down,
My Lord, my God, won't let me drown!
I'm not perfect, and this He knows,
Yet He loves more than I could suppose,
Yes, I'll be true 'til all is done,
And the world is bathed in rays of the Son.

The Horse

Amidst the green grass of the pasture,

Beside the wood fence worn,
You stand there with a white coat pure,
Blue flowers your mane adorn.
You gallop through the short, hale grass,
And underneath the trees,
Your speed does well all things surpass,
You breathe the clean spring breeze.
And when the night has come again,
And the moon shines bright,
In your stall you will remain,
Peaceful through the night.