What The Fairies Left

Kind as fairies are thought to be,
It came as much surprise to me,
Whilst strolling through the forest bright,
To witness such an awful sight:

Ahead upon the footpath bare,
Did lay a bloodied lifeless hare.
Aghast, I hastened to his side,
Deeply fearing he may have died.

At length he roused and moaned in pain,
And turned in hoping to explain,
But from his mouth all swollen red,
Flowed blood alone and much it bled.

At once I saw the reason why:
His pearly whites in short supply,
Yanked from his gums without consent,
By thieves unknown, with much torment.

He blubbed and held his aching jaw,
And pointed on with outstretched paw,
No doubt towards the wretched foe,
Who stole his teeth and off did go.

Along the path in hot pursuit,
I quickly ran to find the loot.
Not far a journey I had made,
A second victim in a glade:

This time a little squirrel friend,
Had met the same horrific end.
With warm blood streaming down her face,
She wheezed and pointed where to chase.

Determined now to catch the crook,
To make them pay for all they took,
I hurried on beyond the trees,
Prepared to pounce, prepared to seize.

Alas! No! How can this be true!
Another prey, with more in view:
A trail of critters strewn about,
Bleeding with all their teeth pulled out.

But ha! In range I hear a cry,
Past yonder bush: the thief is nigh.
Without delay I charge ahead,
To view a scene of utmost dread.

There, limp upon the blood-soaked ground:
The figure of a crippled hound.
His mouth agape with canine gripped,
By pliers strong, and out was ripped.

Revealed now was the culprit small,
Indeed, the greatest shock of all:
A woodland nymph of virtue true,
Though with her mate, they numbered two.

Both cackled loud with evil eyes,
Despite the hound's continued cries,
And of the tooth they claimed their own,
Into a bag, now full, was thrown.

"Halt there!" I yelled, confused and cross,
My whirling thoughts were at a loss.
How could fairies, so kind and twee,
Perform such vile atrocity?

To maim poor creatures without care,
And take their teeth is just unfair.
The bandits spun and stared at me,
Then quickly grinned with plan to flee.

Decided now to take the plunge,
With mind resolved I made to lunge.
But swift enough not quite was I,
The fairies dodged and up did fly.

Hands high I leapt but failed to snatch,
Such magic skills I could not match.
Now out of reach their wings did take,
And to the skies their freedom make.

I cursed and cried, still answers sought,
Why such behaviour cruel was brought.
In kneeling down by hound bereft,
I spied a clue that had been left.

Beside his head there lay a note,
On which the thieving fairies wrote.
I clasped the message in my hand,
And read aloud a harsh demand:

'To creatures of the woodland shire,
With taxes high, such times are dire.
In order to achieve our dream,
New measures took will prove extreme.

'So not to wait till out teeth fall,
To expedite our coffer's call,
With aid of helpers slight but strong,
We'll boost our savings right along.

'Don't spoil things now with aim to fight,
Just be calm and all will be right.
Much blood, of course, there's sure to be,
Though worry not; be glad it's free.

'One final word, it must be said,
Oppose this law, I'll have you dead.
Now laugh and play, all be merry,
Lots of love, your kind Tooth Fairy.'

--

Wow, it certainly feels great to get back to writing poetry after such a time apart, and what an unexpected delight this poem was to craft; I always suspected fairies to have a dark side.
I went to the liberty of spelling 'faery' with an 'i', as that's how it's most commonly spelt. You'll hopefully also notice the stringent eight syllable count for each line, which helps the flow and pace of the story.
Looking forward to the next challenge.

Title: The Things I Like Most

Drekinn
___
"Let words be your palette."