The Dark, Satanic Mill

I lived next door to a factory

That was old when Victoria died,

It used to be called a spinning mill

But the place is a wreck inside,

As lads we’d clamber on rainy nights

Through windows with shattered panes,

Play hide and seek through the old machines

Run up and back through the lanes.

 

The rain got in and would flood the floor,

The rust was a half inch thick,

The leather belts from the driving shaft

Hung down in streaks and strips,

A deathly silence echoed there

Where steam once puffed and groaned,

Had worked its mothers and children there

From their damp, and terraced homes.

 

We couldn’t imagine the noise in there

From the flying shuttles and looms,

The old machines were all rusted in

Like dinosaurs in their tombs,

We’d pull on belts from the driving shaft

And hear them creak and howl,

And turn the mule in its rusty frame

But the dust on the mule was foul.

 

Toby Garrett and Jill and Jack

Would follow me into the mill,

We’d chase each other around the back

And then we’d be kissing Jill,

She’d shriek and scream and she’d run away

And laugh when we had her trapped,

Then sweet surrender her gentle lips

To Toby Garret and Jack.

 

And then on a cold and frosty day

When the chill crept into our bones,

Jack said, ‘let’s have a fire today,

It’s just us, here on our own.

He  loaded coal and he loaded coke

In through the furnace door,

He loaded kindle to start it off

And laughed as the furnace roared.

 

We crowded round as the heat poured out

And warmed ourselves to the core,

But Toby said, ‘Can you hear that?

A bubbling sound, for sure!’

Then creaks and groans inside the mill

As it built up a head of steam,

The driving shaft had begun to move

And it started the odd machine.

 

We looked aghast, and we said to Jack,

‘You must put the fire out!’

‘My Dad will kill me,’ was his reply,

And he took off with a shout.

So Toby Garret and Jill and I

Ran out through the open door,

And ran between the screaming machines

But Jill then fell through the floor.

 

We heard her scream, it was like a dream

There was something pulling her down,

A pair of rollers, under the floor

Were crushing without a sound,

I saw the blood pour out of her mouth

And her eyes go into her head,

She was flattened out like a skein of yarn

Then she disappeared, she was dead.

 

We never spoke of that awful day

The furnace fire went out,

Nobody searched that Satanic mill

So Jill’s still there, no doubt.

They tell me I have a month to live

So I thought I’d best confess,

You’ll find her under the spinning floor

With blood on her party dress.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Daniel Sala]

Oooffff, what begins as a lovely stroll through childhood memories it is easy to identify with becomes such a macabre yet oddly plausible twist in the tale, and as a reader I was effortlessly taken around that unexpected corner like a smooth curve to a horrible, guilty secret. Thank goodness it's fiction.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

So many of these old buildings dot the landscape, abandoned and hauntingly still. They are rife playgrounds for the imagination and storytelling. I like the embodiment of the Jack and Jill theme. Only in this instance, Jill has fallen and can't be put back together again. Poor dear!

[minisla]

Great poetry David I was reminded of a few incidents in my younger years. Thank you. Oh nobody died lol

[Fréyjä Helv..]

A chilling story indeed, and what fun it was to read. Another amazing word Sir David.. :)

[Angi]

What a story, David! This one had me from beginning to chilling end. ..But then, all your pieces have me. Angi~

[TL Boehm]

woof. this is a scary one, David. Smartly written as ever - so much like the plot of a horror story and that last couple of lines sealed the deal.

[Tate Morgan]

Oh well this is a haunting tale. The part that I would have to stay stunned me was that none of you told. That would seem odd as at that age fear would rule

[Emerald Seas]

A terrific tale, David. Another great spook story I can see as a chilling Halloween spoken word performance, in costume of course. ;)

[Keith]

Oh hec that is so vivid and gory. Love the way you those images of creepy places from a bygone era.