Ampitherium

Don't mess with a child's imagination...

 

The schoolroom overlooked the downs,

The heather in full bloom,

As Paul Remarque sat heavy-eyed

All through the afternoon,

He heard the teacher's droning voice

But nothing that it said,

As trees and animals and birds

Went racing through his head.

 

No thoughts of plain arithmetic

Had sullied up his mind,

He had no thoughts of nouns or verbs

Or any of that kind,

He sat bemused, and filled his head

With purple daffodils,

With giant gargoyle anthropods,

And distant, flowered hills.

 

He'd had the cane so many times,

His hands were almost raw,

The teacher called him out the front

For three times out of four,

He couldn't answer anything

Of what the teacher taught,

His mind was either journeying,

Or else was set to naught.

 

Then after school he'd race on down

That field at Emile's farm,

The one where no-one ever went

In case they came to harm,

For fissures there had opened up

The limestone caves below,

And that was where young Paul Remarque

Just knew he had to go.

 

He took a torch, and slid on down

Beneath a giant stone,

The ground had opened up just there,

He always went alone,

He took his torch, and made his way

To chambers down beneath,

Then looked up at the ceilings where

They'd drawn, in light relief.

 

The cave men of the region, they

Had drawn so long ago

The pictures of their daily lives,

Of bison, buffalo,

Of elk and deer and hunters

Who had slain with sharpened stone,

Those animals ranged round the walls,

That lived so long ago.

 

Then in a further cave, he saw

The monsters he had dreamed,

With teeth like savage ripping tools

Serrated on the seam,

With eyes as cold as avatars

And claws that gripped their prey,

That dripped blood, even human blood

The drawings seemed to say.

 

For as he watched, this panoply

Had swirled before his eyes,

Had bucked and twisted in the graves

These drawings symbolized,

And in their midst, a monster form

With head, part like a god,

And part like some bronzed eagle

Seemed to fix him, with a nod.

 

The longer that he stared, the more

The monsters seemed to move,

They stomped around the flickered walls

To see if he'd approve,

And soon this Godlike centrepiece

Came lunging from the wall,

'My name is Ampitherium,'

It seemed to say to Paul.

 

His parents visited the school,

'Our son learns nothing here;

We've waited for improvement now

The best part of a year!'

'He's such a dunce,' the teacher said,

'Can't keep his mind on things,

He goes off with the faeries, and

I catch him drawing wings.'

 

'He must be taught a lesson,' said

His father, heavily,

'I never thought a son of mine

Could act so stupidly;

He disappears for hours, when he

Should be returning home...'

'I'll find him, and I'll beat him,' said

The teacher, Monsieur Sloane.

 

They went down in a group to find

Young Paul at Emile's Farm,

Arrived at the End Field, and then

They halted, fearing harm,

'This ground's unsafe,' his mother said,

'I'll not go further in,'

And so they all marched back to town,

Each face was looking grim.

 

The sun had set when Paul emerged

From down beneath that stone,

He looked quite proud, as on he trod

That field, that hallowed loam,

For in his wake, a thundering

Of beasts, not seen by man

Appeared when Ampitherium

Came lumbering into town!

 

There is a town in western France

Where lies a mystery,

For there dark murder stained the pages

Of its history,

A teacher and two parents there

Were torn quite limb from limb,

Their son could utter just one word:

'Ampitherium!'

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Norma J. Jessee]

Oh, my where did this come from ? Expertly told, This dark tale had chill bumps running
up and down my spine. I do wonder what an ampitherium is, I tried looking it up but couldn't find it.
Whatever it is I for one sure don't want to meet up with it.
Another great tale from an expert story teller whom I would dare anyone to compete with.
Great story.

[Tate Morgan]

HAHAHALOL what I wouldnt give to have had this advantage once or twice as a child
Oh I could imagine the fear in an adult when they realized a child held their fate

[MagiCrystal]

Very long... a lot of words... it is good ... but it could be a little short..
I rather read the storie and the name of the people..who entice you to wrote
this piece.
This are my thoughts.. no harm in this.. as a critique ... I have the need to communicate the review...Can you try to ... make your poems ... like poems and not a storie.. or write the storie...!

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Ampitherium - A Czech word for an upper to middle Jurassic mammal.

An unusual word that unfolds a magical, mystical, utterly inescapable journey into the beyond.

You are simply amazing!

Love,

Linda Marie

[R J Askew]

Great ending to a great read. I enjoyed the story and the ballad execution. It is a great model. I sympathised with the outsider and felt aroused against the mean average trying to make him confom. Nothing has changed in that teaching systems are fine for those in the middle 60 pct, but terrible for those who are brilliant or the opposite. I suppose kids are not caned now, which is good, except we have the opposite problem of teachers being menaced, raped even, sworn at, and -- worst of all -- falsely accused of all manner of politically incorrect 'crimes'. Also Remarque? Remarque? Alls Quiet On The Western Front???

[Lena M. P.]

Imagination with a touch of schizophrenia. Fooled me with starting out so innocently and wham, you got me again. I even tried second guessing where you were leading me but you fooled me for sure. Good story my bard friend.

[Valentine]

David, still the master story teller and a surprise unexpected although gruesome ending this time..You are a truly amazing writer my Aussie friend..God bless..Kathie

[Mark]

So (the Judge asked, having heard the lad's testimony), do you suppose that his free and questing spirit actually released the underworld goblins depicted on the cave walls, or did his years of frustration and abuse finally drive him round the bend? If it's a Paget story, none save him will ever know, but as with Paul, it's the quest, rather than the destination, that's the object. I actually thought the name Paul Remarque sounded familiar, and am soon off on googlequest to see if I am right!
To answer your other reviewer, although my paleontology days are far behind me, I believe the Ampitherium was a Paleolithic elk, was it not?

[Kerry]

This piece positively dances before my eyes! It is a truly masterful story and reminds me a bit of Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt." Ah, the innocence of a child's lively imagination. I confess to many such escapades myself. A most wonderful write!