the strand

Once a time, upon ago
the father took his daughter dear
and sat her 'pon his bouncing knee
and told her darling,

have no fear,

But times have come
to lean and worse. I'll need
to strand you in the woods.

You'll need to use your wit and pluck
to find some curse to break, or magic good
enough to beat this fix, and make a tale
of happy ends. I don't know how

your victory
shall come about,
but it's on you. There's
no more food to eat,
you see. We've reached
the end. We have run out
of time to spend.

The girl (her name
was beautiful) gave
solemn nod. Said, "Don't cry, Pop!
Just strand me anyplace,
you'll see. I'll set off sharp

and I won't stop until the trek
becomes a quest with some majestic goal
in view. I'll outwit fiends
and pass all tests,
and win my way straight back to you

by dinnertime tomorrow night.
What would you like? Pad Thai
again?"

"Pad Thai is great, my beamish girl!"
Her father cried, with tears and all
and stood

to face the oaken door
the end