The Ghost of Sarah Finn

I walked down to the lake
And heard a cry for help.
It really wasn't just a word,
It sounded like a yelp.

There was no one in the water,
There was no one on the shore.
The cry came to my ears again,
I shivered to the core.

I followed the last cry I heard,
It was farther down the beach.
Each time I heard the eerie cry,
It seemed just out of reach.

The moon was full and golden light,
Reflected on the land.
I caught a glimpse of ghostly white,
Running across the sand.

I gave a shout and tried to catch
The image that was there,
But when I came to where it was,
There were no tracks anywhere.

I went back to my cabin,
And called the local law.
I tried to tell them on the phone,
What I heard and saw.

They told me they'd had many calls
On the ghost of Sarah Finn,
Who lost her life by drowning,
And she was never seen again.

That night I was awakened
By a breath across my face.
Sarah Finn stood by my bed,
In her white and flowing lace.

She whispered to me softly,
She was sorry for my fright,
But I was sleeping in the cabin,
Where she'd stayed that fatal night.

She told me all about it,
How she drowned out in the lake,
By swimming out too far at night.
That was her big mistake.

She thought that I was going to swim.
She wanted to give me warning.
Her body's still out there somewhere.
That's why she sounds forlorning.

She said she can't pass over
Until her body's found,
And had a prayer said over it,
And buried in the ground.

I didn't know quite what to say,
She was a ghost it's true.
If you were laying in that bed,
I wonder what you'd do.

Well, I am not afraid of ghosts,
I've met some in my time.
Some talked to me in whispers,
Some acted out in mime.

I understood her whisper,
As it flowed across my ear.
She told me I'm the first one
That didn't show her fear.

She asked me if I'd follow her,
As soon as it was light.
She'd show me where her body went,
From where she drowned that night.

Next morning at the lakeshore,
She led me round the bay.
She pointed at the water,
In which a brush pile lay.

I had to get some help,
I couldn't do this all alone.
I went back to the cabin,
To use the telephone.

I called the local law
And they came to investigate.
They found her bones beneath the brush,
In the bottom of the lake.

Well, I've been back there many times,
And I will go again,
Because I found a scribbled note,
"Thanks, signed Sarah Finn."

By Don Rothra