chapter 2 the well

I was never the same after being thrown down the well. Maybe being isolated in the dark for so many years affected my personality or something. I don’t know. What I did know was how hard it was to survive on minuscule insects and frogs.
Everyday, I craned my neck to look at the tiny spot of sun that I could see at the top of the well. Everyday I tried to crawl out of the well without success. I had no company except that of my own thoughts. Before, I had not thought badly of humankind. Now I blamed them for my predicament. One day, I would exact my revenge. I was not quite sure what I would do, or how I would do it, but one day I was going to get out of that damned prison. One day, I would feel the warmth of the sun on my back once more.
I grew larger and stronger with every year that passed. Every year, climbing up out of the well became more of a possibility.
After ten years, I finally managed to get out, but after all those years spent in the gloomy darkness of the well, the sharp glare of the sun almost blinded me during the day. The only way I could function was to come out of the well at night.
I searched for new and better things to eat. I was sick of squidgy frogs and unsatisfying insects. I wanted something that could sustain me for longer with minimal effort.
I tried mice, rats and rabbits first. They were the right size for me to eat whole, headfirst. Once they were down my gullet, I could feel them struggle, wriggling around for a while. I twisted my torso until my victims could struggle no longer, then my digestive juices would start to get to work.
I had no idea what was going on in the human world. The water down the well had become contaminated with my own excrement, so people had stopped coming to fetch water from my well, preferring to use other water sources instead. I had to slither down to the river to clean myself when I first got out. The feeling of the cool flowing water on my skin was so refreshing!
Very few people were about in the darkness, so I had the freedom to roam about the hills, valleys and villages without being seen.
I knew I was getting bigger and stronger all the time. I shed my old skin every month, growing into a bigger fresher set of scales.
During the day, I returned to my well to sleep. I coiled myself around the perimeter walls, hidden away from prying eyes, unseen and unnoticed.

TRADITIONAL SONG VERSE 2

Noo Lambton felt inclined te gan,
An' fight i' foreign wars.
He joined a troop ov Knights that cared,
For nowther woonds nor scars,
An' off he went te Palestine,
Where queer things him befel,
An varry seun forgat aboot,
The queer warm i' tha well.
(Chorus)
Wisht! Lads haad yer gobs,
Aal tell yers aall an aafull story.
Wisht, lads had yer gobs,
Aal tel ye aboot the warm.

AND IN ENGLISH

Now Lambton thought it was probably best to fight for what he thought was right on foreign soil.
He joined a troop of knights who did not care for wounds or scars,
So off he went to Palestine (he joined the Crusades),
Where he had many adventures,
And he soon forgot about the strange worm down the well.
Hey, boys, be quiet!
I’ll tell you all an awful story,
Hey, boys, be quiet!
I’ll tell you about the worm