Friends Reunited

On a Monday in March, six people are freed,

Having served many years for six terrible deeds,

Six murderous lives now well in the past,

Six lifelong friends reunited at last.

They were all going straight and had altered their ways,

And each one professed not to miss the old days,

A countryside picnic, the six friends agreed,

Was a nice way to celebrate now they were freed.

So a low profile start on a specified date,

Was arranged at a town off the A28,

Mrs Peacock, Miss Scarlet and Reverend Green

Were early and first to arrive on the scene.

Colonel Mustard was next, then old Mrs White,

All nervous at first and a little uptight,

But nerves faded away as they shared a cigar,

And at last, round the bend, came Professor Plum’s car.

The day started well, they took turns to drive,

And it wasn’t too long before they arrived.

A discussion was had re a suitable spot

Three wanted shade and the others did not,

And after some time, with nerves somewhat frayed,

They settled themselves in a sun-dappled glade.

They fell upon sandwiches - cheese, ham and beef,

At last, tasty food – what a relief!

Sat side by side on an old tartan rug,

They downed bottles of beer and tea from chipped mugs.

The future was mentioned amongst the six friends,

They’d heard of a new and popular trend,

They all had the skills, but agreed in the end

Not to set up Murder Mystery Weekends.

The chatter continued, they finished the food,

Then a round of their favourite board game ensued,

They reclined on the rug, kicked off their shoes,

Shared out the pencils and studied their clues.

But just as all thoughts turned to murder most foul,

There came from the woods a most menacing growl,

Mrs White dropped the dice with a petrified howl,

Convinced there were man-eating bears on the prowl.

The friends peered around, but the woodland was dense,

The growling continued, the atmosphere tense,

Panic took over, they lost all commonsense,

They were trapped by a bear with no means of defence!

Well, not quite no means ..........

“Ahem!” said Mrs Peacock, clearing her throat,

As she whipped out a wrench from inside her fur coat,

Rev Green tugged his robes with a slightly odd grin,

Then withdrew the revolver, hidden within.

The Professor, who’d turned rather red in the face,

Extracted a rope from his battered briefcase.

Miss Scarlet brought forth a small, shamefaced smile,

And also the dagger she’d had all the while.

Mrs White gave a smirk that she tried to supress,

As a candlestick slid from the sleeve of her dress.

And the Colonel, ‘til now, suspiciously mute,

Pulled out a lead pipe from the side of his boot.

An ominous silence, each one had been busted,

The growling forgotten, friends couldn’t be trusted,

The six stood stock still with frozen expressions,

Each faced with five killers, each holding a weapon,

Hearts began racing; each thought a bit further,

“I’m trapped with five others willing to murder!”

A sharp intake of breath, skin visibly paled,

Stammered excuses with flimsy detail,

Disaster loomed large at spectacular scale,

“Not guilty,” was mumbled but that ship had sailed,

Mrs P tried a joke – a spectacular fail,

But it did break the tension and, as one, they exhaled.

After some time, they agreed on reflection,

To make their ways home in different directions,

Not wishing to spoil a most marvellous day,

They made fond farewells, tucked their weapons away.

Prof P was the oldest so he kept the car,

Miss S said she’d walk as she didn’t live far,

The Colonel struck out, hitched a lift with a stranger,

The Rev took a train, sidestepping more danger,

Mrs White had her phone so she called a friend,

And Mrs P, last to leave, took the bus in the end.

Six murderous friends reunited at last,

Just couldn’t escape from their terrible pasts,

So they cut off all contact, went separate ways,

And lived lonely lives for the rest of their days.