Nevermore Series LbNA #10327 (ARCHIVED)

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
Over a chunk of rubber I had just purchased at the store,
As I wondered how to careve it, suddenly down on the carpet,
A tome of prose and poems clammored loudly to the floor.
"'Twas a gust of wind," I muttered, "blew the book down to the floor.
Merely this and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly, I remember, it was in the bleak December,
And wind was whipping thru my chamber, rattling the door.
I was tempted just to leave it, but was compelled then to retrieve it,
That heavy book of fiction that had tumbled to the floor.
Why did the wind select this book to heave upon the floor,
Just this book and nothing more?

The book lay before me open. My concentration broken,
I bent to lift the heavy volume to the bookshelf from the fllor.
Curious, I scanned the writing. Open books are so inviting!
I realized I didn't think I'd ever read this book befoe.
Though from my shelf it fell, I hadn't seen this book before?
I had to read it even more.

Tattered pages, yellowed pages, words that have lasted through the ages!
Vivid images flooded my mind rapidly and by the score.
My hands quickly set to carving. The inspiration was alarming!
It was though a voice from long ago had come to me to implore.
From the pages of this book, the voice did come out to implore.
I thought I'd carve forevermore.

The voice at once grew silent. The urgency had been quite violent.
I shut the book and rubbed my wrist; my hand had grown quite sore.
As the slience lay unbroken, I gazed upon the tokesn.
Stamps of many shapes and sizes, sprung from nineteenth century lore.
How had I made so many worksds of art from olden lore?
I'll wonder this forevermore.

A tattered book, a ghost's commission-- I now present to you your mission.
Find the stamps which sprung out from the book upon my floor.
Five in total are now hidden, for alas, I am forbidden
To keep them locked away at home inside a darkened drawer.
The voice instructed that they not be placed inside a darkened drawer,
Shut away forevermore.

Our friend Edgar was quite anxious that his words would never languish
And are not left collecting dust for generations evermore.
Read his stories, read his poems; he's written tomes and towmes. Gothing fiction about ghosts, lost loves, fright and even gore.
If you're faint at heart, dont' worry-- they don't all contain the gore.
They fascinate forevermore.

In four vessels well concealed, the images are revealed.
I hope this poem has enticed you to seek the boxes and explore!
Stamp the logs and rehide well, so that no one could ever tell.
Rehiding well ensures the boxes will be able to endure.
Such perils our little treasures must face and then endure!
Poe lives on forevermore!
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Your search starts at the Laurel Marsh Trail in Manchester. From 84 E, take exit 60 and turn right. The trail entrance is on the right.
From 84 W, take exit 60 and turn left. The trail entrace will be on the right.

Park in the parking lot and begin!

The Bells (***This box has moved. These clues are to its new, better location.***)
To find the first box, start at the beginning of the trail. Pass the boat dock, and continue. Just as you come to the metal bridge, look for a two-trunked tree that it leaning back and pulling itself out of the ground. The bells are ringing under this tree.

The Raven
Turn right and cross over the metal bridge, then down a wooden walkway. Turn left at the bench. You'll come to a row of pine trees on the right. Continue on this path as it slowly seperates itself from the highway. Soon you will go up a short hill. At the top is 1/2 of a tree, with a log on the ground beside it. The Raven's nest is under this log, behind it.

The Tell-Tale Heart
The path will sway gently right and left.
Look for a large tree on the left, set back from the trail, with a sign on it: Swamp White Oak.
5 paces beyond that is a tree with a log at its feet. Under this log beats the heart.

Annabel Lee
Continue on this path. Go up one set of stairs and down another. When you get to a bench, turn right and go up a hill to another bench. Go through the two trees behind this bench, and then turn left and walk 12 paces. (In this case, a pace is a footfall.) Annabel Lee's kingdom by the sea is in the bottom of the hollowed-out tree.