Meet the Sloth

Painted gold, and looking old, the ornament sat on the counter Fingers cold and sinking souled, the woman was biting her nails Granny said, it'd keep them fed, this mysterious family heirloom But he shook his head, said "maybe $10?", the man at the second hand store She stormed outside scratching her skin, cursing her Nan on her Dad's side Pictured her wrinkly grin, and threw the thing in the bin... Her little kid (let's call him "Syd") woke up the next morning for breakfast Pulled up the lid of the kitchen bin, and saw what his mother threw out He pulled it out, and wiped it down, didn't even finish his cereal A little mount just popped right out, and out fell a tied up old scroll A picture of a moss-covered cave & Syd just made out the inscription - "To them that are seeking the gold must be prepared to MEET THE SLOTH AT MIDNIGHT - HERE BY THE ROCKS MEET THE SLOTH AT TWELVE O'CLOCK ON THE DOT BUT IF HE'S LATE, DON'T BLAME HIM HE'LL BE BUSY MEASURING THE VERY APPROXIMATE DISTANCE..." He bellowed out "I'm going out!" and put on his big yellow jacket "Without a doubt, I'll save the house!" He followed the map on his bike And look at him, just pedalling & ferociously head for the mountains With bleeding shin and dribbled chin, onward and upward he rode They'd have nowhere else they could live And Ma wasn't great with finances The man from the council, would give 'em only 1 or 2 more months But he met a swamp, he had to stop. His bike would no way make it over And through the fog he saw the spot - the cave the map had detailed Too many rocks, no way to cross - at least not that he was aware of At a loss, the chilly frost blue'd up the poor lad's lips and face Consulting the map one more time, smoothing his hand o'er the wrinkles He scratched off the dirt and the grime, there underneath said - MEET THE SLOTH AND WAIT RIGHT THERE BY THE SWAMP WAIT FOR SLOTH TO JOURNEY DOWN FROM THE TOP LET HIM GUIDE YOU, FOLLOW HIM TRUST IN HIS PERMANENT GRIN On the rock, patiently waiting for the 3 toed one to come He sat and watched out there for hours Was half-expecting him to crawl out from the black disgusting cave When there he hung... And slowly down he climbed from the Cecropia tree that hung overhead So gently so... With a giant calming smile, he greeted Syd and handed him some leaves The kid politely tried to eat. With outstretched arms, he motioned the direction the two of them should head Syd followed up... Hmm hmm hmm... Time would go, and wrinkles showed the journey, it just took forever 20 years? 30 years? Who knew exactly how long? And as you know, sloths are slow, and they only get older and slower He felt done wrong, but before long, was hit with epiphany. Blissfully inhaled the breeze, and opened up to his surroundings Took one more mouthful of leaves, and he just carried on Syd too was old, and all that gold, it no longer seemed to matter It'd been so long, his mother's gone, surely she died by now Not alone, he felt at home, at one with the forest and creatures The sloth he smiled (he ALWAYS smiled) laid down in the flora and passed... The moths flew and fell from his fur, now a meal for a family of pumas And Syd would not dare interfere with the fate of his friend LEAVE THE SLOTH BEHIND AND KEEP HEADING NORTH LEAVE THE SLOTH ALONE AND KEEP GOING FORTH FOLLOWED BLIND, BUT FOUND YOUR WAY THE GOLD STILL SITS THERE TO THIS DAY IN THAT GROSS MOSS-COVERED CAVE...