The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Pokemon danced in their heads;
Their mom at home resting, and I on a plane,
Heading home form the hioliday visits again.

When out of the cockpit arose such a clatter,
I got up from my nap to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I turned like a flash,
And dropping my peanuts, I threw up the sash.

A blinding white spark setting cities aglow,
Gave the luster of midday to the objects below;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But the whole world went dark, and it filled me with fear.

Then a flash and a boom and destruction so quick,
I knew in a moment the fallout was thick;
More rapid than eagles the shock wave it came,
As a mushroom cloud glowed from the cities bright flame.

And Sarah, and Eddy, and Jessica prayed,
A last-minute evacuation was made!
To the the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!

But our enemies timed it too well, we all knew,
As by the destruction below we all flew;
The power went off when five minutes had lapsed,
Past the new year and then all our cities collapsed.

But how did the enemy know how and when,
that the power would fail and we could not defend?
As I scratched my head, and was looking around,
I noticed a man who smiled not frowned.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
This foreigner's clothes were expensive to boot;
A powerful notebook computer he used,
As he put it away he still seemed amused.

His eyes, how they twinkled! He'd look downright merry,
If his countenance in this disaster weren't so scary!
Then his droll little mouth was drawn up in a sneer,
Of all the people onboard, he alone had no fear.

I turned the man's way while gritting my teeth,
I asked him from what rock he crawled underneath;
He turned his broad face and adjusted his belly,
Which bulged from his belt like a sack full of jelly.

He talked like a man who was sure of himself,
Though he looked like a dwarf, he spoke wise as an elf;
With a wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
He told me he knew all the phones would go dead.

When the country had gone past the east midnight hour,
The phones lines would surge and the cities lose power;
When millions of people all pick up the phone,
To see if they still hear the old dial tone.

Because they all did it about the same time,
They drained all the power to all the phone lines;
It added so much to the typical load,
It made all the power transformers explode;

The timing was perfect, he said with a whistle,
For his country to launch all its nuclear missiles.
Then I heard him exclaim, as he turned off the light.
"Curiosity killed more than one cat tonight ..."

Created by Michael Williams
Webmaster: Michael Williams - spacex@williams-net.org