This is for the brave souls who put pen to paper

To write down the Popol Vuh.

And let’s not forget the youth of the midwife and matchmaker,

For they are the world’s children, too.

Word Count: 912 (wordcounter.net)

Once upon a time, there were two Twin Boys,

Named One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu.

They were the first Mayan Hero Twins,

The Sons of the midwife Xmucané and the matchmaker Xpiyacoc.

The Brothers loved to throw dice and loved to play ball,

And they were really good at throwing dice and at playing ball.

But the Twins screamed and shouted and stomped so loudly

That they caught the eyes of the Nightmare Leaders!

The Nightmare Leaders lived in the Badlands called Xibalba,

Where One Nightmare and where Seven Nightmare were most feared.

Now, these leaders had a weird hobby,

A hobby of tricking people into meeting their doom!

The Leaders sent the Boys a letter,

Respecting their wonderful gifts of throwing dice and of playing ball.

So, they invited them to Xibalba

To play a ball game of their own.

The Brothers may haven’t trusted One Nightmare or Seven Nightmare,

But they couldn’t ignore the Leaders’ message;

Otherwise, they would lose their temper with them!

So, the Twins went down the road to the Badlands.

They safely made their way across Scorpion Rapids,

They safely made their way across the Red River,

And they safely made their way across the Yellow River.

“Finally,” the Twins yelled, “we’ve reached the Nightmare Leaders’ house!”

But little did they know what the Leaders were yet to do!

There they spotted the Leaders, standing up waiting for them.

What they didn’t know about the standing Leader, however,

Was that it was just a wooden statue to trick them!

Still, the Boys greeted the Leaders without knowing this,

And once they did, thus was how the real Leaders replied:

Out came One Nightmare!

Out came Seven Nightmare!

And out came the other Leaders from their hiding!

“You really thought we were just made out of wood?!” the Nightmare Leaders laughed.

“Oh, no!” One Hunahpu shouted to Seven Hunahpu, “we just failed our first test!”

The Brothers very well knew they would meet their doom if they failed again,

For ’twas just then One Nightmare and Seven Nightmare asked them to sit down.

But the bench on which the Twins sat

Was no normal bench at all,

As this bench was in fact a flaming hot rock!

“Oh, no!” shouted Seven Hunahpu to One Hunahpu, “we just failed our last test!”

So now the Nightmare Leaders had no choice but to prepare them for their doom.

Thankfully, One Hunahpu had children with the Goddess Red Moon,

And so were born their own Hero Twins: Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

Like their father One Hunahpu and their uncle Seven Hunahpu,

The Boys became amazing dice-throwers and ball-players, too.

But the Twins screamed and shouted and stomped so loudly

That they too caught the eyes of the Nightmare Leaders!

So, the Leaders sent the Brothers a letter,

Respecting their wonderful gifts of throwing dice and of playing ball.

They invited them to Xibalba

To play a ball game of their own.

So, the Nightmare Leaders’ owls led the Twins down the road to the Badlands.

They safely made their way across Scorpion Rapids,

They safely made their way across the Red River,

And they safely made their way across the Yellow River.

“Finally,” the Boys yelled, “we’ve safely made it to the Nightmare Leaders’ house!”

And thankfully, they knew what the Leaders were going to do!