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
And 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
[It is said that the spirits of the forest keep track of every life]
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