Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
A piece a paper clenched in my fist, words scrawled messily across it.
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three
Lightning flashed outside, rain pouring down. An image flashed in my mind, a boy dangling from a branch.
Strange things did happen here
No would stranger would it be
Words written in blood red ink across the page, staring up at me. Meet me at the Tree.
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Tick, tock, tick, tock. Hands of the clock slowly moving. Twenty minutes to midnight.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Running through the trees, my feet pounding against the forest in time with my beating heart.
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee
Another memory. A brown haired boy. Lying bleeding on the floor, screaming for me to run. Run before it was too late.
Strange things did happen here
No would stranger would it be
Eyes, watching me from the trees. Glowing yellow through the rain.
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
My watch ticked on. Tick, tick, tick. Ten minutes to midnight.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
A girl ran on, in the pouring rain. Not noticing the faded piece of white paper that drifted to the forest floor behind her.
Where I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Rain splattered against my face, I could barely see. The rain falling, my feet thumping, my watch ticking in time with my heart.
Strange things did happen here
No would stranger would it be
Almost there! I can see the tree through the rain. Lightning flashes, illuminating something dangling from one of the branches.
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Tick... Tick... Tick... It's slowing down. Five minutes to midnight.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Thunder booms. Rain falls all around me. There the tree stands, a looming silhouette in the darkness. A body dangles, hidden in the branches above me.
Wear a necklace of rope
Side by side with me
I fling a rope up and over a branch and form a nose with the other end. I slip it around my neck.
Strange things did happen here
No would stranger would it be
I yank on the end, sending my body hurtling up into the air. I gasp for breath on instinct as the rope cuts off my air. My heart slows as I dangle next to my twin.
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Tick… Tick… Tick… it slows along with the beating of my heart. Five seconds to midnight. Four. Three. Two. One. Tick… Tick… Tic-...