ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree?
Where they strung up a man, they say, who murdered three
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
The wind flew around her and her long brown hair flew up. She plucked another daisy and made a necklace.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree
Where dead man called out for his love to flee?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
She heard not only children laughing, but also another voice. Her mother's laughter mixed with the children's laughter. A laughter she had not heard for a long time.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
She was now picking flowers with a smile. The daisy chain she had put around her neck. Unconsciously, she picked only poppies. Poppies were her mother's favorite flowers. The bunch of flowers filled up, just as the children's laughter grew louder and louder.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree
Where necklace of hope, side by side with me?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
The trees began to rustle and the birds that were flying before were gone. They were suddenly just gone. She looked around her, trying to find some.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
The laughter of the children was also no longer there. It disappeared when the birds left. Now it was only the laughter of her mother.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree?
Where they strung up a man, they say, who murdered three
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
The laughter grew louder and she heard nothing else. The laughter echoed in her head and made her drop the flowers.
"Are you, are you comin' to the tree
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree"
Then she realized it. Suddenly her mother's laughter was gone.
The children had never been there.
Just like the birds never flew in the sky.
Just as her mother was not laughing that day.
How should she have?
She was after all dead.