Meet Me At Midnight

Somewhere in the night, an owl hoots. Branches snap and crack underfoot, littering the forest floor. The spring air is chilly, and her pale, bare legs are covered in goosebumps. Arm-like twigs reach out and snag her skirt. She tears it away, glancing around nervously.
Not much farther now, she tells herself. The crickets chirp at her. They mock her. "Meet me at midnight," they say, laughing at her. "Meet me at midnight."
Thin jacket pulled tight against the cold, she slows to a meandering stroll. Fingers groping within a shallow breast pocket, until they come into contact with a piece of paper. She pulls it out, holds it to her chapped lips. In the dark, she can't see the words written on it with a scrawling hand. She doesn't need to. She knows what it says. "Meet me at midnight."
The trees stand menacingly tall, knots in their trunks like eyes and mouths. Looking at her sadly. "Turn back," they say.
She turns her eyes to the ground. All around her, a symphony of voices that drill into her head. "Turn back, turn back, meet me at- turn back turn- at midnight." Hands over ears, she pretends not to hear.
The dim glow of her phone casts demon-like shadows as she checks the time. "11:58," it tells her.
Feet pound against the ground. Don't be late, she thinks.
Up ahead, the trees begin to thin. She slows, panting like a dog. "Meet me at midnight," the crickets chirp. Louder, louder.
She drowns the doubt in her thoughts with fantasies and hope.
The moon's pale light reaches the forest floor here. Clear of trees, the space is empty, save a single soul sitting silent in the centre of the clearing.
She runs to him, shouting, grinning. But as she draws near, he ceases to exist, nought but a figment of her imagination, a trick of the light made possible by cruel hope.
She is alone.
The moonlight is bright enough to read the note that had travelled through many hands to meet her.
"Meet me at midnight," it says.
Her phone's clock reads 12:02.
The note flutters down to the dry grass. Turning on her toes, she walks away, shedding silent tears.
The clearing is empty.