A Bit Crazy

Chapter 15: A Hanging Tree

[This is gonna be some deep and dark shit so watch for trigger warnings and don't expect a very happy ending]

"I'm bored. Are you bored?" I say as another wind blows over me, my hands under my head. The grass was soft snd the sun was just dim enough not to irritate my eyes, but still kissed me with it's godly warmth. My mind felt as if it was being lulled to sleep, some one carefully rocking it in their arms, protecting it and insuring nothing would ever happen to it.
I smile softly, forgetting my question.
"You want another story?" The kid offers. "I have one about Moon's daughter Star, you should probably hear."
"No. The last one wasn't that good. I didn't like all the names."
"Names?"
"Yeah they were all really weird. Like... who would name their kid Star?"
"You don't like that name?"
I shift. "It just sits uncomfortably with me."
"Would you say it's familiar?" The kid was getting restless for some reason.
I take a deep breath and the grass wraps itself around me like a bed. "It feels like a name I once heard in a nightmare, my heart spikes whenever you say it."
"Oh. Well then I should probably tell the story-"
"No. I'll just take a nap." I turn into my side and laid with my eyelids sealed shut for a while. The kid itched around, pulling at the grass and pacing like crazy. It was annoying, every time he moved it was like someone was scrubbing the inside of my skull.
He begins to hum mournfully, the tune was all too familiar. I remember it getting stuck in my head for weeks, maybe months after I'd heard it first. Someone repeatedly bugged me with it. Who was it? The grass begins to turn sharp and prickly, scratching violently at my skin. The kid continues to him until the sound wraps itself around me.
I open my eyes to see a cracked ceiling, the world is faded and I feel like I'm under water in all aspects. The room is distant and looks unfamiliar, although the couch feels nice and comforting. Water splashes from the faucet as the toast dings and dishes clash together.
Someone is singing the lyrics to the same song the kid was humming, but gleefully. Ironic for such a tragic song. Her voice is soft and sweet and I just want it to fill me up. But the lyrics, the whole scene drives a nail into my heart.
The water drains and her voice reaches out, giggling a little about how much she loved the movie it is from. We went together, we did everything together. We loved each other.
I hear the whisk beat against the metal bowl through some batter, I think pancakes, until her voice stretches to my ears;
"... Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of hope
Side by side with me!
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be...
If we met... at mid-night-
In the hanging tree..."
I grip the cushions as my eyes begin to grow with tears. My heart rate increases as the singing gets louder, the water draining from around me.
Bolting up right, I let out a tremendous scream. A scream that declared my lungs and yanked my stomach into my throat, my intestines dropping to my knees and created a knot in my gut.
"SHUT UP!" I scream at the kid, my eyes pouring with tears. I wipe them away violently as I stand up, my legs strong against the dead grass. "JUST SHUT UP I DONT LIKE THAT SONG!"
"Why?" He asks.
I spin around and, with eyes closed, I let out a tremendous scream. "I JUST DONT! IM TIRED OF BEING SAD YOU KEEP MAKING ME FEEL SAD EVEN THOUGH IM NOT!"
"Then why are you crying?"
My eyes stay sealed. "BECAUSE THAT SONG HAS A SAD MELODY! THE LYRICS ARE ABOUT DEATH WHY WOULDNT I CRY!?"
"I never sang it." He says and I can feel him stand up, my hairs standing on end after snapping from the coat of sweat I have around me. "I never sang any of the lyrics. That means you remember it."
I turn around. "I...I remember a female voice. Singing it. Happily. The lyrics, they're so sad and make me want to cry so how... How could someone sing it so happily?"
"Remember that story I told you? Remember the message you took from it?"
"Huh?" I sniffle back the tears. "Oh yeah the part where I talk about the blindness and stupidity of people with agendas so big it curls their perception on reality."--Sniffle-- "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I'd like to tell you the story of Star."
Pound.
"No." I clutch my shirt tight around my heart and fight back more tears. I didn't like them. "I don't like that name. I don't want to hear the story."
"Star wasn't like her mom," The guy continues.
"SHUT UP!" I scream. The ground lets out a tremendous rumble. I couldn't let it break, I don't want to feel sad again, and if the ground breaks then I fall back into sadness and anger and I'd rather just forget those emotions all together. I had to leave him, but I couldn't open my eyes. I feel tears of frustration break through and the ground feel barren under my feet, like rock.
"She was wild and unpredictable. She enjoyed the simple things, she was a happy person. She loved everything and everyone she met, but like her mom she didn't like monsters. Star-"
"STOP IT." I fall into my knees. "I don't-I don't want to-to feel it again. I don't want to be in pain ever again. So you need to shut up, I need to stay happy and ignorant. No more growing up, I'll stay naive."
"Staying naive isn't an option, it never is. And not hearing the truth won't help with that?" The kid growls, as if to point out how I haven't learned anything. "Star had a unique perspective on reality, a positive one. She also had a positive effect on it, happy to be introduced to new strangers, calling them friends she hadn't met yet. Although her perspective was unique it was also different. People fear the unknown. So she was sent away to Earth where she met a boy named Marco-"
Thump.
"SHUT UP!" My voice cracks as my throat dries out within two word. "STOP TALKING RIGHT NOW! IM TIRED OF YOUR STORIES IM TIRED OF FEELING THIS WAY!"
"You need to know the truth, avoiding it leads to corruption-"
"ID RATHER BE CORRUPT THAN SAD!" Something was filling me up, my emotions were threatening to snap free, I wanted to be numb again. I'm tired of being in pain and causing people pain. I needed to get him to shut up.
He shifts to a more confident stance but I still don't look at him, because if I don't then he's not real. "As I was saying, Marco and Star-"
Snap.
I let or a hideous scream.
The ground burst behind me with emotions and a wicked tree grew from the solid rock. I flip around unwillingly to see a strong willow throwing its leafless branches around out of anger. It was all grey like the ground but it seemed to have no more depth then I piece of paper. The branches swung down near me and stung my arms, slicing them open to show green blood pooling from my arms. I shoot down to my hands and knees and cover my eyes and wait until I feel like the whole world has calmed down, until I've calmed down. My breath is silent, the world is silent. I wait and wait and wait for the kid to say something. But he doesn't.
Lifting me head, my mouth gapes open so more green blood can fall out. My eyes are glued open, stamped with the image of death.
Death.
A few of the willow's branches had looped together into a noose, which landed itself around the kids throat. It wasn't until now my body was covered in chills with who the kid was. He had hallow gold eyes that stabbed through my head like darts, gross green tinted skin and shaggy black hair that flew in the wind with innocence. His black clothes made him blend into the midnight sky, the skull the only thing visible. He had a deadpan expression, but still held a small smile. He had messy teeth but he had hope in his eyes. Hope for me.
Fredrick.
I don't cry, my mouth stays slightly widened with shock. The tree sways and my mind begins to race. The story, he told it to me for a reason. The green skin, the yellow eyes, he was Toffee. He was Toffee before the dinner, before the tree was burned before the spell. No, he was the spell. He was all the innocence and love wrapped up inside Toffee's finger. And all this time, he was trying to help me. But help me what? Who am I anyways? How are our situations even similar?
The ground continues to run with cracks pointing away from the tree, and I watch as Fredrick sways in the midnight breeze. I finally give in and let tears rip through my persona of people numb. As hey do, my hands clench my sides and I let out a huge scream, big enough so the whole world could hear.
Right then and there I swore I would listen to Fredrick's story. I had to find the rest of them, I had to go to Mewni and find Star and Marco and Moon and River and Toffee. I promise, Fredrick.
My mind continues to race against the idea of going away from my tree. If I go back to being numb, everything would be fixed.
My feet drag solemnly towards the tree and I  place a hand on the rough trunk. I choke back tears and breathe uncoordinated, but my voice stays a steady tenor.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free-"
Suddenly a voice joins mine, the melody it created was perfect. I didn't look back to see who, I just watched my hand on the bark in the shadow of Fredrick's body.
"Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it be...
If we met, at midnight-
In the hanging tree-"
"I always liked the tune." A sweet voice comments lightly after the verse, "Never the lyrics. Always so dreary."
I finally turn to see a girl with brilliant golden hair and bright blue eyes, but she's all faded and mainly static. However, her voice might as well have been a siren's, I was drawn to her.
"How do you know the song?" I ask, my emotions finally getting to me about Fredrick.
"Hm? You showed it to me."
"I did?" She knew me?
She laughs a little. "You don't remember, Marco?"
So my name was Marco, a good place to start.

*OPENS MOUTH TO SAY SOMETHING*
I-
*CLOSES MOUTH*
*LEAVES*
*COMES BACK WITH "SORRY NOT SORRY" CHOCOLATES AND A CARD THAT SAYS "I BEL-EAVER IN YOU!"*
✌🏻️
WOLFIE. JUST WOLFIE.