Short Tales

Strange Fruit

A/N: I recommend playing the song on a second read, or just after you're done. 

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          A gentle breeze whispered through the sea of trees, stirring the leaves that were greedily soaking in the morning's sunshine. Amy squeezed her boyfriend's hand tighter and smiled up at his tan face and blue eyes. The air was sweet with flowers and the sound of birds; crows, actually. Her boyfriend--Jacob--squeezed back and led her to their picnic spot. 

          He followed the winding trail with her in tow, their picnic basket swaying in tow. Amy chuckled. Jacob was so thoughtful, he had been waiting until the weather was just perfect to bring her out for a picnic. He didn't want to take any chances with the weather on their one-year anniversary da--

          Jacob's sudden stop caused Amy to bump into his back. He sniffed the air, then his face contorted into a disgusted grimace and he brought his hand up to his mouth. 

          "Fucking shit! You smell that, Amy?"

          "What? What are you talking about? I don't smell anything."

Jacob smelled again, but this time his face only showed confusion. 

          "That was weird. It kinda smelled like something dead, just ten times worse."

          "Well, lets just hope that we don't run into it, yeah babe? C'mon!" Amy took the lead with Jacob in tow and started skipping along the path. 

          "Hold up, babe! You don't even know where to go!" Jacob chuckled out. Amy didn't listen and kept going until she saw the first fork in the road. Left or right? Right! Amy dragged Jacob off down the path, but Jacob shook his head, smiling.

          "This is the wrong way, the site is the other way." 

          Amy just kept smiling and skipped along. A shrieking crow flew a bit too close to their heads, causing Amy to scream and duck and Jacob to break down laughing and dropping to his knees, eventually being joined by Amy, who couldn't hold it in. 

          "C'mon Amy, let's get back to the right path," Jacob sighed out after recovering from his laughing fit. 

          "Aww, Jacob," Amy singsonged, "let's just have a little adventure! We do have the whole day."

          Jacob chuckled and dusted off his pants. "Sure," he said.

          Off they went, strolling down the unfamiliar path and noting that the crows had been getting louder. They must have been getting closer to a rookery, they thought. 

           The second thing that they noticed--both, this time--was the smell. Before they could stop and marvel at the horrendous smell of rot, burnt flesh and shit mingling with the sweet air, however, Jacob saw a trail of blood. Drops that followed the path's sharp right turn. He took off without a word, leaving Amy calling after him. She followed, obviously; she was a good girlfriend. However, she surely did wish she hadn't. 

          Blood soaked the roots beneath most of the swinging bodies, some of them were still dripping fresh. The bodies that didn't have blood beneath them were on the bases of the trees as burnt piles, their ropes having been burnt away by the fires that had made them into little more than charred bone. The burnt skulls were agape in an eternal scream, but they were easier to look at than the faces of the dead still hanging. His dark skin was pale and their deadened, red eyes pulped from the skull. His mouth was twisted and contorted as if it had been twisted like putty then placed unto his face. 

          Amy keeled over and vomited once, then twice, then thrice. She lost count. Jacob just stood staring at the ground, shaking in shock. One of the ropes snapped and fell to the ground with a sickening, wet sound.

*

A/N: Seriously, listen to the song. It adds a lot to the story's atmosphere. Sorry if if I fucked up anyone's night, cuz I sure fucked up mine.