Up

Her neck ached, yet she couldn’t stop looking up. She didn’t realise it, but her jaw had dropped. Why do this? What if she hadn’t had another cup of tea? What if she had not run for the train? She had also chased after her scarf as it flew away, free on the wind. She couldn’t understand why it had to be her seeing this now. Couldn’t someone else had found this? Who was this?  What made them do this? Wasn’t someone looking for them? How long had they been hidden here?  A gust of wind rustled the leaves, it moved too.

Her hair was in her eyes, it blocked her view of it. A shaking hand came up to her face and tucked her hair behind her ear.  A cracking tearing noise of wood replayed in her head. She was already looking at the tree as it happened. The tree was dancing with the wind. When the branch fell, she was close.  The falling branch exposed it, opened up the contents for her to see. She knew straight away what it was. She didn’t have to wonder, or look twice.

She looked away. Her mind had had its fill of the sight. Yet as she looked for her phone to call the police, she had to look up again to see it.  A voice she didn’t recognize said, “There’s a person hanging dead in a tree.”