Tire Swing [HWC2013}

John Goodyear was in town for the Halloween weekend and he was staying at his dad’s home. He was in his senior year at law school and was looking forward to graduating and coming back to take over his father’s firm. His grandfather had established the firm in the twenties and his father had taken it over and now it was his turn.

Out of boredom he decided to take a walk before the Trick or Treaters began making their rounds. He turned down the old lane that ran down toward the river and past the old oak hanging tree. My god it looked the same as when he was growing up. Covered in moss it, always gave him chills to think about the men who had been hanged there, many without a jury. Convicted and hung by a mob, they had swung in the breeze like the strands of moss now moved by the invisible wind.

There were many stories about the horrible things done here and the neighbors complained of hearing the screams of the ghosts who still remained there. As a child his parents never allowed him to play near it. He had tried to climb it once when he was 10 or 11 but his mother caught him before he got off the ground and when he got home he got a whipping that he never forgot. He never went near it again.

His friends use to tell stories of how the members of the KKK who had participated in the hangings had all mysteriously died horrible deaths. They claimed the ghosts were getting their revenge. He once asked his father if he was a clan member after finding a white, hooded gown in the attic. His father got very angry and told him to never ever talk about such things again.

So, now he stood before the tree and much to his surprise he noticed that someone had hung a tire swing from one of its stout limbs. Apparently, the fearful stories had not kept someone from having some fun. He approached the tree and had to admit he felt some of the old fear returning. He shook it off, scolding himself that he was not a child anymore but an adult, almost an attorney. He would represent the accused, they would have a court trial and a jury of their peers. He smiled and thought, “And I will defend them if they have enough money.”

He pushed the tire and when it returned to him he tested the rope and found it secure enough to hold his weight. He turned around and sat down in the tire and began to swing back and forth. It was eerily quiet with only the sound of the rope straining around the limb. It was suddenly getting darker and he decided he needed to get back to his house to help his father hand out candy to all the little kids.

But when he tried to slide out of the tire he found he couldn’t exit. He laughed to himself thinking he might need to lose a little weight. He tried to gain some leverage with his feet but somehow he had fallen back into the tire so that his feet could not touch the ground. He tried to use his hands and arms to pull and shove himself out. He ducked his head back through the tire in an attempt to wiggle his way out but he suddenly realized he was being lifted up off the ground. Somehow the swing was getting higher and higher off the ground.

He was hit with a powerful rush of fear and adrenalin and his struggling increased. But the more he struggled the smaller the tire became. In a burst of strength he tried to force his arms out through the tire and drop to the ground. As soon as his arms cleared the tire, it instantly shrank around his neck. As he dangled from the rope with his air almost gone, he looked down and saw that a ghostly crowd had gathered. He heard one of them yell, “We may not have been able to get your father here but we got you. How does it feel to be innocent and convicted without a jury?” With a death rattle he breathed his last breath.

He hung there all Halloween night. Crowds of screaming kids and their parents were in awe how life like it looked and wondered who had gone to all the trouble. One of the town's old attorneys died from a heart attack that night when he heard of the prank someone had pulled down at the hanging tree. When there was no candy the children egged his house and broke his windows with rocks. Trick or treat they said.

Grim and Gruesome.

However, another lawyer biting the dust? Meh, not so bad.

SnF!

Just goes to show something as innocent as a tire swing can still become evil, and safety in even childhood memories is an illusion...
Nice story idea!

reply to post by grayeagle


Good job! And quite original of a theme.