(A chilling scene under a muted sky. The once-lush apple tree, stripped of its life, stands barren, the last leaves brittle and black. From one of its twisted branches, Kazimir's lifeless body sways in the wind. His head droops, eyes vacant, and his form dangles like the hollow fruit of his soul—a symbol of decay.
Around the tree, a circle of children gather, their faces alight with the sinister curiosity of innocence turned dark. They chant in eerie harmony, their voices bouncing through the silence, echoing the playful cruelty in their words. The melody is both haunting and merry, a sinister lullaby of loss, death, and divine judgment.)
Children's Song
(softly, in a lilting, eerie tone)
"Left, right, left, right, swinging in the cold,
Kazimir's lost in a tale that's old.
Once he loved, but now he's gone,
Now he swings 'til break of dawn."
(The children's voices rise, adding a sinister edge to their sing-song cadence.)
Children
"Left, right, left, right, what a lovely sight,
The sinner swings in morning light.
He loved a witch, or so they say,
So now he rots and fades away."
(The wind picks up, rustling the branches, as if the tree itself joins the children in their ghastly refrain. The children clap their hands in time to the rhythm, their eyes wide with morbid glee.)
Children
"Once he lived with devil's pride,
Now he hangs, no place to hide.
All for love he'd dared to sin—
Now he'll rot from toe to chin."
(They sway with the final verse, their voices dropping to a chilling whisper, as they finish with a damning line, their eyes lifting to the heavens.)
Children
"Left, right, left, right, praise be said,
The sinner swings, his spirit dead.
For all he loved, for all he lied,
In God's own name, he hung and died."
(The scene fades as the children disperse, their laughter a haunting echo against the silent, dead apple tree. Kazimir's body sways in the chill wind, a silent reminder of sin, lost love, and the relentless grip of fate.)