THERE SWINGS A SKULL

"THERE SWINGS A SKULL"

It dangles overhead, on the speaker-gallows, visible from every house in Pareildas; its image haunts every echoing crackle-screech that issues from the gallows' warped speakers.

But when the speaker-gallows are silent, and the desert wind plays through empty  streets, one can almost fantasize of the comfort of deliverance: 

Of a train meandering along curving tracks; its arrival at Terminus, its gently opening doors- and its steady path, off to a distant ocean...

...but once it ends, it's just a daydream.

How can one take comfort in imagined escape,

when only routine mutes the gallows' shrieks?

"THERE SWINGS A SKULL" is a short story made in RPG Maker 2003 by Conor Walsh and Quinn K., with music by Leaf Let.

Made for the Summer of Shivers 2021 jam, held by Haunted PS1.

The theme chosen was PSA (Public Service Announcement).

Dialogue writing, scripting, sound effects: Conor Walsh, alias BanzaiBonsai
Story set-up, scripting, world design, graphics: Quinn K.
Music: Leaf Let