The air was still. The stars shone brightly in the sky. The full moon showered its rays upon the playground at its feet, touching and illuminating every corner with its radiant glow.
It was a small playground. A short fence bordered its sides, its paint peeling off from age. Inside, only a few swings and slides were scattered here and there, empty of their usual inhabitants. Almost empty.
In a corner of the playground, where moonlight seemed to shine at its brightest, a little girl sat on a swing, slowly swinging herself to and fro. Her small, thin fingers clutched its sides. Her eyes, covered beneath a mess of her tangled brown hair, were red from crying. Her breath, coming out of her lips in a series of sobs, mingled with the creaking of the swing, was the only sound to be heard in the otherwise eerily quiet night.
The girl continued to weep, oblivious to a new presence in the playground, a dark figure approaching her. Whether it was a man or woman, or even human, it was impossible to tell, for it was completely covered, from head to toe, in flowing black robes. It seemed to glide across the playground as it closed the distance between it and the girl. Only when it was directly in front of her did the girl notice, and look up.
Her eyes, glistening in with tears, grew wide in terror. Her grip on the sides of the swing tightened, and she trembled in fear. The cloaked figure raised its covered arms in front of it, and dark clouds snaked out of the sleeves, twisting in mid-air before floating to the ground to meet the girl's shadow. She watched in horror as it grew and began to circle her, twisting and turning as it rose above the ground as though it was being pulled by an invisible force.
The shadow's speed increased, and soon it was surrounding her, containing her in a forming sphere of darkness. Her eyes turned to the mysterious dark figure in front of her, and suddenly the fear left them, replaced by a new emotion. Longing. She closed her eyes, listening to something only she could hear, and the tension was gone from her fragile body. Her lips formed into a content smile just before she was entirely concealed by darkness.
The shadows gradually faded, and with them the dark figure. Soon, both disappeared with not a trace left behind. The playground was quiet, and the only sound to be heard in the cold night was the creaking of a single swing.