The tree

The tree stood right on the outskirts of the village. One look at it and you will immediately realize that the tree may possibly as old as earth itself. It was a huge tree and it covered and shaded an area as big as the village. The tree provided to protect the villagers or travellers or the children from the sun.

It was always green and covered in leaves, even in fall. During fall, a few leaves fall to the ground. The tree never dried and was frequently visited by animals and birds. Birds slept in there at night and people and animals near it's trunk. It was the evergreen tree and people could swear to their gods that they have never seen the tree look dull or lifeless. This almost magical appearance had made it the most revered and holy tree of the town. People prayed to the tree for fertility and longitivity. People came from far away to pray to the tree for themselves and their loved ones.

The tree was the only relief for the villagers troubled by the incidents for the village. As protected it was during the day, the nights were terrifying for the villagers. Occasionally young people or children who wandered the village went missing. They disappeared without a trace. No blood or evidence of struggle ruled out chances of kidnapping or animal attack. People prayed to the tree to protect their young ones and no one dared to come out of their house after sunset.

Days passed by, the evergreen tree protected the villagers and witnessed the annual village festival. People prayed to the tree, offered it with sweets and money , for eternal youth and fertility.The green leaves of the tree swayed happily in the breeze as if dancing with the villagers.

The day passed in celebration and went on till sunset. As the sun began to set, the villagers scurried to their houses to avoid inviting any harm to their household. Admist all the chaos, a little boy of 10, stood watching the tree. He eyed the money that people had offered to the tree. With that money he can buy the ball he had seen in the shop the other day. As his father pulled him away to his house, the boy turned to look back to ensure that no one has picked the money from below the tree.

As night fell, when his parents fell asleep, the boy woke up and slowly crept out of his house and made his way towards the tree. It will be wrong to say he woke up since the little boy couldn't fall asleep as he had set his mind up to get the money and have the new shiny ball which no other kid in the village owned.

The little boy reached the tree.

The tree stood tall,as it always stood. The boy could make out a pair of Ravens sleeping in the branch closest to the ground. Anyone standing below the tree will only able to see the branches that was closest to the ground. The sight feels divine in the morning , but after sunset - the tree looked like night itself. The long branches covered with leaves prevented any moonlight from touching the ground beneath it.

As the boy looked mesmerized by the sleeping Ravens, a fruit fell near him. The fruit looked like a tomato. Red and shiny. But it smell was nothing like anything he smelled before. It was tempting. The sweet smell would make anyone have a bite of it. The little boy was no wiser, he wanted to taste the fruit so badly that he bit the fruit without any second thought.

If this fruit had a smell that wasn't like anything he smelt before, the most delicious food he ate in his life couldn't compare to the taste of the fruit. It was a bite of heaven that he tasted. One bite and the boy felt his blood circulating through his body. All the energy drained from the playing and dancing before , vanished.

As he felt the changes in his body, the little boy noticed something he had never noticed before. The huge tree had a hollow in it's trunk. And he could hear some soft sounds calling him in. The sound was soothing and asked him to take a look at the world inside the trunk. The voice assured him of the toys and sweets inside the tree and that all of it was his to take..The little boy couldn't believe his luck. The tree may actually have shinier balls than the one he had seen in the shop. It will have many more things which other kids could never even dream of.

Slowly the boy stepped into the hollow of the tree. A bright light shone for a moment and as soon as the boy stepped in the hollow closed. Trapping the boy inside.

The tree felt happy. The little boy was full of energy and youth. Young kids always were tasteful and useful. The adults won't contribute much to its existence. But a kid was a different thing. The energy and youth of the children will be enough for it to survive for another year. It had survived for years but eating the villagers or animals and on a really lucky day- a child. The animal will make it full for a month, an adult will satiate it for a month or two. But a child can satisfy it's hunger for an year or two. Now it won't have to worry for sometime. It will give shade to the villagers and passerby for the coming year. Afterall it was their revered tree- protector from harm and their God of fertility.

The tree had forgotten how many people it had consumed from its existence. A lot of people, animals and birds. It had forgotten, but it's branches remembered.

As the hollow closed and the soul was sucked, a little leaf springed in the highest branch of the tree. The leaf that once was the little boy's soul.