The Mango Tree

It was a bright sunny Tuesday morning. The lawn was lush green and the mango tree added to the serene tranquility, with its yellow-green fruits and fresh leaves. To the little boy it was a seemingly perfect day to make a climb up that very mango tree in his lawn. The fact that his parents weren’t home made it more convenient for him.

He ate his breakfast, informed his elder sister about what he was planning to do and then ran outside. The mango tree wasn’t too tall. just indefinitely branched out. It was not unsafe but the boy’s parents were worried considering his age and fragile frame. One fall and all his bones would break, was what his parents thought.

Outside, he met his neighbor, Mrs. Mehta. According to him she was a wonderful woman but just a little mysterious. But who was he to know all her secrets anyways? without wasting any more time he cautiously began climbing the tree. Soon enough he reached one of the many high branches. He had carried a long rope with him just for safety purposes . so using the same he loosely tied himself to the tree’s trunk and satin the bench with the trunk as a back support.

All the houses society lined up one after the other in a proper sequence and definite design and short trees of several backyards scattered against the backdrop of a cloudless blue sky. It was a splendid view indeed. This was more of the aerial view, while the view beneath the branch of the lawn was little frightening because of the height. But he was never too afraid of heights anyways.

At a distance of about 5-10 meters from the foot of the tree, he could see Mrs. Mehta. The usually unassisted , independent woman this time was accompanied by someone. Another woman. she seemed like an old lady probably in her sixties. Her back was faced against the boy due to which he could not get a view of her face. But what caught the boy’s sharp eye was Mrs. Mehta’s face. She looked tense and anxious. She desperately tried not to maintain eye contact with the elderly lady. Seconds later she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat. This made the boy more curious.Why was she so worried?

The elderly woman then gave her a small transparent cover full of oranges. After that the two of them walked away in opposite directions.

“why was Mrs Mehta so tensed ? Who was that unfamiliar old lady? What had just happened?” and many more questions lingered in the boy’s head. But yet again who was he to interfere in others’ lives? So he dismissed all his thoughts , climbed down the tree and went back home.

That night the boy couldn’t sleep. Although it wasn’t any of his business he still couldnt stop thinking about the incident. His thoughts were interrupted by the wailing of a siren. Intrigued, he peeked out his window and saw that there was an ambulance and police vehicles in front of Mrs. Mehta’s house.

A few reporters and cameramen stood there filming the commentary. “Middle aged woman found dead at her home after alleged poisoning”. Said one of the reporters to the cameraman in a fairly loud voice. A shiver ran down the boy’s spine. He gulped and went downstairs to take a closer look at all the commotion. It was just what he had feared. The main door was left ajar. In the living room there were a number of policemen and a few doctors or rather forensic doctors here and there discussing and investigating where the scene . Once again the unusual details caught his eye. Several oranges laid tossed about on the walnut flooring of the living room and at a farther distance an inverted basket. Probably where the oranges were kept prior to the incident.

The body was placed on the stretcher and loaded into the ambulance. While several community folks gathered around near the house and began murmuring amongst themselves, the little boy, convinced by what he thought was the cause of the death, without uttering a word, turned back and started walking home. Suddenly he stopped in front of his lawn and looked up at the mango tree. The tree which seemed so serene that morning , now looked eerily calm against the unusually dark night sky.

TO BE CONTINUED…..