The Golden Tree

It was a rainy day. Renu was out playing with his pet rabbit, in the backyard of his house. The rabbit was in a very bright and playful mood. It kept running about the garden that Renu had himself set up when he was younger. The garden was a small one, with colorful flowering bushes and small trees. There was a small 3 feet deep pond for his pet turtle and the goldfish. The garden was surrounded by a wooden fence. There were many birds who had built their nest on the trees in the garden. These birds loved Renu as he had been kind enough to allow them to stay in his garden, and to give them crumbs of bread and fruits every day to fill their little stomachs.

Renu loved the garden. It was his favorite place to be in when he was feeling bored and wanted to spend some time with his animal friends. Since he had no "human" friends, he used to spend most of his time in the garden, where he would not feel lonely and be mocked at by the other boys. He loved to be in his animal friends' company and they loved him too.

Renu realized that he had spent a lot of time playing with his pets, and he went to his room to complete his geography homework and to study a little. The rabbit was still running around the garden, along with the turtle who tried to keep pace by walking as fast as he could. Suddenly, the rabbit stopped. And so did the turtle. Both of them had noticed something unusual in the garden. The flowers were suddenly even more bright and colorful than they had ever been and the birds had fallen quiet to a beautiful silence. A golden glow was spreading in the garden as if someone had made the sun shine brightly in the middle of the rainy season. All the animals and birds held their breath and waited eagerly for the garden fairy to appear. The garden fairy was a very kind witch who visited all the gardens during the spring and the monsoon and made them beautiful and sent things growing out of the earth.

What happened to Renu's garden where the effects of the garden fairy's presence and the animals knew that.

Soon the garden fairy arrived in all her natural beauty. She took one look at Renu's beloved garden and smiled proudly. She said, "Renu has made this garden beautiful with his love and care for his plants and animals. I am impressed by his work. I want to reward him. Let me plant a golden tree in his garden. It will add more beauty and will be of great help to him."

The golden tree was a legendary tree that could only be planted by the garden fairy when she wanted to reward someone for their efforts and hard work. The animals were excited as they had never seen a golden tree. The fairy flicked her wand and there stood a beautiful golden sapling right in the middle of the garden. Then she blessed the garden and its creatures and vanished.

The next day, when Renu came to the garden to tend to his plants, he saw the golden sapling. He had no idea of the garden fairy or the golden tree. He thought the golden sapling must be an ordinary plant that had grown from a hastily dropped seed. It didn't surprise him much. he went about his usual business and collected vegetables from the vegetable patch and went to cook himself dinner. While cooking, he noticed that the vegetables were juicier and healthier looking. Of course, those were the effects of the presence of the golden tree in the garden, but Renu had no idea about that. He thought it was because the rain had fallen nicely the last night and watered the plants well.

Slowly and steadily, the golden sapling began to grow into a beautiful tree with big juicy fruits, and Renu came to notice this. Soon he grew fond of the tree and loved it even more than the rest of his garden and plants. He used to tend to it very carefully and watered it regularly to make it grow big and strong.

Renu had grown older by now and had passed his 12th boards. It was his dream to attend a big university to study well and become a botanical scientist. But there was no such university in the small town that he lived in and he had to go to Bangalore and live in a hostel to fulfill his dreams. He was reluctant as he lived alone and there would be no one to take care of his garden and his creatures after he went away. But he came up with the idea to visit them once a month and provide a food supply till the next visit. So he went away to Bangalore.

Life went normal until Renu was diagnosed with stomach cancer. The doctor said it could be cured, but for that, he would have to undergo a treatment of at least three years. And he could not travel during the treatment.

Renu was devastated. Three years without once visiting his garden! But he had no choice, so he stayed in Bangalore and got treated.

Meanwhile, at Renu's house, some activity had taken place. Renu's neighbor had been convinced that Renu would never come back to his house since he had not come for three years. So he decides to auction the house along with the garden. The house was bought by a greedy merchant. He took one look at Renu's garden and decided he would sell the plants and animals so that he would earn loads of money. So the golden tree was chopped off and the wood sold at high prices.

When Renu came back after three years, he was shocked to see what his neighbor had done. And he was heartbroken at the loss of his garden and pets. For days and days, he shut himself in his rented room and cried. He had no hope left to live in the world without his garden, the golden tree, and his pets. So in grief, he decided to commit suicide by jumping from the top of a high building. Following his plan, he jumped down from the tallest building in the town in the dead of the night.

But he did not hit the ground and die, as you expected. He was caught by the garden fairy in her arms. "Why do you want to waste your life by committing suicide? You have worked hard to achieve your dreams, and you would end your life in such a way?" Said the garden fairy."I will rewrite the history for you. You shall have your house and your garden back." Saying this, the garden fairy put Renu to sleep. When he woke up, he found himself in his house, with everything the same, his garden, his creatures, and the golden tree. He was beyond himself with happiness. So it had been a dream, he thought. He vowed never to leave his garden and creatures and go somewhere else ever again and lived happily ever after.