The Tree House

Abhishek had moved into a new house with his parents. It was an old bungalow in the outskirts of the city. Abhishek had been excited to move in; the bungalow sounded a lot like ones he had read about in books. But once he moved there, he realized that there was nothing very great about the house. In fact, the walls and the roof had holes in them, many doors were jammed and mites had eaten away most of the furniture. When Abhishek’s mother had finally finished cleaning and restoring the entire house, it looked a lot better. But Abhishek could still not shake off the feeling of uneasiness that overcame him whenever he stepped inside. It was as if something, someone, was constantly watching him.

His house had a huge garden, which had never been tended to and was full of trees, wild shrubs, and bushes. One day, as Abhishek was walking around the garden, he saw something that caught his interest. It was a treehouse built between the branches of a tall tree. The treehouse had been expertly built, and it was one of the few things that had been properly maintained. Abhishek decided to explore the treehouse. Being a swift climber, he reached the treehouse in a couple of minutes.

Ongoing inside, Abhishek was in for a surprise. There was a small chair and a table inside. On the corner were some blankets and a pillow neatly lined up against the wall. On the whole, it seemed like someone was still living here. Abhishek knew this was impossible, this area had been abandoned a long time ago and people seldom came here. This was why Abhishek’s parents had chosen this place so that his mother could write her books in peace.

The treehouse became Abhishek’s favorite place in his entire home. He would spend a lot of time there reading or simply gazing out of the window. One day, as he was sitting up in the treehouse, he heard a shout from below. He peeped outside. Standing below was a girl, looking up at him. Abhishek was surprised since he had shifted here, he had not seen anyone except his parents, let alone someone of his age. “Hi, do you want to come up?”, he asked the girl. “Sure”, she replied.

Just as Abhishek was wondering whether she could climb or not, she came and sat beside him, giving him quite a fright. “What is your name?”, she asked. “A.. Abhi..Abhishek. What is yours?”, said Abhishek, recovering from his shock. “I am Mira,” she said, holding out her hand. Abhishek shook it. They became good friends and Abhishek no longer felt lonely. She shared his love for the treehouse and both of them would spend hours inside it, playing cards or talking. Mira would always be reluctant to leave the treehouse and Abhishek had to persuade her. One day Abhishek realized that he did not even know where Mira lived. When he asked her, she replied a little too casually “It is across the road, a ten-minute walk from here.” Noticing that she was feeling uncomfortable, Abhishek did not ask any more questions.

One night, Abhishek woke up from a bad dream in the middle of the night. His room faced the treehouse and he noticed movement inside the treehouse. Though puzzled, he was sleepy and he drifted off to sleep again, giving no further thought to what he saw.

The next day, in the evening Mira left her scarf behind in the treehouse. Thinking that he ought to return it, Abhishek ran behind Mira, who had gone quite far ahead. Just as he was about to catch up with her, she disappeared. Puzzled, Abhishek searched the spot where she had been standing. That was when he noticed something sticking out from the ground. He crouched down. There was something written on the mound. Abhishek struggled to read it, the writing was old and faded. It read-

MIRA (2000 – 2014)

DIED AFTER FALLING FROM TREEHOUSE

MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE