The Maple Tree
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The Maple Tree
Shree’s mother worriedly asked the doctor, “How is my daughter? What is wrong with her? And why is she talking like a male?”
The doctor was tensed, “We need to get some more tests done. If not, then we would recommend a psychiatrist. Don’t worry, we are trying our best”. The doctor left while discussing this case on his mobile phone with another doctor.
Shree’s mother kept looking at her 14-year-old daughter from the big glass window. Tears welled up in her eyes. Shree was dressed in a pale blue hospital robe. Her feet and hands were tied with muslin cloth against the bed cot. The cute little girl looked exhausted. Her frizzy hair and weird look in her eyes leave an unapproachable appearance.
The entire family was at the hospital. Shree’s younger brother was with his nanny. The nanny- Sulekha belonged to the tribes, she haled from a very small village and had immense spiritual knowledge. After looking at Shree, she was stunned. She quickly went up to her mother. “Madam, can I have a word with you?”
Shree’s mother was already under a lot of stress. She waved her hand and replied in a tiring manner, “Not now Sulekha” and started walking towards the doctor’s chamber.
Nanny, once again made an attempt, “Madam, please listen to me. It’s important. It is about Shree”. The moment she heard that, she paused and looked back,” What is it, Sulekha?”
Sulekha said,”Madam, please sit down and listen to me carefully.” Shree’s mother nodded her head and sat down. “I know an old priest in my village, who perhaps can cure her. I personally feel this is not a medical problem. This is something else”.
Shree’s father was completely against this suggestion. He called it a ‘superstition’. Unfortunately, no medical aid or Psychologist was able to improve the situation. In a couple of days, Shree’s health deteriorated drastically. Finally Shree’s parents agreed to visit the old priest.
At the village:
The old priest along with other priests murmured something. He placed his palm on Shree’s forehead, and the child screamed in pain. The priest replied in dismay, “She is possessed!”.
Her mother sobbed worriedly. The child’s father pleaded. ”We want our daughter back. Please do something”. Lying in bed with her hands and feet tied up to the cot, Shree looked at all of them and laughed loudly in a manly manner. The room echoed in terror. The horrific ambience made her mother feel that she might lose her daughter forever, as she had not eaten anything past week. The child looked even more fragile than before.
Sensing something must have gone wrong, the priest asked the mother, “Can you please tell me the whole incident from the beginning? When did you notice that Shree needs medical help? Tell me each and every detail, of the past ten days.”
Trying to fathom everything in her memory… “Shree is a lovely and obedient child. My daughter was absolutely hale and hearty. She wanted to go on a school trip for a day. Looking at her merits, we did not object. After coming back, she stopped eating food and would continuously sit with her diary”.
The mother continued, “Her younger brother who shares the room with her told me that Shree used to sleep with the diary below her pillow and would continuously stare at the ceiling the whole night, grumping and yelling ‘You will not be spared’. She sometimes used to talk in a weird manly voice. She would scream, laugh and cry at times”.
The priest asked for that diary. The mother said she keeps it under her pillow all the time. Shree’s hands and feet were tied up firmly with the bed cot but the moment that priest went close to her and was about to hold that diary, Shree angrily with unimaginable strength, pulled her hands and broke off the cot. With great force, Shree pushed him very hard. The priest fell to the ground. Listening to the loud noise, the group of other fellow priests came there and started chanting some mantras, vigorously.
Shree started feeling uncomfortable. One of the priests once again tied her hands. And this time Shree could do nothing. All she could do was scream, “You all will die. Stop this at once”. But the priest did not stop. They continued the procedure.
Somehow, the old priest got the diary. Sensing there must be something written on it, because of which the bad spirit has possessed her body. He searched, but there was nothing except for a dried red maple leaf. Without wasting any time, the priest burned the diary along with the dried leaf.
To this, Shree screamed loudly and fainted.
The flashback:
While coming back from the school trip. The school bus had halted near the woods. While other children were busy playing. Shree secluded herself from her friends and sat under the maple tree for a while. The dried red leaves looked different to the little child.
Unfortunately, the night before, a murder had taken place and the deceased body was buried under the same maple tree.
Unknowing, Shree took a dried red maple leaf from the ground and kept it inside the diary.
In order to take revenge, the child was possessed.
At home:
Shree slept peacefully on her bed. Her parents quietly peeped from the slightly open door. It seemed as if a huge storm had just cleared, leaving behind a calm and peaceful weather.
Sometimes unknowingly, we invite problems. Who would know that picking up a sheer dry leaf from the woods would be life-threatening? Would you ever do that?
Sweta Gupta