Behind the Banyan Tree

Heena’s POV:

“Guys, did y’all hear about the man who went missing a week ago?” asked Raghav while holding up his notebooks in his hands.

“Yeah. We know he went missing,” I said, being disinterested in the topic.

“Heena, don’t act like you are not concerned about the situation,” whispered Meera to me, rolling her eyes.

“I just don’t want to think about it,” I muttered to myself.

“What about him?” asked Meera, looking at Raghav.

Raghav smacked his lips and looked around. “That man’s dead body has been found on the street near the forest edge this morning. The street that crosses that banyan tree,” said Raghav, putting his bag beside the table.

“Should we even talk about it? I feel as if there’s someone who could be hearing us,” said Samina, looking over her shoulders, eyes scanning the classroom.

“I don’t think anyone is hearing us besides our classmates,” I said sarcastically.

None of them paid any attention to it because as soon as the teacher arrived, everyone stood up to greet her. Ms. Verma was our class teacher. She was careful and caring towards the students. She always treated us as her children.

“Students, I have something important to discuss with you,” Ms. Verma said, “As you all know, we are halfway through the semester, and your mid-terms have ended, there will be Winter Vacations until January.”

Everyone was delighted by this news. It was as if they had forgotten about the missing man’s incident they were just whispering about with their friends. But, it indeed was happy news.

“And your vacations are starting from tomorrow. So, before we put our heads together in the lesson, I want everyone to write down what they are going to do this winter,” said Ms. Verma.

So, now I’ll have to think of something to write down on the page. I thought of many things to do throughout the vacation with my friends and family. I jotted down all the things I was able to remember at that moment and handed it over to the teacher. She gave me a faint smile and kept the paper in the stack of other papers on her table.

I returned to my desk and sat on the chair. It was beside the big wooden window. I always sat there because I liked to observe what was happening outside. Even though it was the same as always, I would still search for something new. I

* * *

As the last bell rang, everyone was in a hurry to get out of the classroom. The desks were screeching behind them. They were just thrilled about the vacation, and so was I. The sweeper gave me a strange look as I was the last to get out of the classroom.

I walked down the stairs with my friends. All they were talking about was how they were going to enjoy the vacation.

“Don’t you guys think that we should explore the banyan tree area? It would be fun and a much better topic for our homework,” I said when we arrived at the school gate.

“Oh, no! I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to be on the school newspaper’s headlines when the school reopens,” Samina said in a humorous tone.

“Don’t be so scared, Sam. There’s nothing related to the tree and the missing incidents,” I said, “What do you say, Raghav and Meera?” I asked them.

“I don’t think we should be doing any kind of expedition of that area. Besides, we should enjoy the vacation,” said Raghav.

“Yeah, I agree with him. Let’s just avoid even going there. It gets way haunted at night,” said Meera while acknowledging the fact.

“Okay, I get it. No more talking about that,” I said to them. Even if I said that I wouldn’t be going there, I’d find a way to go there, once.

At the gate, we said our goodbyes. I was strolling with Meera. Her home was on Lane 12, which crossed the main village street, Street 1. While my home was on Lane 15, which was on the other side of Street 1. So we always walked together to school.

“Is there something you want to share about?” asked Meera, as we were walking down the lane to the main street.

“I don’t believe in the superstitions related to the missing incidents and that banyan tree. I just want to explore and uncover the truth behind it,” I said.

“Maybe we should leave this stuff to the adults. They will surely find a way out of it.”

“They never even tried once. All they know is to spread rumors and give warnings.”

“I know you’re just scared about that one incident, but I promise that it won’t happen again. You believe me, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“So, I’ll come to your house to discuss our homework. Let’s just finish it so we can have enough spare time to enjoy the vacation. Wait for some bit at my house and then we’ll leave for yours.”

“Okay, that sounds great,” I said when we reached her home.

She had the keys in her bag. She opened the door and went straight upstairs to change her clothes and I waited downstairs. There was a photo frame on the desk, behind the lamp, with a picture of her, her mother, and a man whose head was ripped from the photo. I assumed, why? But I ignored it.

There were some hand-painted drawings in the living room, hanging on the wall. Each one was signed ‘Varun’. I don’t know who he was, and I never asked Meera about it. Maybe, he was his dad, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.

She came downstairs, and she had a bun on her head. A pair of blue jeans and a black T-shirt that had the letters 'DO I SEEM LIKE I CARE?' It was the opposite of how she was. She was even worried about little bugs; she was afraid that she might crush them under her feet.

“Shall we?” she asked, looking at me.

“Yes, we shall," I said, giggling.

* * *

“Apart from the 'expedition’, what else do you think would be fit for our homework?” she asked, handing down me the notebooks from her bag.

“I haven’t thought about it. What are your ideas? You’re also a member of this,” I said.

“Well, we’re doing this together. So, let’s think of something that crosses both of our minds.”

We sat down on my bed. We were quiet and didn’t say anything for some time. We started writing down our interest topics on each of our pages. After some time, when we were done with the writing, then I thought I’d go on first and talk about my topics.

Both of our topics were not that good, and we were just wasting our time on stupid things. I wanted to finish this thing to go on to enjoy the vacation, but this homework let me do it.

“We will copy from another student. Moreover, Ms. Verma won’t read it deliberately. She will see that we have done something and won’t ask us anything,” I said, lying down on the bed.

“Do you remember what happened last time?” she asked, giving me an eye.

“I don’t know, how she even knew about that plant!” I said, accepting the fact.

“That’s because she knows you very well,’’ she said, and we both snickered.

"What’s that everyone is afraid of that tree with many hands?” I asked. As soon as I asked it, an awkward silence broke between us.

“I don’t know. Maybe it could be because those people who went missing were all found near the forest edge of the street which is near that banyan tree,’’ she said, caressing my hair.

“Or maybe because they were unable to find a good reason for the missing people. And that’s why they blame it all on that tree.”

“Well, guess if you weren’t able to find a valid reason for something you’ve done and blame it on someone else. But that someone is not saying anything to you. Then you’d just blame it for everything you do.”

“I guess so,” I said, chewing the end of the pencil.

We didn’t talk much about that later.

* * *

It was 7.30 p.m. We came into the living room.

“Did you figure out the topic for your homework?” my mother asked us from the kitchen.

“No, Mrs. Gupta, not yet. We will think about it tomorrow, ” Meera said.

“Yeah, mom,” I said.

“Well, if you need any help, just ask me, okay,” she said, coming into the living room. She sat beside me on the sofa.

“Yes, we will,” we both said in harmony.

“Can I borrow your phone, Mrs. Gupta? I need to call my mother and ask her if she can pick me up,” requested Meera.

“Here you go,” my mother said, handing her phone to Meera, “If she is unable to come, ask her if you can stay here for today and then leave tomorrow with Heena’s brother on his bike.”

“Yeah, Meera, we could have a girl’s sleepover like when we were kids,” I said, looking at Meera.

Meera gave me a smile and got up from the sofa and went near the table lamp placed at the entrance of the house. She called her mother. She talked about picking her up from here. After talking with her mother, she came and sat on the sofa. Looking at her face, it seemed that she did not want to say anything.

“So, is your mother coming to pick you up?” asked my mother.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, she is coming. She told me to walk past Lane 14. She will meet me there as soon she is done with her work,” Meera said, giving the phone back, “And we will have a sleepover. Next time, at my house,” she said, looking at me.

She got up and started walking towards the front door. She looked behind and waved her hand at me. I waved my hand back at her. I sensed some uneasiness on her face, telling me to stop her from leaving.

* * *

Meera’s POV:

I called my mother to pick me up from Heena’s house, but she refused because she was unable to take a leave due to her workload. She said that she could ask one of her colleagues to come over here, but I told her that it was not necessary and there was no need to send anyone here.

I know that I could’ve stayed at Heena’s but I just couldn’t. But I can't because of her brother. I once tried telling Heena everything about Anant, but I couldn’t muster up the courage to do so. And that is why I lied to her and her mother and said that my mother was coming to pick me up. I started walking past Heena’s house.

I crossed Lane 14. There were some people on the street. Some shops were open, and I could see the children playing in the yard.

When I was near Lane 13, there were some people around. But there were neither any kids nor anyone else outside their houses. I saw the time on my watch. It was only half past eight so far. And the street was getting desolate.

As I moved ahead, the street was getting emptier. There was no one around. When I got near Lane 12, I suddenly felt a gust of wind flowing over me. I was feeling very cold, even though it was only the second month of winter. I didn’t have anything on my body except my black T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

“Meera!” I heard someone calling my name. It sounded familiar, as if I had heard the voice before.

I looked around but found no one. I was all alone on the street. I couldn’t see anybody on the street miles away. The street looked deserted. The winds were blowing very fast and I felt a sudden chill at the back of my body.

“Meera!” I heard my name again. This time, it sounded as to how my mother would call my name.

I looked around to see that huge banyan tree with its sprawling branches and its many hands touching the ground. I felt a strange feeling that the tree was calling me towards it.

“Meera!” I heard it again. It was an eerie sound but with the voice of my mother.

I was unable to control my movements. Everything was telling me to go near that banyan tree. The thing I feared most was having a dream like this. But this wasn’t a dream. I was walking towards the tree and there was no one near to help me. I felt as if someone was pushing me towards the tree.

As soon as I came near that banyan tree, the branches became alive. They were coming towards me. They grabbed me from my waist and the tree opened up a door behind, in its hollow. I was then thrown inside the hollow. And then, I felt a sudden pain in my head and everything went black. After that I went into a deep sleep.