He had been standing here for over seven decades. Thrice as tall as the grand mansion he stood in front of, with a trunk of a circumference so great that a dozen people could together try to encircle it with their arms spread but still the ends would remain far separate.
None in the family had ever known much botany but a friend who had studied it in college—a pleasant rarity—had told us that this species seldom grew into such a titan. The last record of a specimen that even came close was a fossil that dated back several millennia. And here he stood, our own natural marvel. The Latin name science had bestowed on him was too tortuous for us. Long ago, my grandparents contemplated on the mountainous sight in their sprawling lawn and rightly named him ‘Kingtree’. All the flora and fauna around basked in his gentle sovereignty.
His canopy spread a lush, dense, green umbrella which stretched scores of metres to each side, casting a haven-like shadow for the world beneath. And in this reposeful, pacific shade our family had commemorated a plenitude of the most important days of our lives’. My grandparents’ wedding, my parents’ wedding, my own, and too many birthdays and anniversaries to count. It was also the burial site for departed family pets. Ricky had been lain into this hallowed earth only a month ago.
I walked up and put my hand on his warm bark. Day had settled into dusk; the sun was setting right behind the King and it appeared that this wooden monolith radiated the orange afterglow. The scent of the trunk and the grass-carpet mud around opened doors of nostalgia as I heard soft footsteps behind me.
My brother came up beside me.
“How’s the King?’” he asked, looking up the trunk with me.
“Reigning strong,” I replied as we both kept our gaze up.
“You know,” he said, “I read online that this species can live up to half a millennium. So, our King is but a child yet. He will be around for centuries.”
“If he’s taken care of,” I added.
“We always have,” he said.
“Yes, we have. I don’t remember a day when I was home and didn’t spend time here.”
“Maybe as a baby.”
I chuckled, “Probably but memories of infancy are long-gone”.
“Ever since our diapers came off, the King has been a constant,” he said.
“We’ve peed a lot on him too.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but we were kids. That doesn’t count. In our minds, we were only watering.”
I sat down with my back up against the trunk; it was a firm, familiar support. My brother followed suit.
He looked at me for a few moments before continuing, “We have to call them. We have stretched it as long as we could. They’ve taken the offer as high as they can. Or that’s what they say. I think we should clear this up.”
“I'm unsure about this,” I said, “what do you suggest?”
“You know where I stand on this. Of course, the money would help with the shops and commuting from within the city would save a couple hours each day. But—”
“But this is the King,” I said. “And who knows what might happen. After all, they’re developers. They might make this a nature retreat or they might ‘urbanise’ it.”
“You’re right,” he said. “Five centuries in him. I know I want him to live for all of them.”
“I do too. It is just…it is just the money would clear all our debt and still most of it will be left over.”
“Oh, that’s tempting, I know. Instant problem-solver,” he said. “But we’ve always found a way. And the King has always helped too. Far more than any tree does.”
“He’s always been more,” I said. “At least, to our family, he has always been more than just a tree. It’s bizarre, but all of us have always had a favourite tree.”
“The same one too,” he said.
I rested my head on the trunk. “It is too precious to lose just for some money,” I said.
“We’ll have to pour cash for the upkeep of the grounds and the house each month,” he reminded me.
“I know.”
“The instalments will still need to be taken care of.”
“I know, I know.”
“The apartments will have to be sold and everyone will have to move back,” he said.
“I know that. But the spaciousness out here is a blessing. It soothes me, safe from all the little irritants.”
He laughed at me. “Is that your real motivator? Does dear sister-in-law know that?”
“You can say what you want,” I said, “but I enjoy a modicum of privacy.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “Will be good to live together again anyway.”
“You will help in taking care of Ashwini, so yes. She will be delighted to have her uncle as a nanny.”
“Only for the fun parts,” he said. “As soon as she cries, poops, or pukes, she’ll be handed back.”
“I hope she soils all your clothes,” I said.
“I’ll just use your shirts to wipe it off,” he said as he got up. “My bladder needs emptying and I am too old to whizz on the King so, I’ll head in.”
“I’ll sit here for a while,” I said as he began to walk back.
I spread my legs, shut my eyes, and rested on the King as the night fell on us.
Comments