THE TOUCH

The morning was cold and silent;the sunrise spread across the vast skies,announcing a new day. we were puppets for the gelid wind that blew,we leaned and swayed in its direction; the daisies blossomed,and the canaries sang their sweet symphony that made the forest regain its youth;the rays of the sun accentuated the sparkle of the silvery lake that gently flowed. Allow me to introduce myself,i am an old and a lifeless tree confined to the muddy grounds of these woods; i must admit that i often feel like a ghost amid this thick,lush green forest,for nobody notices me during the daylight,and fear my horrendous form at nightfall.Time alone favours my horrifying presence. The wind often carries birds that are destined to the boundless skies;they fly past me swiftly,like i never existed and perch on the branches of Oak,Deodar and Pine,which flaunt their green leafy form with great pride, and mock my leafless body. The day was just born,when she emerged from a gust of heavy wind;the harsh wind showed rage,but she refused to sink and glided agilely against the ruthless wind like a missile,and perched upon the lateral surface of my branch ,without a hitch.I must admit i was aghast and at the same time overjoyed by the fact that i was evidently visible to her eyes.There she was; standing tall,and holding on to my branch firmly with her strong,barbed talons, which were like the serrated blade of a bread knife;providing her with a tremendous grip.She was unshakeable;she remained still like a statue on a pedestal anchored to my branch.She left the heavy gale astounded;it bowed in respect and at once, and yielded to her might. Before i could catch a proper glimpse of her;like a flash of lightening,she let go of my branch and took off into the far-flung skies.I felt immense joy in those very few moments,for no life form had ever felt my lonely presence in ages. Days had passed;seasons changed,it rained,it snowed,there was hail and there was warmth;monsoon had passed ,and so did the winter which was accompanied by the frosty mistrals. There was no sight of her again,until one warm crispy summer;the skies were bright and clear,the sun couldn’t have shone any brighter.From a great distance,a small,but a familiar object was in motion.As i pondered over it,seconds had passed and it drew nearer,and was headed towards my direction.It couldn’t be,it was her again!she glided against the wind like an accurately shot arrow, and once again perched upon my branch,in the very spot she had earlier.She revealed her long,magnificent wings like a blossoming rose,and fluttered them to shake off the dust that had accompanied her,in her long tiresome journey.She then placed her head towards the sun,inhaling the pleasant air. The vibrant rays of the sun subsided and dissolved into the widening darkness of twilight. Her streamlined body was decorated with feathers,like a tiara fitted patiently with fancy rocks that glitter;her burnished breasts blinded the starry skies,and outshone the dull glitter of the moon.She fell fast asleep on the surface of my branch,her sleep was that of a meditating monk;composed and serine like the gentle river. The morning had commenced;to my surprise,she was still there!she peered from my branch and leaned stealthly downwards,taking a wary look over the trees situated nearby;and like a bullet,she shot herself in the desired direction.She was once again gone,but this time my instincts told me that she would surely return;which as a matter of fact she did.However this time, she returned with a piece of twig which she carefully carried between her long pointed beak,and as she landed,she placed it gently on my branch.After she was pleased by the way she had placed it;she again disappeared in the air. After a while,she returned with more twigs ,dry leaves and small blades of grass.With tremendous amount of care, she would arrange them patiently  in a hemispherical manner.This ritual was repeated for several days.I remained puzzled and failed to understand the reason for the need to build this miniature hemispherical structure,but I couldn’t help watching,as there was grace and lithe in her movement.She was determined to finish building this monument before the cold,however time consumed her actions and slowed her pace. She was like a gladiator;obdurate and decisive;she refused to give in and fought fiercly against time,and swimmingly managed to accomplish her task before the cold.With an ample amount of pride she marched towards it,like a soldier returning triumphantly from war.She then slowly settled in this hemispherical vessel and rested her eyes. At nightfall,she would sing a drowsy lullaby that put the entire forest to sleep;her voice was like the vast deep blue sea,it spread widely across the entire woods,drowning the whole forest within it;and her sweet melody was like the gentle breeze;soft and soothing. It was dawn,when I felt a tingly sensation at the tip of my branch i felt something growing out of it.It was green in colour and had a bud like structure,and in the pace of a snail,it grew longer and longer developing into a small heart shaped leaf.I admit i refused to believe what i had just witnessed! i felt immense pride,and was blinded by happiness,for it was nothing less than a miracle.After a while,i felt a prick on the surface of my bark;it was them again! they were the devil’s most adored pets,which invaded the surface of my bark,leaving behind painful scars.They were parasites that bred,fed and took refuge on the surface of my branch,building castles of mud and silt.Even the harsh winds failed to shake them off,and i felt like an injured and a helpless fawn,in the captive of a predator.Suddenly out of the blue,she appeared like a guardian angel,crashing on them like a meteorite.This resulted in a huge explosion of mud and dirt,which caused the spiteful creatures to escape in large numbers.She was a fierce predator,for she fed on them until there were no more of them in sight,and within a while the pain came to an end. I was in raptures over the way she fed on my worst fear.Hope had descended on me,and i felt like a treasure chest guarded by a fierce beast. The days seemed longer,and the nights merrier.A dead silence broke when she sang;we were unable to understand what it meant,but there was a depth in her voice,which made it almost impossible to restrain. A new day was in the making;the sun slowly began to ascend in the skies,the flowers danced to the sounds of the chirping birds.She too joined them,it was like an orchestra  set in motion.As she sang,more leaves began to grow on my branch .They were everywhere!i swear i was in a state of complete elation and bliss. I felt like a king dressed in his best robes and ornaments,flaunting them with a great show of pride.Forgive my pride,for I had felt no greater joy in the past. I must mention that she was gifted with a sharp sight,keen senses and god speed.She could smell danger from within a mile.Her eyes were a pair of highly powered magnifying glasses;she could spot a wild squirrel gnawing on an akon on a distant tree,from the very spot she’s perched upon. One dry summer, the travelling winds carried a flock of migratory cranes in the direction of these woods.To my surprise,they flew towards me and landed on my branch.I should have felt a great deal of happiness and joy;however for an unknown reason,I felt neither. They led out an unpleasant cry which was rather cacophonous and disturbing.They flocked around me ,and moved hastily back and forth with their delicate stem like legs.She was nowhere to be seen at that moment,for she had gone hunting for wild mice,chipmunks and ferrets that dwelt in the nearby lands across the mighty river. Out of nowhere,she appeared like a cannon ball in their direction,leaving a raspy screech, frightening their petty souls,and causing them to immediately flee.Thereafter,she allowed no soul to breathe near my bark,for I was her possession alone. The darkness soon dawned on us; the moon did shine and the stars did flicker.The night was pleasant,when it began to drizzle which was accompanied by strong winds.They destroyed any mere object in their path;the miniature hemispherical structure situated on my bark was no match for them,for they blew it away with much less effort.As she restrained the force of nature;the winds grew bigger in strength, which she could no longer bare.There was sadness in her eyes,but she refused to lose hope.Her attention drew towards a hole on the upper part of my bark;which was pecked by a wood pecker ages ago. Like a rebel,she fought against the violent wind and made her way inside and resided in it.It provided her with enough space to support a family of racoons.It protected her from the harsh weather and furnished her with warmth during the cold. I was her safe haven as she was mine.She would take off during daybreak and return before sunset,with enough food for the whole winter. The weather remained to be harsh and unkind for a long period of time;the night was gloomy and the stars were concealed behind a thick sheet of grey nimbus clouds.The fiends swarmed the forest,the wolves howled and the frogs croaked.A peculiar silence broke,and there was stillness in the foggy air. More clouds began to engage signalling a heavy rainstorm.The nimbus clouds were pregnant with rain,which had soon ceased to commence.The skies roared and grunted loudly,which caused the paws and feathers to scurry.It was a spine-chilling sight! it began to pour heavily and the roaring of the skies had summoned deadly storms,which sabotaged the entire forest. Trees fell,animals were crushed beneath heavy rocks, and cries of excruciating pain followed.To my horror, she still remained perched upon my branch.I failed to understand the cause behind this foolish and suicidal act.The raging tempest hit her like a giant boulder.She refused to fall and clinged to my branch with her strong talons,with extreme effort.With each blow,her rigid grip grew weaker and weaker in strength. She was petrified by the cruel act of nature.She could have fleed and saved her soul,instead she stood there feeling helpless,it was as if she had surrendered to the wrath of nature and accepeted her doom. She led out a melancholy strain;this was the last time she ever sang.Before she could finish her sweet symphony,the merciless wind cut my branch like a cleaver and she went crashing down and landed on the wet marshy soil,like a broken aircraft which was shot during flight.With great effort,she pushed her wounded body towards my long roots, that were tightly attached to the earth.She held on to me with her hurt wings until she could hold no more.Within seconds she let go,and her eyes closed forever. The following morning was dull and grey.There she was,lying quiescent and motionless  beneath my left branch;she looked like art on a piece of folded canvas.The sun’s vibrant rays kissed her lifeless body;my leaves began to shed and descended on her like a blanket,concealing her remains.The roots and vines of the neighbouring plants gently coiled on it,forming a protective barrier;the winds carried her in their arms and made their way gently into the heavens.It couldn’t have been a better funereal. The sight of the forest was horrifying.The air reeked of the foul stench which emanated from the dead carcasses of the animals. A body of muddy water and blood meandered past me,making its entrance into the lake.It was nothing less than the graves.The forest had lost its youth,for the canaries never sang again;the wind did blow,but we no longer swayed in its direction and neither did the stars flicker.Joy had faded,but hope remained.I was once again a leafless tree,which least bothered my thoughts. She may have been gone,but memories of her dwell in my thoughts;her presence is still felt on my branch;for i had felt sweet joy,pride and a different kind of sadness ,i felt love;an emotion stronger than the hardest of rocks,sweeter than any nectar and more painful than fire.

Time neither slows,nor increases its pace;  time may destroy,time may create;  memories,but remain; for they stay open or concealed within the depths of our thoughts; it is upon us to unveil them.