The Tree Monster
It was a dark night. A Halloween night. There were ghouls and crawlies, monsters and scaries, there were no stars in the sky.
Kyra was only 5 years old. She lived in a big house on the edge of a forest. She came out of the house wearing her night-clothes and slippers. Her parents slept peacefully, unaware, Kyra had stepped out
but she had to rescue her baby sister.
When Kyra had woken up in the middle of the night, her 3 year old sister was not in her bed. Instead, there was a letter. Kyra had just learnt to read and the message on it was pretty clear:
“No Mama. No Papa. Come alone, Kyra.”
So Kyra kept the letter in her pjs and left her home.
The forest was pitch dark in the night and her parents never let her go out alone in the night. She didn’t pretend to be brave. She was scared but knew today her baby sister needed her.
Here, she was alone and wandering in the dark roads near her house.
Kyra dreamt of being a veterinarian when she grew up and prayed every night, “Dear Santa. Dear God. I want to talk to animals and I want them to talk to me. Can you please make my wish come true?”
The deeper she went in the forest, the darker it got. She could hear rustling of the trees nearby, not far away from where she was walking. Her mother had told her, deers and foxes lived in the forest but now she was alone and scared.
Kyra started running in the forest, scared and calling out her sister’s name. She didn’t know whether she would be able to find her in this dark.
She fell on a rock and was massaging her ankle when something behind her spoke to Kyra.
“Hi. Are you looking for someone? Can I help you?”
Kyra was surprised to see it was a deer talking to her. Her wish had come true! Or, was she dreaming?
Kyra was happy to just talk to someone even if it was just a deer in her mind.
“Are you really here? How can you talk to me? Can you help me? I am trying to save my baby sister who’s been taken by a monster in this jungle.”
The deer looked terrified, “Do you mean the tree monster? I have heard he’s pretty big and lives in the darkest corners of the forest.”
Kyra nodded. Her innocent mind conjured up a horrifying image of a monster in the disguise of a tree eating up her baby sister.
She started crying. “No, no! I don’t want my baby sister to die. I want to
save her.”
The deer called her friend, the rabbit and the fox who guided Kyra on how to reach the monster’s hideout. It was a strange sight to see: a young girl in her night clothes walking alongside a deer, a fox and a rabbit inside the forest.
They walked for what seemed like forever but was in fact just a few minutes long and then the animals stopped.
“Kyra, this is as far as we can come with you. If we come further along with you, the monster would eat us up. He can smell animals.”
“But how do I save my sister alone from the monster?” Kyra asked, scared and unsure of how she would face the monster alone.
The fox told her, “The monster is scared of fire, Kyra. Get your baby sister and come out first. We will be nearby, waiting for you both!”
As she proceeded inside alone, Kyra recollected how fire is made from rubbing wood together and she picked up two wood logs, rubbing them together hard and fast. Her hands were paining and she didn’t know how long would she be able to keep rubbing the logs together but just as she was to quit, a spark emerged.
With the tiny fire in hand, Kyra felt braver than she actually was and called her sister’s name.
She saw her baby sister tied loosely to the bark of the banyan tree and ran to untie her when she saw someone move from the corner of her eye.
Kyra aimed the fire in that direction and what she saw was an image she would never erase from her young mind. A big tree with dropping arms, no leaves and glowing eyes in its bark. The monster was real and huge and Kyra aimed the fire in its direction, despite being petrified at its sight.
The tree cowered in fear and Kyra gained more strength, using the fire as a protection, a shield to protect her and her sister. She threw the fire on the monster and quickly untied her sister who was in deep sleep.
She picked her up and ran in the direction she came from. Her animal friends were waiting for her and they guided her back home.
She looked up and saw that it was nearly morning. It had been a long night and while Kyra was exhausted, she had fun. She was sad to say bye to her animal friends.
She hugged them all and told them that she will come to meet them soon and rushed back inside the house with her sister, who had been sleeping through the entire journey.
A few hours later, when Kyra woke up, her baby sister remembered nothing of the adventure she had last night. She went rushing to find her parents and tell them about the adventure she had. Her parents bemused at her story, proud that she had such a good imagination.
“It’s true, mama. I had gone to the forest and the animals really spoke to me. I am going to meet my friends, the rabbit, fox and deer today too. They helped me find my sister who had been taken by the tree monster.”
Her mother pulled her close and gave her a loving kiss on the forehead. “Sweetheart, you guys have been sleeping the entire night. The door was locked. It seems like a lovely dream, though.”
When Kyra came back to her room, she opened her toy box that had all figurines of animals. The deer, rabbit and fox winked at her. It was going to be their little secret!
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