Come climb the story tree!

Peg at Pegs Pen tagged me for this fun Story Tree. I'm in just at deadline because I work best under pressure, lol!! My contribution is printed in red. Please read the rules and the continuation of the story below. Don't panic if you've been tagged. It's really easy and fun to do, plus you have 7 days to do it, so procrastinate away ;)


Rules: For story tree

Everything below the dashed line should be copied and pasted with every accepted tag) This is a Story Tree and is best nurtured as follows:

1. A blogger can add only 90-100 words (no more or no less) at a time
2. All previous snippets of 90-100 words need to be copied before the new set of 90-100 words are appended.
3. Each entire snippet should be linked to the respective author (and not just the first sentence or so)
4. Characters, scenes, etc. can be introduced by an author
5. Bizarre twists, sci-fi, fantasy sequences are best avoided.
6. A tag must be accepted within 7 days else the branch is a dead branch
7. After appending 90-100, the Story Tree can be passed on to at most 3 bloggers.
8. If more than 1 branch leads to a blogger, s/he is free to choose any one of them but cannot mix the snippets of the individual branches.
9. The Story Tree is best left to grow than concluded
10. Please attach the image of the Story Tree below with each accepted tag (the link address can be copied and used) .

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A Blog Tree Story and Rules Above
Thursday, November 10, 2005

Dream Tree

He thought it would be an ordinary journey. Standing behind the pillar he watched the train snort arrogantly into the station. With each snort he was reminded of his grandfather's words "You will fail in the city and return penniless"; with every heavenward whistle, he heard his cousin, "Don't worry. Come here and I will get you a job at the construction site." Now he had a 34-hour journey to prove one of them wrong, and he expected the excitement at the end of the journey. He looked at his ticket once again: compartment S9 berth 23.

Pushing his luggage under the seat, he sat close to the window. "Papa, when will you be back?" - his four year old daughter Munni asked innocently. He stared into those soft brown eyes of the motherless kid. He held her frail palms in his, through the window. "Munni, Papa will get you a nice gudiya from the city..Say tata," his sister spoke to the kid, to avoid an emotional outburst. In a minute, the train pulled forward, and Munni's little fingers parted from between his. "I need to go..", he thought, "I have to, at least for Munni's sake.."

The humid summer breeze and the rattling train coaxed him into an uncomfortable state of drowsy consciousness. He dreamt that Munni ran away, the closer he ran to her, the farther she was, like a mirage. He woke up with a start and squinted at his watch."What is the time please?"A smallish woman, a meek voice as if she was scared that her existence would annoy someone. Her only noticeable feature was her rather large, expressive eyes. "4.30" Something made him look at the woman again. He had stopped noticing women long back. Ever since Meenakshi passed away...

Four long years. His daughter’s birth. His wife’s death. Joy and sorrow in an instant. A heady cocktail. He had hardly recovered from it. He barely had a chance to. You can’t be a poor farmer in Andhra Pradesh and have time for emotional upheavals. Life betrayed him once with the death of his wife. Life betrayed him again, three years in a row, with the failure of his crops. Every year, the debt increased and it felt like a noose tighten around him. Tightened till he could not breathe. He shivered with the memory of the night, where he took a bottle of poison in his hand …

He threw the bottle away when he heard the small voice behind him, “Papa, whats beyond the big well? Sanju says that’s where the world ends.” His then-preoccupied answer had satisfied Munnis innocent curiosity, “No, beta…That’s the railroad to the city…There’s a lot of world beyond the big well.” He had repeated the answer to himself, “No, it’s not the end of the world”. Maybe some of that same innocence in this woman’s voice or eyes made him rephrase the answer to her question. “What is the time, please?” In a crystal-clear flash of certainty he realized…“It was time.”

It was time to put the scattered pieces of his life together. Just like the marbles he picked up as a boy. That he won and collected one by one from the ground, his pockets laden and bulging with his precious treasure. He had to play the game of life again. He looked at the large expressive kohl-rimmed eyes once more. Shy and downcast at times, hesitantly observant at others as she gazed out at the rushing landscape beyond the rusted iron rods of the second class carriage window. He suddenly heard himself asking, "Are you going to the city?"

She shook her head, and looked away, out of the window. She looked tense. Almost a little scared. Balbir wanted to ask "whats wrong", but hesitated. He'd been too friendly. He turned away and looked out of the window.

The train slowed. Radhapur Junction. Dusty. Near-empty. Interchangeable with so many rural stops. Just one man got on board. He wore the bright, colourful pagri of the region above his sunburned face. He had a happy face and no luggage. As he walked the corridor his eyes scanned the berths. He reached their compartment and stopped in front of the woman. Slowly she turned, could this be possible? Her eyes spoke of the panic she felt race through her body! He had found her, but how? She had taken every precaution to ensure her safety—this time! Trembling, yet she could not look way, she froze as if time itself had been suspended. Flashes of pain seared through her mind with the memory of those days. He stood poised smiling down at her. So calm his demeanor, his shell. But the core was churning uncontrollably. He wanted to reach out, tear the flesh from the face that he once loved.

“Well, Lohra, we meet again.” His dark eyes shifted from the woman to the opposite seat where Balbir sat. Balbir was trying not to notice the man standing over him but he could not control his own eyes from locking into an uncomfortable stare with the man. After a few frozen seconds, Balbir stood and asked the man to sit down, motioning him to take his seat. Without a word, the man slid into the seat next to the woman. She quickly slid her small frame over, tight against the window. Balbir shrugged and sat back down opposite them.

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And now the TAGS, lol!

1. Easywriter (Because she's great at writing interesting, colorful snippets)
2. Michele (Because she's into the writing life and even has a dedicated page to memes, etc)
3. Christa (Because she likes these "participation" themes and speaks 3 languages to boot)

And like Peg said, "Don't fret if you don't want to, all your limbs will stay intact and your nose won't grow to immeasurable porportions and no one will put a hex on your blog if you choose not to do this! Have fun if you will or ignore if that be your desire!!"

(Between us though, I ain't takin' any chances!) Write on, girls!! ;)