Through my Lens-27

 

Hi!

Welcome to TML, my quest to capture ordinary beauty in my surroundings and bring to you some pictures, raw and aesthetic. This week’s picture has a mystical and possibly weird aura to it, read ahead at your own risk…

I was in my grandma’s kitchen garden, eager  to see which veggies she was growing in those days. At the entrance was a tree, not very tall, a young adult perhaps,  with nothing fancy to turn one’s head back and have a second look.

I crossed over , My attention rapt at the beautiful flora ahead.  After I had gone through the area, I turned to leave and faced the tree once again. This time I noticed that this tree had sturdy roots and how wild foliage was growing between them. It seemed mystical, something  beautiful and had definitely grabbed my attention for the same reason. The drab roots now were a thing of beauty. Also, This tree reminded me of those elusive storytelling trees, holding secrets and mysteries in their wake. Tales which left you spellbound in the mystical and dark world.Lost in these thoughts, I clicked a picture of the roots and the new life proliferating with the aid of its sturdy support. An old form supporting a new one was beautiful and worth a click.

As I was about to leave again, I noticed a spider creeping up the roots of the tree getting lost inside the foliage in no time. As I stood there, a honey bee swarmed past me but instead of settling on a nearby flower, it went straight into the bark and vanished.

Now that was perplexing. I could not believe what I had seen. I bent down to carefully see the foliage, expecting the bee to be lying there. But there was nothing  at that place. I stood up and touched the bark at the place I had seen the bee vanishing.  The bark felt as rough and hard as it should have been. I poked my finger at the spot the bee had vanished but in vain. ‘Maybe it was just my imagination’, I thought and started back once again. I had only taken a few steps when I heard a voice singing- a sweet, soft voice, almost in whispers. That was no lyrical song, just a tune, a tune which could mesmerize, soothe and  transport one to world of ecstasy and peace…until one realized its source, which was the tree’s trunk!

I was getting more and more skeptical of the place and the hot sun glowering overhead was not helping either. It was in my best interests to get back into grandma’s house.I quickened my steps and it was then I felt something clinging to my ankle. A chill went down my spine. I instantly jerked my foot and in the same moment looked down, only to see a big web and a sturdy one at that, circled about my left ankle.

‘How could  that have happened? I must have stood here for nothing more than thirty seconds!’ .I jerked and freed my foot from the web’s hold. Just as I was about to sprint back, I heard my name being called, the voice coming from the trees’s direction. I turned around, staring at the tree in amazement. This was getting ridiculous and weird at the same time. But by now, I was interested. Very interested . The anxiety and the fear of the unknown which had started gripping me until then, suddenly vanished. I retraced those few steps back to the tree. My hand unconsciously went upto it, my fingers touching its rough and callous bark. And then I went blank.

The next memory I have is of the time my I first heard my grandma calling out for me. As her voice entered my ears, I regained consciousness and  noticed where I was. My hand still touching the tree, I stood there staring at its bark. I quickly detached from that place and hurried to my grandma. It came out that she had come out looking for me, since it had been long I had gone out. Perplexed, I took out my phone from my pocket and saw the time. It been over an hour! And to me, it seemed like it was just then I had come out to see the garden, adjoining grandma’s home. I certainly couldn’t have spent more than fifteen minutes looking the veggies and the rest of it … what was I doing the in the balance time?  The moment I had regained my senses, I had a feeling that a passage of time had elapsed but I could not remember how much or  anything about what had happened in between that time. Was I sucked inside the tree or I simply stood there blank, I know not. Yet, I know there was something inexplicable and mystical, which had crossed my path, whether I liked it or not. And I longed for answers I had been denied…was this a beginning of a something new or just an incident I would look back at someday?

 

Jump to the next part!

PS: This is a work of fiction, something which came to me on seeing the tree and the way a new life clung to it. It reminded me of mysticism and magic!

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