My Champa Tree

The magnolia trees bloomed to the full glory today, Bindiya loves standing beside the front gate to smell the fragrant breeze flowing from the orchid. Her whole childhood she nurtured these trees by watering and talking with them as her best friends.

It’s been months since magnolia stopped flowering and the leaves started turning pale. Maa, appa, and maali kaka tried everything to revive the trees, but the condition only got worse.

‘Just get rid of them’, Appa said in an irritated voice seeing Maa adding some coffee powder to the soil.

Offended, she looked at appa and said, ‘Don’t you know Bindiya love them. For her, these are not trees, but friends’

‘So, tell her to take care of her trees, could you?’ snorted Appa.

Bindiya is happy today, her trees are back in full glory. She saw Appa standing in the verandah staring at the trees with moist eyes.

‘You are back, why not my…’, he stopped abruptly seeing Maa coming from the outhouse.

‘Did you see the magnolia tree? It bloomed! After all, it is Bindiya’s birthday today.’

Bindiya looked at them going inside standing behind the pillar, she swiftly walked towards the entrance to surprise them with her arrival.

Maa and Appa were standing by the temple, folded hands, Bindiya could see a trail of tears flowing from their closed eyes. She reached to wipe off the tears when her skirt got stuck in the brass pot kept on the floor.

She carefully detangled the skirt when her eye saw a portrait of herself and a wreath kept at the middle of the temple door with numerous magnolia flowers spread around it.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this post are either the product of the blogger’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

This post is part of Blogchatter Half Marathon Aug ’21

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