When the woman turned around and started walking
back to the house, Molly starred at her in disbelief. She wanted to call out to
her ‘Don’t leave me here, please Mammy, take me with you’, but she couldn’t
make a single sound. Caretaker had quickly put his hand over her mouth and
hissed ‘Quiet. No sound.’ He knew the punishment would even be harsher if she
protested. Although Molly was glad that she was not alone in the garden, she
was unable to stop her little 3 year old body from shivering of fear and of
cold. As she tried to put her arms around herself she noticed that she was tied
to the tree. She looked around in panic to find her friends. ‘Where have they
gone?’ Her eyes tried to penetrate the darkness in the hope to make out the
familiar faces of the other Tree People.
To the unsuspecting eye this garden was just a
normal suburban back yard. Big bushes and trees gave the house owners privacy
from prying neighbours and provided shelter from the unforgiving sun during the
day. Anna loved the rare occasions when her mother allowed her to play in the garden. There were
many rules of how to play, what not to do, what not to touch. But there was
something about the garden that comforted her. She couldn’t say what it was
that comforted her. Maybe it was the warm earth. Often Anna sat in the garden
and started dreaming. At least, that what she called it. She dreamed of how
wonderful it would be to live in the tree like the birds. She loved the tree.
She was sure that nobody would find her if she would be able to climb up all
the way to the top. Anna never noticed the Tree People. She had no idea that
they were there, watching every move she made. Watching all the time. Watching!
Molly didn’t look for Anna, no, she was looking for
her friends. Anna was not her friend. Anna was a big girl that was often close
by, but Molly didn’t like her much. She was not funny, didn’t play with her,
didn’t sing like Kelly who sang songs like ‘row, row, row, the boat’ or
‘strawberry – bawberry’ when Molly was sad, scared, or hurting. No, Anna was
boring. ‘Kelly, where are you”, Molly called out softly as she felt the chill
of the night breeze washing over her small body. She was scared. Now, at 10
o’clock at night, the garden was scary alright. Molly glanced over to the
Feijoa tree that looked like a big hairy monster.
The faint light the moon was able to cast from
behind a thin layer of grey clouds formed patterns of shadows in the backyard
that looked like dangerous beasts to Molly. Caretaker knew she was too little
to understand that the monsters were not to be found in the garden. They lived
in the white house that rose up from behind the Feijoa tree. He then felt that
the cold had numbed Molly’s hands that were tied behind the tree. ‘Come’ he whispered
softly ‘she’s not coming back to get you’. He put gently his strong arms around
Molly and pressed her caringly to his chest while he disappeared with her
through the bark into the sanctuary the tree provided. Molly was safe now.
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