“The axe forgets, the tree remembers.”

African Proverb

 

 

 

 

The old house, with its wildly overgrown garden, was silent, secretive. The leaves crushed beneath her feet as she made steps towards the abandoned house. There was no sign of life, only memories of her childhood and stories of her time here floated in the air. Perhaps it was too late, perhaps not. But the sad look in her eyes was all it took to know that she wasn’t happy.

The key was stuck in the rusted lock and after a few more struggles a loud clunk was hard and she opened the door. On the ground was shattered glass and a dusty smell lingered in the air. Her feet tread carefully on the ground as if she didn’t want to wake up someone in the room. Her eyes wandered around. Their stories were reenacting themselves in front of her eyes, her gaze softened as she took it in.

She dropped her bags on the floor; she couldn’t remember how many years it has been since she was last in Vuka.

She went over the abandoned state of the house one more time before she decided that it was time to clean the house. Opening the broken windows she let the breeze sweep the house and one by one she pulled off the sheets from the furniture that was left behind years ago.

 

 

 

 

The fire was crackling softly and she was going through her messages on her phone. Winter was approaching and the evenings were beginning to get chilly.

I hope you arrived safely. Enjoy the wedding. And apologize to Kai on our behalf.

She quickly replied to her parents.

Her parents and Kai’s parents were neighbors long before she and Kai were even born. Their close friendship soon paved a way to their own strong friendship. It was known in the whole of Vuka that where Kai would be, she would be with him.

Her phone buzzed in her hands, breaking her thoughts and she looked down.

Kai

With a slight sigh, she answered the call.

“Dara! How are you?” His voice had become deeper; he was no longer the person she knew back then. It made her realize again, that it had been a long time.

“Good thanks. You? Excited?” She grinned into the phone.

“You have no idea! And I am so glad you came! Now that you are here, I can be assured that everything will be fine.” She bit her inside of her cheeks when she heard him speak. “I am so happy you are here. Why didn’t you come over? I am right next door.” She heard him chuckle and her heart clenched. But she kept telling herself, he doesn’t know.

“I am tired, I came and I have been cleaning the house. You should have seen the state.” Her eyes wandered to the windows and the old peach tree caught her eye.

The conversation continued on for a few more minutes until Kai had to leave. After making plans for meet tomorrow, the call ended and her eyes were still stuck on the tree.

She let out a breath, something she didn’t know that she had kept in. She was really tired, but something lifted her from the couch to go outside and see the garden.

 

 

“When I become a man, I promise to marry you and live with you in my house.” He told her, his chest pulled out, wanting to be a man.

“But I don’t want to leave my house! It has peach trees and avocado trees.”

“Well, my house has avocado, mango AND lemon trees.”

She said nothing, the proposal was tempting.

“But when there are peaches in my trees, promise me that we will come to my house and get them.”

 

 

He promised her that they would come back to get the peaches when it was in season. She stared at the barren trees that were left in the backyard. How long had it been? Did children sometimes come to steal the fruits like they did when they were younger?

She watched how the sun rays lightened the ground. There was once a time when this garden was the glory of the house, members of the family took pride in their well maintained garden and beautiful flowers, of course accompanied by the fruit trees and vegetables.

But now, it lay barren. Lost, forgotten and alone.

Just like her.

Her gaze went over the dried grass and the tall weeds that were now standing in their strongest, knowing that there was no one to bother them. And without thinking much, she walked into the garden and started tending to it.

Her father must be so proud of her, because she hated gardening.

 

 

 

When Dara went over to Kai’s house, she was welcomed with warm words and tight hugs. It felt good to come back and be greeted with such warmth. She missed the people of Vuka.

“So tell me, how is the city like?” Unlike Kai’s family who stayed behind to continue living on the ancestral land, Dara’s family decided to move to the city to look for a better life.

“Nothing like Vuka.” She told Kai’s mother. Although she spent many years living in the city, home was here and home would always remain here. There was nothing in the city that could convince her to pick the city over Vuka.

Dara couldn’t help feel the pinch she felt when they spoke of the wedding. When she was younger, she often heard their mothers talking about their marriage. But time had a will of its own.

 “I should be going.” His mother informed her. Of course it was for the wedding, Dara nodded in understanding, but how could she understand? She didn’t want to be like this. Why should she be like this? “Kai should be coming down shortly. Meanwhile eat some lunch; I am sure you must be hungry.”

She watched the ladies leave the house. Dara wandered around and eventually came to the kitchen.

 

 

“What type of girl does not know how to cook?” Kai looked at her in disbelief.

“Well what type of boy does not know how to start the stove?”

“Starting a stove is a girl’s job. I am a man.”

“Stop lying! Your mother told me you are 6 years old! My mother said if someone is a man they have to be 25! You are a babyyy!”

“I am not! YOU ARE A BABY! You can’t even make food!”

She stared at him in anger.

“I am not your friend!”

 

 

She smiled at the memory. Even to this day, she couldn’t cook. She was thankful for her mother and sister, because they would ease the burden. But to put Dara and cooking in the same room, that was calling for a disaster.

“I want to be alive for my own wedding, so don’t even think about it.” She heard his voice and turned around with a mock scowl to greet him, but she knew better. Her face concealed her feelings of pain as her eyes soaked in the figure. He was taller, broader and Vuka’s sun had done him good.  

“So much for a hello. I have to deal with your obnoxious self now?” She watched him break into a grin before walking closer to give a hug.

“It has been so long. I almost thought you had forgotten me.”

“How is that even possible?” She pulled back.

“Who knows? The city is big. It must have been easy to find a replacement of your so called ‘obnoxious’ best friend.” She playfully punched for his remark.

“Come. Let’s show you Vuka. It’s been years.” She nodded. It had been. Refreshing her memory would be nice.

 

 

 

 

 “Remember the sugar cane fields? This is it! Remember how we would run away from Uncle Tom and hide in the tall fields. Damn and he would run after us with a stick even.” He chuckled at the memory.

Dara smiled at the fields that still looked lush as ever.

 

 

 

 

“Can I try something?” Kai asked nervously.

They were sitting in the sugarcane fields. The tall leaves were providing the shade from the burning sun, but at the moment that was the least of their concerns. The two adolescents were sitting next to each other comfortably.

“Sure…” She turned to face him, she was curious as to what he wanted to do.

“Are you sure? You are not allowed to back out then.” His voice quivered with something, Dara couldn’t define what it was, more so, she didn’t know what it was.

“What are you going to do?” Her voice was getting softer. What was Kai going to do? Why was he putting her in such a firm spot?

“Trust me.” His voice was had fallen down to a whisper as he leaned in closer. “Close your eyes.” Their eyes were connected, and she didn’t have the strength to pull out from his gaze. But none of that mattered when he pressed his lips on hers, making her eyes flutter shut as she was being overwhelmed with the feeling.

 

 

Her eyes lingered on the places that Kai brought her to. Nostalgia, feelings…memories. All of them lost in one moment, one second, just like that. As if they never existed, as if she dreamt those times with Kai.

 

 

“I have something to tell you.” There was excitement on his face.

“I have something to tell you too.” There was shyness on hers.

“Really? Well let me go first. I am really giddy with happiness.” Kai quickly held both of her hands, not noticing the deep flush on her cheeks. “I am with Zene. We are together.” He grinned, once again being unaware of the smile that quickly faded into nothingness.

“I can’t believe how lucky I am. She is just…” he let out a sigh, “amazing.”

“Oh…” That was all she could muster to say. “That’s nice.”

“I know right.” He nodded with a bright smile. “What did you want to tell me?”

As much as she hated the situation now, she could not help but love those twinkling eyes, that charming smile…she could not help but to fall over and over again.

And with the love she felt for him, she could also not help but feel played. Played, betrayed, used and then…thrown.

“Nothing.” She started. “I am going to the city. I got accepted there.” But that was not what she wanted to say. Those words she wanted to tell him, they were long stuck in .

 

 

Dara worked on the garden when she got back to her house. She would tell herself that it was because she wanted to be breathing in Vuka’s air, but she knew it was a lie.

 The truth was, garden was like her. Used, enjoyed and then discarded. She could empathize with the barren land.

After being left alone for so long, the ground was hard. To break it, one needed to be patient not forceful. She silently started working on the ground to soften it. This was the last thing she would ever do, but in some ways she enjoyed working in the dusking sun. The darkness was approaching and the chilly winds were whispering around her. But none of that mattered.

Dara finally managed to soften the ground and planted the saplings she got from Kai’s mother.

 

 

 

 

The next few days passed like that. Dara helped Kai’s family much, against her feelings, during the day and in the evening she worked on her own garden.

“Why don’t you work on revive the peach trees?” She heard someone comment when she was working on the garden. “They are not dead yet.” He scratched the bark with his nails.

It was still a bit green under all that bare branches.

It was still alive.

 

 

 

 

The day of the wedding arrived. Dara was dressed in a pink dress. The church was decorating with fresh, bright flowers and lanes of pastel colored organza.

Her eyes caught Kai, wearing a smart black tux, grinning and talking with his friends who were all wearing similar outfits.

Dara stared at the newly painted building. It looked bigger than the room they previously had.

 

 

 

“I told you to wear white! You are so stupid. You ruined everything!” Kai threw a fit when Dara entered in a pink dress.

“My mother said no. She said white gets dirty easily.” She frowned at Kai, he was being so unnecessarily annoying and mean. “And she also told me to give you this, but you are so mean to me, maybe I will just eat it myself.” She took back the lunch box and hid it behind her back.

Kai let out a sigh.

“I am sorry I was mean to you. But how could you forget that you HAD to wear white? Brides always wear white.”

“Well then I will be the first bride to wear pink. I am sure God won’t hate me for that. In fact he will even like it. Maybe he got bored of seeing all the white.” She opened the box and took a bite of the cake.

“Okay okay, whatever; we will eat the cake afterwards. First come here.”

She wiped the crumbs off and rushed towards him by the altar.

“Give me your hand.” And after doing so, he slipped in a ring. “And do the same for me.”

“Where did you get them from?” She looked at the plastic ring.

“Never mind where I got them from, lean forward, all is left is the kiss.”

 

 

Dara didn’t know if she had it in her to sit through the entire wedding. As a friend she was supposed to, but as a woman who was watching this silently it seemed to tear her. She bit her lip when she saw them lean in. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t watch them, it would hurt her.

Mumbling an excuse to no one really, she rushed out the church without attracting much attention.

 

The dinner was going well, everyone was enjoying when Dara decided to stand up holding her glass.

“Hi,” She smiled with slight unease; everyone was looking at her expecting something. But when her eyes landed on Kai’s face and his comforting smile, she shook away her fears. “My name is Dara, and I am the groom’s best friend.” Everyone gave a brief look at Kai who was now sporting a proud smile.

“Before anything, Kai, please take care of Zene. We don’t want her running out of the house because of you silly self.” She earned a chuckles and of course an offended hey in the background.

“On this occasion, there was a story I wanted to share with everyone, and of course our newlywed couple.” Dara motioned towards Kai and Zene.

“There was a boy who played in a tree. His parents had built him a nice, strong tree house and on one of the strongest branches was a swing. He played and had fun; he would also invite his friends to play around the tree. The tree found that its happiness grow with the laughter and smiles of the little boy. Of the boy would crave his name on its bark, but the tree still felt happy with the boy’s company.”

“But as he grew older, the tree noticed that boy rarely come by. The swing was getting old as no one came to play and the tree house was also left unattended. The tree often saw that the boy would sit on his desk reading something with intense attention, the type of undivided attention the tree itself would get from the boy. Saddened, the tree would watch the boy from afar, waiting for him silently.

“The boy grew even older and moved out of the house. The tree stood in the same place, grieved at the loss. The tree was alone but never forgot the boy.”

There was a soft mumble on the table, Dara looked up to smile at Kai’s attentive face and Zene’s confused one.

“Sometimes one can only hope that he or she is not left alone. Being tied together, there are promises of being together forever, but it is the small things that count that make together forever beautiful.” Dara smiled, and perhaps genuinely smiled for the first time. “Make the most of everything. You never know what will come, but it is those beautiful memories that will give you strength.”  

There was a small silence, she watched Zene smile at Kai lovingly.

Dara was the tree. Kai was the boy. Dara was childhood of the boy, she was one the left behind. But everything in that childhood was beautiful. She knew it was her turn to let go, but she knew, her heart would never be truly able to let go.

Kai was, after all, her first love.

“Let’s make a toast to the couple and to their happiness together.” Dara lifted her glass.

 

 

 

Dara watched the party from afar. She smiled, to no one really, perhaps to herself. And without much delay she turned and walked away.

“Why do you have to leave now? The wedding just ended. Leave tomorrow.” Dara stopped when she heard his voice. Her eyes closed as she let his voice ring in her ring and taking a deep breath and turned around.

“Can’t Kai. I told my boss that I will be coming in tomorrow morning. I have a lot huge pile of work waiting for me.”

“But you can’t do this to me.” Dara said nothing but smiled apologetically.

“I have to go. I will come again soon.” She promised before getting into the car.

 

 

The wedding was over. Dara smiled to herself while watching the trees of Vuka pass by. She learnt a lot on this trip.

She learnt out the tree and the boy, she learnt about letting the boy go, she learnt how to be free.

But the happiest moment on this trip were the small blossoms on the peach tree.