The Tree, Page 2

the tree and measured the distance to the house. He measured thirty feet. He stood next to the house for a moment and wondered what he should do next. What if he measured it the next day and it was still thirty feet?

  “Bobby…” he heard the wind whisper behind him.

  He spun around and glanced at the yard with widened eyes. He was the only one in the yard… well, him and the tree. He cautiously stepped closer to the tree again. The tyre swing slowly rotated making the rope groan like a demon.

  “Hello?” Bobby vigilantly asked the tree.

  He knew it was crazy to talk to the tree, but what the hell. He scrutinized the cracked bark and waited for the tree to respond, but nothing happened. He felt like he was losing his mind. He shook off the eerie feeling he had and went inside.

  He played video games for the rest of the day until about an hour before his dad got home. He started with his homework at four. He sat at his study desk next to his bedroom window and tried his best to concentrate on his homework, but he had the strangest feeling that he was being watched. Every now and then he’d glance out the window at the eerie tree at the other side of the house. It looked like it was frozen halfway in a gasp – almost as if the tree wanted to swallow the house whole, but was frozen in time. The more he thought about the tree, the more he hated it.

  They had dinner at six that evening; watched CSI after that and then Bobby went to bed. As he lay in bed he kept staring at his closed curtains, waiting for the same sounds he heard the night before. It felt like he was staring at the drawn curtains for an eternity, but nothing happened and then he slowly drifted off to sleep.

  He awoke with a jerk the next morning when his dad banged against the door and said, ‘hurry up! You’ll be late for school!’ He overslept – something he never did. He was always on time. He jumped out of bed, got dressed and rushed downstairs. He ran past his dad as he rushed towards the front door.

  “Hey!” His dad called out, “Remember the babysitter is coming at six. I’ll be at the work function tonight.”

  “Okay!” Bobby called back as he slammed the front door shut.

  He hurried across the yard towards the gate, but stopped when he noticed the tree again. It stood stationary as before, but something seemed different. The swing was on the left side of the tree… Bobby was pretty sure it used to be on the right side. What was the deal with the creepy tree?

  Bobby put down his bag and cautiously walked over to the tree. The tree looked ominous and threatening that particular morning – almost as if the tree was angry at the world.

  He thought about it for a moment and decided to measure the distance between the house and the tree again. He stood next to the tree and then measured the distance in feet. He fell short of the thirty feet when he reached the house. He only counted twenty five steps. Could it be possible that he miscounted or did the tree move again?

  4

  Bobby ran down the street to Alex’s house and then furiously banged on the front door. He needed his friend to tell him he wasn’t going crazy. A moment passed and then Alex’s mother opened the door. She seemed a bit surprised to see Bobby.

  “Bobby.” She said, “What a lovely surprise. How are you?”

  “Good Mrs Smith.” He rambled, “Is Alex ready yet?”

  “My, you’re in quite a hurry to get to school today.” She said impressed.

  Bobby faked a smile and then she called out Alex’s name. A moment later Alex came down the stairs while struggling to balance his bag on one shoulder.

  “Have a great day at school.” Alex’s mother said unto both of them.

  “Bye mom.” Alex said annoyed.

  He hated it when his mom embarrassed him in front of his friends. As the two of them walked down the street, Bobby glanced back over his shoulder at his house. He could hardly see it anymore, but he still felt the tree watching him.

  “I’m not crazy.” Bobby said randomly.

  “I’m sorry?” Alex asked confused.

  “The tree moved… again.” Bobby said.

  Alex sighed and said, “Not this again.”

  “I’m not making this up.” Bobby insisted, “Yesterday I measured the distance between the tree and the house; it was thirty feet away. This morning it was twenty five.”

  “Maybe you counted wrong?” Alex suggested.

  “No!” Bobby insisted, “I counted it three times. The tree moved five feet last night. I’m telling you, there is something horribly wrong with that tree!”

  “Okay, just calm down.” Alex said.

  Bobby took a moment to calm himself and took a couple of deep breaths. Once he was calm, he nodded at Alex.

  “I believe you.” Alex lied.

  “Really?” Bobby asked relieved.

  “You’ve never lied to me before.” Alex said, “I don’t see why you would lie now.”

  “Will you come over and sleep at my place tonight?” Bobby asked.

  Alex hesitated. He liked playing video games on a Friday evening, but it would be nice to have a sleepover. It’s been months since he had one.

  “Sure.” Alex said with a smile.

  Bobby felt relieved that his best friend finally believed him. He could finally prove to Alex that he wasn’t crazy. He’d show Alex that the tree moved.

  Fridays usually flew by and before Bobby knew it they were on their way home again. They stopped at Alex’s house for him to get clothes and permission for the sleepover and then walked to Bobby’s house.

  “I packed a two-player game.” Alex said, “It’s a shooting game. I think you’ll like it.”

  “Cool.” Bobby said preoccupied. All he could think of was the tree.

  Bobby opened the front gate to their yard and the two of them entered. Alex watched as Bobby walked straight for the tree and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t really in the mood for the tree story again. He watched as Bobby measured the distance between the tree and the house. When Bobby reached the house, he turned to Alex and his face was as white as a sheet.

  “It moved again.” Bobby said shocked, “I counted eighteen feet this time.”

  5

  “Let’s say the tree is moving towards your house.” Alex said.

  “It is.” Bobby insisted.

  The two of them sat on Bobby’s single bed. The walls of his room were plastered with posters of movies and action heroes and toys lay scattered across the floor.

  “What would its motive be?” Alex asked.

  “What do you mean?” Bobby asked.

  “Why is it moving?” Alex asked.

  “I don’t know.” Bobby insisted, “I didn’t ask it.”

  “No need to get hysterical.” Alex said, “I’m on your side.”

  “You’re right.” Bobby apologized, “I’m sorry. I’m just freaked out about the whole thing.”

  “Well,” Alex said, “You have me as a friend.”

  The phone out in the hallway rang and Bobby went to answer it. It was the babysitter who called to cancel. Something came up.

  “You’ll tell your dad, right?” the babysitter said.

  “Yeah.” Bobby said.

  He hung up and went back into his room.

  “Who was that?” Alex asked.

  “The babysitter.” Bobby said.

  “You have a babysitter?” Alex laughed, “You’re ten years old.”

  “Tell my dad that.” Bobby said annoyed, “He still thinks of me as a baby. He won’t even trust me with my own phone.”

  “That’s just sad.” Alex said.

  Alex reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He held it up for Alex to see.

  “I have my own phone.” Alex bragged.

  “Big deal.” Bobby said annoyed.

  Alex checked the phone and noticed that the battery was nearly dead. He checked his backpack for the charger, but realized he left it at home.

  “Damn.” Alex said, “I left my charger at home.”

  “So what?” Bobby said, “Who’s gonna text you anyway?”

&nbs
p; “That’s just mean.” Alex said unimpressed, “At least I have a phone.”

  The two of them chuckled for a moment and then they put on a movie. The sun set outside as the movie drew to a close and then Bobby got up with a jerk. He had complete forgot about the tree while they watched the movie.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

  “The tree.” Bobby said.

  “What about it?” Alex sighed.

  Bobby hurried over to the window, but stuck to the shadows as far as he could. He peered out at the tree in the yard and it was evident that the tree was considerably closer to the house than it was that afternoon.

  “Alex…” Bobby whispered, “Come take a look at this.”

  Alex sighed as he got up and walked over to the window. He was in no mood for the charades. He glanced out at the tree and his heart dropped to the floor. There was no doubt that the tree was much closer to the house. It had to be about six feet away… the tree was definitely moving.

  “That’s not possible.” Alex said in disbelief.

  “Told you.” Bobby said in triumph.

  Alex grabbed Bobby by the arm and the two of them ducked into the shadows.

  “What the hell does the tree want?” Alex asked worried.

  “I don’t know.” Bobby said, “But’s almost reached the house.”

  “Call your dad.” Alex said.

  Bobby nodded and rushed out into the hallway. He grabbed the phone and hurried back over to where Alex crouched. He started dialling his dad’s number and then the line went dead. He glanced up at the window and could see one of the tree branches had jerked the telephone line clean off. He watched in horror as the branch retracted.

  “Did you see that?” Bobby gasped.

  “What?” Alex asked and glanced at the window.

  “The tree.” Bobby whimpered, “It pulled the telephone line down.”

  “Oh man…” Alex whimpered.

  There was a loud thump and then the room shook. Bobby nearly lost his balance and let out a whimper.

  “What was that?” Alex cried.

  Bobby crept over to the window and peered out. The tree stood stationary, but the one branch was swaying the tyre swing back and forth. The tyre gained momentum and bashed into the wall of the house again. Alex screamed behind Bobby and covered his ears.

  “It’s the tree.” Bobby gasped, “It’s trying to break down the house.”

  6

  The tree stood a few feet away from the house and swayed its tyre swing back and forth. The rope groaned as the rocking tyre gained momentum. The tyre struck the wall with an ear-splitting thud making both Bobby and Alex scream like scared little girls. Bobby wished his dad was there – he’d know what to do. Alex balled up in the corner and tried to block out the sound as another thud startled him.

  “What are we gonna do?” Alex asked

  “So now you believe me about the tree?” Bobby asked sarcastically.

  “Yes!” Alex yelled right after another thud.

  Bobby glanced out the window and watched as the tree swung the tyre back and then slammed it into the wall again. He jumped back at the impact and then turned to Alex. They should make a run for it. It took the tree almost three days to get close to the house; it couldn’t get to them if they ran.

  “We should make a run for it.” Bobby suggested.

  “Are you insane?” Alex yelled, “You have a possessed tree outside and you want us to make a run for it? What if it catches us?”

  “It won’t.” Bobby assured him, “It’s too slow. We can make it.”

  The tyre banged against the wall again making Alex sit upright with a jerk. He scurried to his feet and dusted himself off. He couldn’t take anymore. He wanted to go home.

  “Fine.” Alex agreed, “We should make a run for it. But if I get eaten by your demonic tree…”

  “You won’t.” Bobby assured him.

  They went downstairs as the thumping echoed throughout the house. Bobby hesitated to open the front door and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. They were being terrorised by a tree – nobody would believe them.

  Bobby took a firm grip of the doorknob and opened the door.

  “Let’s go!” Bobby called out.

  Alex followed Bobby out into the yard. The tree slowly turned as if to face them. Bobby kept a close eye on the sinister tree as they ran towards the gate.

  ‘Bobby…’ he heard a wailing come from the tree.

  Bobby stopped, but Alex ran for the gate. Once Alex was safely out in the street he realised that Bobby was still in the yard.

  “Bobby!” Alex cried out, “What are you waiting for?”

  Bobby looked back over his shoulder at Alex and then turned back to the tree which stood motionless as if nothing happened.

  ‘Bobby…’ he heard the wailing again.

  Bobby hesitantly took a step towards the tree. As he got closer, he noticed letters appearing on the trunk of the tree; almost as if being carved by an unseen force.

  “Bobby…” Alex whimpered.

  Bobby cautiously stepped closer until he could read the carvings; it spelled out seven words, why won’t you play with me anymore? Perplexed at the carvings, Bobby glanced back over his shoulder at Alex and then turned back to the tree again. He heard branches creak and groan and saw the branch with the tyre swing lowering. Did the tree want him to play on the swing? Was the tree lonely?

  He stared at the swing for a moment and then took a hold of the rope. The branches above him rustled like an excited dog wagging its tail. Bobby carefully climbed into the tyre swing and then the tree started swaying him back and forth. At first Bobby was scared, but when he realized the tree meant him no harm and he relaxed a bit. It only wanted his attention again – like when he was younger. He had completely forgotten how wonderful it was to swing back and forth and just forget about the world around him. He missed the swing, and to some extent he knew the tree missed him as well.

  THE END