The Lady of the Tree

                                  The Lady In The Tree

                                    By :  TSURTIDOGNI
                                            052408
                                            Saturday

Once upon a time, in a full moon, summertime and the temperature was so high
that humidity causes uneasiness and discomfort to the people living in the island.


It was in the middle of the night. The mother and son , Teresita and Francisco
were having a problem because the mother was having a loose bowel movement and they ran out of medicine.

"All the stores as well as the Pharmacy are closed at this time, but surely they
would sell me medicines when I would knock at the door, like what happened
before.
I will go to the town proper to buy some medicines for you. I will be back right away"

"Be careful Francis. Do not forget to bring your cellular phone "

"Yes, Ma !  Here's some water. Keep on drinking so you will not be dehydrated."

Francisco left with his car and drove quickly. It would take him three kilometers to reach his destination.


He was already half-way when he noticed the very big  Mahogany tree, reflected by the moonlight.
Suddenly a lady appeared from the bushes running towards the big Mahogany
tree. She was too close that Francisco almost bumped her. Seeing the lady in
black, with very long hair, made him so surprised that he was not able to stop the car right away.


Francisco stopped the car a meter away to check if the lady was okay. When he
stepped out from his car to look for the lady and he was running to the back of the
car looking for her if she was hit. He saw the lady running towards the tree, went
around the tree. He followed the lady towards the tree but cannot find her anymore.
She disappeared from his sight.
" Hello, Miss ! Are you okay ? " Francisco yelled.
Silence. Complete Silence.  Francisco was feeling so eerie standing beside the
big Mahogany tree.
He noticed something dropping from the tree and when he looked up it hit him.
That was the last thing he remembered.

Francisco walked up as the sunrays hitting his eyes. He was lying down in the
ground with a big bruise in his head. He observed it's a new environment. He was in a deep forest.  He was in a different place but the same tree was still
there. He was a mile away from his last location.  He walked slowly towards home.
A few meters away from home he noticed some people. Running as fast as he could towards home, because he was worried about his mother who was sick when he left.


The people who saw Francisco approaching  were running away from him and shouting like seeing a ghost.
"Francisco is here ! Francisco  is here! " They were screaming but farther from him.
He was wondering why they were so scared seeing him. This makes him more and more upset. Teresita went out of the door upon hearing the name of Francisco
being screamed by her neighbors. She could not believe . She runs towards him and hugged him.

"What happened ? Where have you been ?" Teresita in tears.
" Something hit me from the big tree, maybe I fainted then I woke up in a forest and
so I walked on the way home. Why there are so many people ? Are you okay Mama ? Is there any problem, serious problem ? Why are they so scared  upon seeing me ?" He bombarded his mother with questions.

Teresita answered while in tears, " You were gone for a month. Everybody was looking for you and even presumed you were dead. We found your car along the
road but we could not find you.  All your personal belongings like your cellphone as well as some of your things inside the car was complete. What really happened ?
Where have you been ? How come you are wearing exactly the same clothes since
you left a month ago ? "

"What ? " with widened eyes  Francisco was so shock hearing these words from
his mother." The lady in the Mahogany tree" Francsco whispered.

Teresita noticed some bruises and  big deep scratches in her son's hands and knees.
"Where did you get this ?"
" I do not know . I cannot remember ! " Francisco replied.
The first  night that Francisco came home, he was having a nightmare. He was
screaming in pain in the middle of the night, and also sweating.

His mother rushed to his room waking him up.

" Wake up Francis !  Wake Up Francis ! " Teresita shaking his shoulders.

He woke up gasping for air.

The third night he was having a nightmare again.

"You were screaming at the first night you arrived and here you are screaming
again ? What are your dreams that it scares you to scream that loud ? "

Francisco answered while sweating and trembling " I am dreaming that I was chased, then we were chased "

"We were chased ! You mean you're not alone ! ?"
"There were three of us being chased. I could remember and seeing them being
eaten by the thing that was chasing us. " He trembled asking for a glass of water.
He continued , " I saw only the beast's red eyes and his long sharp white teeth it
attacked the three of us while we were running."

When her mother brought the glass of water she told Francis,
"Okay, we will talk about it tomorrow, it is already midnight. Go back to sleep ! " she told him.
"I do not want to go back to sleep, because I do not want to dream it again.
It looks so real. " He was answering in a loud voice.  He became hysterical.

Francis mother upon hearing and seeing his hysterical son was scared and
wondering. She did not  show it to him that she was scared.She insisted, " It is only
a dream, go back to sleep, I stay here beside you Francis."

She pulled out a chair and sat beside him with a wondering mind. In her thoughts
" I will bring Francis to the clinic tomorrow for the doctor to check him up "

She was looking at Francis tired eyes until Francis finally slept after two hours.

At the clinic:
"Your son is afraid of something terrible. When did he started acting unusual and
terrified ?"
"His reaction was like that the day he came back after a month of being missing.
But this happens only when he is sleeping."
The doctor prescribed a medicine to calm his nerves so he could go to sleep well.

The medicine did not work. In the evening it happened again. The mother was awaken by another loud scream of Francis.

" I cannot stand this anymore. I have to ask somebody about this tree that Francis
keep on mentioning this lady in the tree." Teresita commented to herself.

The following morning the mother and son went to the house of the oldest man in
the village to inquire about the story of the Mahogany tree, a few meters where
Francis saw the lady in black.

Joseph, a senior citizen in his early seventees was  surprised seeing his early
visitors.

After hearing the mother and son's story Joseph's eyes widened and asked,
" Did you do anything to the tree Francis ?" Joseph was asking.
"Nothing, I was just chasing the lady checking if I injured her."
"You are lucky to be alive Francis because that tree has taken lives for ages
or ever since I could remember since my younger days."Joseph turned his
attention to Teresita.
"Did you not tell Francis about the tree ?" Joseph asking Teresita.
"No, because at that time when somebody told me about it I did not bother to
listen or care about it. I simply did not believe."
"Francis, tell me about your dreams ! " Joseph encouraging Francis to talk more
and more because it is only his mother who keeps on talking.
Francis looked at her mother and said;
"What I could remember that the three of us were running as we were chased by
the beast and one of us was caught by the beast and was eaten. So the two of
us kept on running until the beast caught up with me. I could still visualize his
red eyes and his hairy body attacking me then I could not remember because I
woke up."
"Do you have any remaining marks or wounds from the attack ?" Joseph more
curious.
The mother and son eyes met. He showed the scratches and deep marks in his
forearms.
Joseph stood quickly and pulled out Teresita.
"Can we talk just the two of us ?" He whispered.
"Bring him back home .Lock him in the room and do not let him out.because anybody bitten by the beast will always return to the tree and never came back
alive"
Teresita was crying and did what was told to bring Francis back home.
"Why Mama ? What is wrong ? What did this old man told you ?"
"Nothing ! We will just go home right away." She acted bravely but deep inside
she feared of the outcome.

Teresita was driving the car upon coming home. They passed the road where
the tree was standing. Francis upon looking up the tree, turned and look at his
mother, his mother was so surprise because he was staring at her with his
very eerie eyes and telling her in a soft voice " I am hungry and thirsty ! "
Upon hearing this she drives faster upon reaching home she told him, " Rest for
awhile, I will prepare food for you."

A few minutes after she went to his room only to find out that Francis was not in his room.

"Francis, where are you ? The table is ready ?"
"Ah, there you are ! Why are you outside the house. I told you to rest ! "
"Somebody was calling me , so I went out. But to my surprise nobody ws here"
They both went to the dining room and started eating.
Suddenly Francis body crampled.
"My stomach is so painful." I feel like vomiting. He ran to the kitchen's sink and vomited all the he ate.
"What is wrong with you ?"
" I cannot swallow the food. I am going back to my room. I feel so tired. I do not
like to eat . I am not hungry anymore. "
"I'll prepare a hot tea and I will bring it to your room."
Teresita was bringing the mug of hot tea into the room. Francis disappeared again.
She thought he was outside the house but he was nowhere.
Days, weeks, passed still Francis was missing. The village people said that
Francis was abducted by the lady of the tree.

                    -----------------the end---------------------------