Once upon a time in the village of Rebourn lived a grandmother with her two adorable grandchildren. The village known for its lush green landscapes, spring water outlets, lofty mountains, and heavenly waterfalls with all the varied, exotic flowers & fruits had everyone in awe. Love, peace and serenity among residents added beauty to the village. But there came a time when the land witnessed lesser rains and the drought followed. This went on for a long time.
Though it was saved from the severe famine by gradual rains but it couldn’t go back to its original green self and the vegetation and the others crops suffered. The means to earn became murkier than before so people developed some hostile methods to earn; gradually declining the inner beauty that held the village people together and thus they drifted apart.
The grandmother used to look after her two grandkids after the parents lost their lives. She used to start her day by cooking food for the kids, tending to her now-smaller farm, malnourished pets, and helping kids in their elementary studies. The kids vaguely remembered their parents now and considered their grandmother, everything.
Every week on Sunday, Grandmother used to hike to Aji mountain to get special herbs and fresh fruits for the children. One Sunday she went a bit far and realised she entered a rather denser area of forbidden woods, she only had heard stories about. She used to visit the forest as a kid with her elders and they used to tell weird but interesting stories of ‘Pillars of Re-birth’.
She felt like a kid again while roaming around, touching almost every thick bark of reachable trees in a attempt to revisit her childhood days. She recalled what her grandpa said on one of the visit.
“There are four trees that sparkle in the day as well in the night and can provide re-birth to any pure-hearted person, who is looking for it. The first orange trunk, my dear, it makes you re-live all the happy moments you ever had especially the childhood. The second blue bark tree takes away all of your physical ailments and makes you feel as energized as a full grown adult. The third, yellow one brings you peace and takes away all of your pain, grief, resentments. And the last white tree gives you a chance of re-living your life from the start. You forget everything, everyone and can choose a different life for yourself. But remember you can’t choose one out of four. It’s either all or nothing.”
Everything was so cryptic when she was small and now she was so tempted to start a new life. Suddenly she realises the Sun was about to set and her kids would be alone with a mere lantern in the hut. She rushed back to her home and hit a rock and fell to the ground, scraping her knee. She let out some cuss words and swore not to come back in the jungle.
But that night she couldn’t sleep. She kept reliving how different she felt today. How she had not be feeling at all lately!
On the next Sunday, she found herself at the same place trying to find the way to the Pillars of Rebirth, like her grandpa told her. She went into the thicker forest and finally after ungodly hours she found those elusive trees. Shining like the stack of diamonds, crowing like the biggest mushrooms, and the colors so pleasing to the eyes, it felt unreal. The reason the pillars got so illusory was because the village wasn’t as virtuous as before, yet she was able to find it.
With all the thoughts occupying her, she decided to go ahead with her decision. She went and touched the first tree. A gush of happiness passed through her and she felt ecstatic for every moment she was happy in her life. Afterwards, she touched the second tree and her body regained it’s youth, filling her with enormous energy. She forgot all the chronic knees, joints and body pain she had been enduring for years.
She moved to the third tree and hesitantly touched it, knowing this would take away the essence of her life -Pain. Loss of her husband, her parents, her own daughter made her a rock. Strong but unable to feel much. Regardless, she touched the tree and felt light as breath and not like a sigh anymore. She realised how much of a burden she had been carrying on her shoulders and an eternal mountain placed on her heart. It felt so free. She never wanted to go back to a life of burden again that didn’t seem to have an end.
She moved to the final tree but before touching she saw the day almost ended. The kids would be alone and in the dark and probably hungry. The thought of leaving them alone terrified her. She was so close touching the final tree and free of everything that was holding her down. But she started missing them and cried on her way back. While going back she passed through the previous three trees which one by one gave her back what she already had. A sack of everlasting pain, an old wobbly body and a tiny memory of her happy moments. She accepted and went back to home.
Love comes with its own share of pain. You cannot have one without the other. And no one in the world should be the judge of what the other person chooses for themselves. They know what they have been going through. It’s upto them to decide whether they
want to continue, keeping the love-pain coin in their pocket or wish to start afresh knowing they did their best and at a certain point it was needed to let go.
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