Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Fantasy

Read this [ page ] called 'The festival "Hinami"' by vishalgupta1999 here - https://terriblytinytales.com/tale/29sr7CYH5uY


The chilled dry wind was getting smoother by an inch; the ice on the rooftops were beginning to melt; February was just dusting her shoes off to leave, and a fresh gust of spring was about to fill the frozen souls of Tokyo. A new month, from a far-off land, was about to sell some refreshing energy to everyone in the city and no one could resist themselves to gossip about the arrival of this new stranger in their streets. Some said he was about to bring warm biscuits of sunshine with him, some conjectured he was offering free passes to adore the palace of nature’s beauty, some went out of their way to say that he was a medic too and could heal even your deepest wounds; but again, everyone was just anticipating, no one knew what he would actually bring. But, amidst all these gossips and rumours, there was somebody who was more excited than anyone, more eager than anyone to meet him.


I.


Deep somewhere among the tall skinny trees in Shinjuku Park, not too far from where the usual crowd gathered but not too close that the usual crowd would visit, a young ‘Sakura’ tree was just about to have his debut in the ‘Hanami’ festival. He had heard all about it from the big-old-cherry blossom when he used to go there to play with his branches; when he got a little older, he would eavesdrop on other Sakuras and trespass their homes to catch a glimpse of how they get dressed before the festival. But those days were gone now, it was now his turn to blossom beautiful pink leaves. The very idea of him blooming and people from all over the city rejoicing and enjoying it was like a dream and so, he had kept all his fresh-new-buds watered and made all the necessary preparation a night before. His roots shrunk a little with excitement and that night, he couldn’t close his eyes to sleep.
Within no time, the sun had climbed up the sky and it was a beautiful day. People, not only from Tokyo but from outskirts too, came to Shinjuku to celebrate ‘Hanami’. The park was never livelier before. Our young-Sakura blossomed pink leaves gracefully and expected a crowd to appreciate his beauty. People stretched mats, lied down, talked, ate, laughed but to his surprise, not many visited his trunk to appreciate him. There was a group strolling down looking at trees, but there too none visited him, none but one, a small boy. They visited every other tree but him. He looked around to see his neighbours had blossomed much more than him and looked much more beautiful. He determined to bloom more the next day and then the next day again and then the next day to come. But alas! Being a newbie, he couldn’t compete with the others. And so, a week passed; make it two now. Everyday same result and though his efforts were tireless, it was now time for our mysterious-old-stranger to leave, the months of blooming were over and the park was getting sparse every day.


II.


Summers hustled in and brought a big bag of disappointment for our young-Sakura. His debut was not as good as expected. He didn’t plan his first ‘Hanami’ to turn out like this. He grieved for himself for a few days; even in his wildest dreams he hadn’t dreamt of this but surely, he dreamt something as a sprout and he was too tough a soul to give up on that. As the pink blossom matured to give way to new green leaves, he resolved to take care of them no matter what and flower the best leaves for the ‘Hanami’ next year. That year, the sun went cruel on everyone, the heat wave sucked greenery from around. But the young-Sakura stood up, not once did he waver supplying nutrients to the leaves to keep them green. His resolve outgrew the summer.


III.


At the start of July, some rain showers had embraced him like a blessing. Soothing his burns, they seeped the soil well, and left him with much nutrients for his leaves. His leaves were growing bigger now, they were never this big before. The sun was just warm, the soil was just wet; he rejoiced looking at them all August. But little did he know, that with his departure, his friend August would go ‘Brutus’ on him. That year, strong gale and storms shook the city. Tokyo got caught up in the typhoon ‘Wipha’. Winds moving a speed of 213 kmph uprooted many trees and buildings alike. But Shinjuku had nurtured a very strong soul. On the face of the typhoon, the young-Sakura deepened his roots and held his leaves tight like a mother holding her baby. Again, he didn’t waver. His resolve outgrew the storm and by the time, the storm got over and Tokyo had lost much of his life, our young-Sakura was successful in containing some life within him.


IV.


‘All that’s green and young must crumble and yellow.’ Autumn was a bit late because September was busy cleaning the ruins of ‘Wipha’. Well, those who lived after her (the storm), those around our Sakura, were much quicker in painting their green leaves to red and yellow. The park was having a design make-over at once, except for one. Our young-Sakura was still high-spirited, he aspired to blossom the best next.