Surreal

Banyan trees dripped slow tears; a drop hit my cheek as I sat on a bench in the corner of a park.

The scent of flowers coupled with the taste of mist lingered the air.

"Perhaps mother nature is unhappy", I thought as the dew felt unusually warm, "or maybe this one's a warm blooded banyan tree." I mouthed a muffled laugh at my ludicrous assumption.

Beside me sat a pretty girl certainly older than me but much too pretty for her age, whose accidental encounter was a bliss considering the blues of the countryside. Minutes of awkward silence passed until she spoke.

"Let me tell you a story," she began, startling me to some extent.

"Excuse me?" I would have protested normally, but taking into consideration that she was an eye-candy I gave the briefest possible nod, a five degree one.

"Good," she remarked, sensing my lack of enthusiasm and took a deep breath. I wondered how she got enough oxygen through her tiny nostrils.

"It is a true story about this park." she began, her exceedingly bright eyes locked into mine. I wouldn't say I was intrigued but honestly, she seemed like a 'pretty' interesting person.

From the corner of my eye I couldn't help but notice the larger-than-life earrings dangling from her tiny ear lobes that could've made a nicer pair of bangles for her tiny hands.

"One night when the moon was young a newly wed couple strolled this park hand in hand; their faces radiant as they were deeply in love."

At this point I let out a sigh of relief as this wasn't another pep talk on conservation of banyan trees or something of that sort as I had dreaded.

"As they neared this very bench," she resumed with an intent look, her mellifluous voice dropped to a stern tone that reminded me of my mom's lectures. "the couple saw the figure of a levitating woman silhouetted against the dimly lit night sky. The lovers were left in a lurch , their radiant faces turned pale as they were left aghast at the sight of a suicide scene."

"Although he was thoroughly horrified, the guy took a couple of cowardly steps and pulled out a note from the corpse's lifeless hand intending to impress his ladylove. The note read:

'My lover has betrayed me,

my soul has lost meaning.

This tree shall bear my misery

and cry tears of blood for me.'

The lovers fled from the scene at the instant. The old gatekeeper found the note the next day but he hadn't the ability to read so he buried it along with the corpse under the shade of this banyan tree.

The tree took root through the heart of the corpse. Ever since it is known to shed dew drops of blood on the day the suicide was committed."

She let out a heavy sigh indicating the end of the story. I couldn't help a smirk as I found the end a little too dramatic.

"When is the so-called bloody day?" I asked in a tone evidently sarcastic.

"Today," she said coldly.

I was sent whirling in a dilemma.

"So how is your husband doing?" I asked matter-of-factly, attempting to tilt the subject of conversation.

I pinched myself for the stupid remark. She looked too young to be married, way too pretty even.

"He betrayed me... " she replied wearing a broken smile. It made me feel sad just to look at her. She didn't look my way though. She was lost in thoughts, I assumed.

Before I could react I felt a warm sensation on my cheek. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my sweater which was a stupid thing to do as it spread the gooey stuff all over my face.

"Curse these pigeons." I mumbled and looked towards the sky only to find that no bird was in sight, just a vast expanse of the night sky.

I looked down a nanosecond later, no one was in sight.

This could only mean one thing.....

I remained frozen in shock until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

It was the gatekeeper she had talked about in the story. This I knew for he looked only as old as the banyan trees.

She couldn't have lied.

The gatekeeper locked a gaze upon me; deep brown eyes reflecting the twinkle of the stars and a smile that resembled the half moon itself.

He said to me in a heavy Indian accent, "Bhaya, your cheek is bloody, real bloody."