When the baby without life reached the soil, it got its life. With the moisture of air and rain it grew. Just like its mom. Was mom happy? It was difficult to say as I had no means to connect and communicate to the mother. I know it’s not good but I humanized the mom. Yeah she was happy. She expressed her happiness when she moved her branches full of leaves. It felt like she was smiling. She was expressing her gratitude to the sun for bringing her lifeless babies into life. She was explaining to the wind how grateful was she for giving the moisture and bringing the rain. Then she felt me but I was a threat. But I smiled back at her. She felt my smile and she realized that I was no longer the threat. I was like the keeper of her babies. My father was her keeper. My job was to make sure her babies were safe. Her branches moved and it felt like she just gave me hats off. I felt it was not her who had to give hats off. It was me who had to give her hats off. If she had never stood up I would have not been alive.

The baby grew. Her leaves popped out. I was just the keeper. I just kept eye on her. She just did her job. She communicated with the soil. Her roots travelled deep and sent her what she needed. She took it and transformed it and used it to make her stronger. She grew day by day. When I looked her it looked as if she just stood. I just kept my eyes on her. With the end of rain, the winds blew. Her old leaves shaded away. She looked naked and ugly. Then there was snow. I shivered with the cold but she just stood still. And with the next sunlight snow melted, became water and went deep into her roots. The roots sent the melted snow into her. She transformed it and she became stronger. 

I saw the bud the next day. Not just a bud, I saw lots of buds attached to her. She transferred the water into the bud new leaves. The bud bloomed and I could smell its new fragrance. Bees came a long way and took the juices from the new flowers. She was so thankful to the bees. The flowers faded away and green fruit was hanging on her branches. After sometime they grew and changed to red. I ate one of them though I was the keeper. Her lifeless baby was inside the red fruit, hiding. Hiding from whom? I don’t know. But she said the fruit was the gift to me. I put her lifeless baby into the soil. The fruit went into digestive system and became nutrients. I transformed her fruit into nutrients. Nutrients keep me alive. I asked her why she gave me the gift. She said I was her keeper. She had to transform me into a stronger person so that I can always keep an eye on her new babies.

Karki is a BSc second year student at Amrit Science Campus, Kathmandu.