Tricky

Helga stared at her reflection in the pool of water on the pavement. She kept running her hand on her head and imagining her beautiful tresses, the ones she so adored. She then felt her stomach and the large cut underneath her T-shirt. Sighing, she walked away.

Winona was looking out her window, every day she saw a girl peek through the fences and into her garden. She saw her again, doing the same little routine. Getting up on her tiptoes, peeking through the fence, and then sometimes even jumping with the help of it to get a better view.  The girl was always upset whenever she walked up to the house but somehow as soon as she looked into the garden, she couldn’t help but smile. That made Winona happy too, seeing someone else get happy because of her.

 By now, Helga knew the names of almost all the plants in the quaint garden of number.42 in the quiet suburbs of Moonsville, England. She had her own names for the plants too. Her favorites were buffy the orchid, molly the dahlia, and tricky, the Chinese yew. Tricky fascinated Helga always. For many different reasons. Whenever she walked past number 42, she drifted towards the fence to peek into the garden to look at all the plants especially, Tricky. It had been a few weeks since she had been following this routine of peeking into number 42. She didn’t know who the owners were which terrified her because what if they became cross with her for peeking? But then again, what if they were impressed by her curiosity and invited her in to get a closer look? She chose to believe the latter. Nevertheless, she wished that the owners did not catch her peeking. But, one day, she was peeking through the fences again and that is when she saw her, the lady of the house. She looked calm, almost eerily calm and peaceful? Helga could not quite figure it out.

“the girl’s looking at me. Why? She never looked into the house before. Why today? WHY!?” Winona muttered to herself. But she tried not to show her dismay as to not scare away the little girl. Although she tried hard she did exactly what she was afraid of, apparently, her straight face scared the life out of the girl who immediately ran away after catching Winona’s stare. There was no sight of the girl for the next few weeks. Winona looked for her every day at noon but she didn’t return until after two weeks. There was something different about her though, her eyes lacked their usual shine, and her smile, unlike always was very weak and faint. She didn’t even jump to look this time. Winona felt like it was all her fault, so she went outside but again, the girl ran away.

Helga stared straight into the eyes of the lady of the house, there was something terrifying and cold about the way she stared. But there was something else in her eyes, a longing and that longing was what terrified Helga the most. She ran as fast as she could, away from the house but all that running took a toll on her and she collapsed on the street 4 blocks away from number 42 and 30 blocks away from her own house. Someone might have called the ambulance for when Helga opened her eyes, she was in a hospital room with several tubes connected to her body. She let out a cry and fainted again. This went on for a few days, weeks, months- Helga did not have a clue. But after a very long time which seemed like an eternity, she regained consciousness and then started asking all the questions that had been pooling in her mind. How long had she been here? What happened? Is she okay? Will she be okay? 2 weeks. She fainted because of all the running. For now, she is. Time will decide. She had risked her life by doing what she did, her health, her cancer was already in a very fragile state and she could not and should not have taken any risks. Helga felt really bad but when she was fit enough to leave her house again, she went back to number 42 to see buffy, molly, and tricky. She stared into the garden but did not dare to jump to look over the fence more clearly. She still wanted a closer look though so, she stared through the gates and that is when she saw her again, looking colder than the last time. Helga was scared to the bones and so she ran as fast she could but not more than 5 steps later, she collapsed. The lady

of the house let out a loud shriek.

“AAAGHHHHH! HELP! SOMEBODY! HELP! PLEASE!” Winona cried out loud when the little girl fainted 5 steps away from her house. Winona screamed as loud as she could but no one heard her or came to her rescue. She rang the neighbors’ doorbells but they glanced out and then went back inside. She was hysterical and the girl was as still as a doll. Then she saw a car drive by, they turned back and stopped when they saw the little girl lying on the pavement. Winona thanked them and told them the entire incident but none of the passengers of the vehicle responded to her words perhaps, they were shaken and very much preoccupied with calling the ambulance and everything but still, they should have at least acknowledged Winona’s presence? That’s when she came to terms with a fact that she had been avoiding for a long, long time.

The shrill scream of the lady was still ringing in Helga’s ears when she woke up again in a hospital room. It hadn’t been that long this time, only 5 days but the damage done to her body was much worse. She was back home a few days later and this time, it was her parents’ turn to ask questions.

“what were you doing in front of that old, abandoned house?”

“what do you mean old and abandoned? It is perfectly fine and I have seen its owner too!” Helga replied shockingly. -

“Dear, no. The lady of the house, Madam Winona Morris succumbed to cancer a few years ago and her husband, Sir John Morris had passed away even before.”  Her mother replied sadly. Helga could not believe her ears.

“What type of cancer did she have?”

“the same kind as yours.”.

“Why didn’t anyone treat her? She could have been saved, mother! There is a Chinese Yew tree in her garden! The same one which we’ve been searching all over the world for my medicine, mother!” cried Helga. “why couldn’t they use the same one to save her too!? It is right there in her garden! That is why I went to her house every single day to look at it. I thought someday, I’d bring you too so that you could talk the lady into helping us out. And-“ Helga was inconsolable after that.

Her mother did not believe her though if there really was a Chinese Yew in the Morris’ garden, why hadn’t anyone found it before? When Helga regained her health, her parents talked to her and tried to make her understand that she mustn’t go back there. But, Helga did not pay any heed to their words and angrily bolted out of her house to visit number 42.  

The sight of tricky, buffy, molly and the familiar surroundings of the house calmed her. “It’s time I met the lady and proved mother wrong.” Helga thought to herself. She opened the iron gates and stepped inside. Happily hopping on the stone driveway, she reached the main door and rang the doorbell.

The girl was back. “she looks healthier and happier than ever.” Winona thought to herself. The girl peeked through the fences as always but there was weird desperation in her eyes, something which Winona had never seen before. And then all of a sudden, the girl started walking up the driveway and rang the doorbell.

No sound. She rang it again and again and again, still no sound. She looked around and saw the lady looking at her from one of the upstairs windows, “Mrs. Morris, I’m Helga Jefferson. Can I talk to you for a moment please?” Helga shouted from the driveway. The lady’s expression changed from calm to horrified to a deathly still stare. “Mrs.Morris! Mrs.Morris!” Helga called out repeatedly. “I really like your Chinese yew tree, ma’am. I have a type of cancer whose medicine’s made from this tree. That’s why it fascinates me even more.” She said sadly. But as soon as she finished speaking, the lady turned around and walked back inside. “Mrs. Morris! Where did you go!?” Helga shouted one last time and with sad little steps, left the property.

“Helga is her name and she has cancer too.” Winona repeated to herself numerous times. “I should not have gone back inside like that, I scared her away again. I should not have done that. Should I try calling her house? No, I should wait and see if she comes back.”

And she did, Helga was back the next day but this time, with her parents. They were horrified, all three of them.

“Father! Mother! You must go to Morris’s house with me. I saw her yesterday again but she did not talk to me. Maybe, she will talk to you.” Helga kept on repeating to her parents. After much pestering, they finally agreed. When they reached number 42, they saw something they were not expecting to see. What lay in the place that once was the house was a rotten wooden structure and in front of it, a tree which was not much cared for. They recognized the tree right away, it indeed was a Chinese Yew tree but the condition of the rest of the property horrified them. Helga could not understand what happened to the place overnight. She ran to the neighbor’s house and asked them, “what happened to Mrs. Morris and her house last night?” “nothing. It has been this way since she died a few years ago. They did not have any heirs or anyone else to look after it. No one has even entered the house after she died.” Replied the owner of number 43. Helga could not believe her own eyes and ears.

Winona stared through the window at poor Helga running frantically and asking stuff around to the neighbors.

 “I wish I could do something. I wish I could tell her that the tree is all hers.”

“I wish I could talk to her and tell her that I planted that tree right before I died to help children like her. I wish she could at least see me again.” Winona sighed sadly.

Helga was literally wailing on the pavement. Her father lifted her up and tried to calm her down but to no avail. She kept on wailing and yelling and looking at the carcass of the house. She felt like she knew Winona as if she had a connection with her. She saw her and her house almost every day and now, she was just a memory.