It was a late Tuesday afternoon when I first met Mrs Merawich. I had been skating down the street on my skateboard, headphones in, school bag slung over my shoulder, when I saw her. She was a short old asian lady with white-grey shoulder length hair. Her skin was wrinkled and spotted with age. She looked like she could have been anyones grandmother really. I noticed that she was struggling to cross the street with a rather large suitcase. It looked heavy and traffic was coming too quickly for her to be able to lug it across the road in time. Initially I was just going to continue on my way, not my grandmother not my problem kind of deal.
But as I went to pass her by I felt a stab of guilt, what if one day I was the one struggling to cross the street and no one helped me? With an internal sigh I came to a stop, flipping up my board with my foot and unplugging one headphone, “Hey, would you like some help?” I asked, while trying not to regret my decision.
She looked startled when I spoke to her, she clearly hadn’t expected me to stop, “Oh no, that’s quite alright. I have almost got it.” She assured smiling kindly at me with faded brown eyes.
“It’s no trouble, I can help you get across the street.” I insisted.
She hesitated a moment, eyeing me with vague suspicion. I felt suddenly self conscious. I was dressed in shabby clothing, my hair was a little too long and messy. I was in my grunge emo stage, I thought I was cool with my ripped jeans and lip piercing. Maybe she thought I was trying to mug her, or maybe she was judging me to be the dead beat that I was at the time. I couldn’t tell which. But she smiled and replied, “Thank you, that’s very kind.” before stepping back to allow me access to the suitcase.
It was heavier than I had guessed it would be. For a moment I wondered if it was filled with bricks or something, and how she had even gotten it this far without help? “What have you got in here? A ton of bricks?” I asked jokingly as I dragged it across the street.
“Oh no, it is soil and fertiliser.” She laughed.
“For what?” I asked astounded.
“It’s not polite to ask a stranger so many questions.” She warned and I immediately felt awkward. However she then continued in a way that made me realise she was just joking with me, “I’m going to plant a tree in the park just over there. I have been planting one tree a year for many years. In fact, most of them that you see were planted by myself.” She winked.
Uncertain I looked over toward the park. I was new to the area and had seen the park a few times before this, but I had never looked at it closely. Now that I had, it gave me a sense of foreboding. It was full of trees, some seemed to be younger while others were massive and well established. They weren’t pretty trees, they had few leaves and their branches twisted upward at sharp, uncomfortable, angles. At 18 I wasn’t any kind of arborist, so I couldn’t tell what kind of tree they were, my best guess was that they were something Asian.
“There’s a lot of trees.” I commented so as not to seem rude as I pulled the suitcase up over the curb and onto the sidewalk.
“Thank you.” She said giving me a small bow, I wasn’t sure if she was thanking me for the tree comment or for taking her luggage across the road.
“Any time.” I said awkwardly.
After that she took the handle of the suitcase and began to walk into the park, I watched her go then put my head phones back in and made my way home. I couldn’t help but think about what a strange lady she seemed to be and about how dead-ish-alive those trees looked.
That night I had discomforting dreams about the park. I dreamt that there was a young Japanese girl with long black hair standing there, no older than 17 I was sure. She was wearing a dull coloured kimono and in her hands she held a pile of dirt with a seedling in it. She extended her arms offering me the plant. I couldn’t exactly verbalise the word ‘no’ but I felt like I refused the offer, whatever kind of offer a plant is anyway.
In response the girl said something to me, or at least her lips moved as if she was speaking, though no sound came out, instead her face began to melt away. I woke up in a cold sweat and nearly shat myself when the tree branches outside knocked against my window. I had left it open earlier, I supposed, and got up to shut it. When I glanced out to the street I thought I saw the old lady from before walking away down the road. It was only the briefest glimpse, and I’m not sure that I wasn’t still half asleep at the time.
I had the same dream every night until the end of the week. Each time she offered me the plant my dream self refused and she melted away. I woke up each time after that to an open window, even when I was certain I had closed it.
On Saturday I left the house just to clear my head. I was planning on seeing if my friends wanted to go to the arcade. But I never quite made it that far. When I passed the park with the strange trees, I stopped to see a new tree had indeed been planted. It was the youngest looking of the odd plants and gave me a weird feeling. It was too big. The lady couldn’t have planted that one, she would have planted a seedling? Had the tree really grown so fast?
“Pretty isn’t she.” A voice made me jump and I turned to see the old lady I had helped before, Mrs Merawich, “She’s grown so fast.” The lady nodded toward the tree I was staring at just moments before.
“How big was it when you planted it?” I asked skeptically.
“Just a seedling.” She confirmed with a smile. I didn’t know what to say. No tree grew that fast. Before I could think of an answer she continued, “Would you mind helping me with something again today?”
“Sorry, I really have a lot of homework to do..” I tried to politely decline.
“Ah, do not worry, I will help you with that. Come, help me first though.” She insisted.
“What do you need help with exactly?”
“House hold chores, I will pay you well. Come.”
“..Alright..” I said awkwardly, truthfully I didn’t know how to say ‘no’ in any way she would accept so I followed her. We walked only a few streets over back to her house. It was little and old, made of brick with a vibrant flower garden out the front. Inside the house there was minimal furniture, few decorations, it had narrow hallways and a low ceiling. I felt mildly claustrophobic being in there. It didn’t help that despite a generally clean appearance with no clutter, almost everything was covered in a fine layer of dust, like she hadn’t cleaned in some time.
“You can begin by cleaning the kitchen.” She announced with a sly smile, and so that was what I did. I dusted off the bench and cupboards, washed and put away the few dishes then mopped the floor. It honestly didn’t take long. I was really just getting the grime off everything. While I worked Mrs Merawich asked me idle questions.
Things like: Did I like school? What were my grades like? When did I graduate? What did I have planned for after school? I answered most of them in the most generic ways possible. No I didn’t really like school, my grades were average, I would graduate this summer, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do after that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her things, or that I felt like I shouldn’t, but rather I was beginning to feel like if I answered poorly I would be disappointing her somehow.
When I finished in the kitchen she directed me to continue on down the hallway and into the living room. The hallway was easy, just had to mop and wipe off the entryway table that sat there with only a vase of flowers on it. The living room was a bit more difficult. It meant cleaning out the cobwebs from the window sill and cleaning out the fireplace. The room had a large round rug on the floor that I would have to vacuum and I would probably have to wipe down the leather couch too as it was covered in dust. I wondered if she ever even sat in it.
Actually, it was more than that, I wondered where she even ‘lived’ in this house since the dust was all over. There didn’t seem to be any regular place that she used that was free of it. I tried not to think about that too much as I cleaned off the mantle piece above the fireplace. There were several dusty photo frames sitting up there and when I wiped the second one off I nearly dropped it.
The picture under the dust was familiar, it was of a girl in Japan sitting on her knees beside a table. She wore a plain kimono and was looking directly into the lens as if she was looking right through to me from the past. I recognised her immediately, this was the same girl I had been seeing in my dreams.
“Who is this?” I demanded too startled to be polite.
Mrs Merawich heard me speak and came from the other room to stand in the doorway. She looked to me and saw the picture I was holding, “What was that?” She asked.
“In this photo, who is it?” I repeated turning the photo toward her.
“That is my grandmother, Kotone.” She answered carefully, “Have you seen her before?” She smiled in a way I found uncomfortable.
“No. How could I?” I lied putting the picture down, “She just looks a lot like you is all. I’m sorry, I have to go now.” I excused myself quickly and left out the front door. I ran the entire way home.
That night I had the dream again, only this time when she spoke, there was sound. The girl said, “Watashi wa anata no tame ni ki o sodatemasu ka?”. I didn’t understand what she had said and I woke up before I could refuse her proposal this time. That gave me a bad feeling. I felt it was somehow vital that I always refuse whatever it was that she was offering me. Worse still, was that my window was open and a seedling with a little pile of dirt sat on the sill. In a panic I pushed it off the ledge and slammed my window shut again.
As I did, I saw Mrs Merawich out on the street. She was dragging another heavy suitcase across the road back towards the park. I shuddered to think that she and my dreams might be related. Suffice to say, I slept with the light on for the remainder of the night.
The following day I resolved myself to return to Mrs Merawich’s house. When I left the day before I had completely forgotten about my skateboard, I had been to focused on leaving in general to remember it, so I needed to retrieve it. But also, I wanted to ask her about my dreams and about the seedling. I stood on the doorstep of her house for some time, just gathering the courage to knock. However when I finally moved to knock the door opened before I could touch it.
Standing in the doorway was a girl about my age, she was Asian as well, but her hair was dyed blonde and she wore all black. It’s cliché but she was so beautiful I felt my breath catch. She looked just as startled to see me standing there as I did to see her. For an awkward moment we stared at each other before she bowed politely, “Excuse me, I wasn’t expecting company today.”
“S-Sorry, I just came to get my skateboard. Is Mrs Merawich home?” I stammered involuntarily.
The girl looked at me confused, a slight frown on her brow. “My grandmother passed away a few days ago.. I came to clean her house and collect her belongings..” She trailed off as I stared at her dumbfounded. I had just seen her last night and the day before. It wasn’t possible.
“But.. I mean… I? Yesterday…?” I tumbled over my words like a bumbling idiot. The girl looked at me with sympathy.
“You’re confused, please come in.” She offered stepping aside.
I obliged, inside the house was now empty. There was no furniture or belongings. I passed the living room I had fled from before and I stopped dead in my tracks. On the floor where the round rug had been was a giant carved pentagram. Words and symbols I couldn’t read were carved into the floor boards. On the mantle piece a single picture remained. The one of Mrs Merawich’s grandmother.
I felt the inside of my mouth become dry and I took a step back. “Here’s your skateboard..” The girl suddenly spoke from behind me. My heart was thundering in my chest, I wasn’t even sure if I could move anymore. Slowly I turned around to see her standing there. She was holding my skateboard and offered it out to me with a smile. My mind went numb.
Pieces were connecting themselves together. This girl was offering me my board just as the girl in my dreams had offered me the seedling. More than that, after looking at the photograph again I was certain that she was in fact the exact same girl, only with her hair dyed. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate, I couldn’t make my body move. I wanted desperately to refuse the offer. I knew it was illogical, it was my own skateboard she was offering, but something about it was wrong. In my head I screamed the word “NO!”, but I couldn’t form the word aloud.
Blood rushed in my ears so loudly that I couldn’t hear anything else. I felt myself loosing consciousness and as I sank to the floor I saw the girls face change. It twisted from her smile into a monstrous grin, deforming her features into something beyond description. I thought I heard her say the words: “Will I grow a tree for you? No? That’s too bad.”
The next thing I remember is waking up in darkness. I was still in Mrs Merawich’s house and I stumbled around blindly trying to find my way out. I made it to the front door and ran out into the street, I didn’t stop until I got home. When I got home my parents were frantic and a police car was parked out front. They asked where I had been and I told them I just was out with friends and lost track of time. I didn’t know how to explain the truth.
A few years have passed since then, I never went by that house or park unless I absolutely had to. Even then I didn’t look at either. I moved states as soon as I finished high school. There are three things that bother me the most about this memory. First is that the park was refurbished a while back and when they dug up those twisted trees human remains were found under each one.
The second is that the house Mrs Merawich lived in was condemned, some sort of poisonous mold grew in the walls and the place had, in fact, been abandoned for years before I ever set foot in it. Allegedly it was because back in the 1870’s an immigrant family from Japan had been murdered after the daughter, Kotone Merawich, had ben accused of witch craft.
The third thing is that I never got my skateboard back, I loved that board.
***