One image, one story

"One image, one story" by @franyeligonzalez and has the same image as on her post.

Vij was used to getting up early in the morning. He was awakened by the first raucous caw of crows, and when he pulled back the curtains of his study window, he could see nothing but the twinkling lights of the street in front of him.

On the last few mornings of the waning moon, the blocks of apartments near the square lawns of his colony were bathed in the dim moonlight. It was a beautiful scene. But at all times except this time, he looked stooped, grave, and lifeless, like middle-aged women who have stopped taking care of themselves.

For the past few years, when he looked out of his window, he was not annoyed by what he saw outside of his window. There was a large mulberry tree by the window, which was planted when these apartments were built. This tree was about fifty years old, which was almost the same age as Vij.

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Vij had developed a special relationship with his window due to this tree. The tree was leafless for almost the entire winter, and its branches looked like the wings of a giant porcupine. In these months, only crows and sparrows used to visit it. The chirping of the birds was his morning song.

Sometime in mid-February, tiny green buds appeared to sprout from the brownish-looking branches. For the last few years, he used to eagerly wait for this event, standing at his window and noting it very carefully in his diary. These green shoots turn into green leaves a week after they first appear. And by the time the spring season turned into summer, the leaves on the tree would become so thick that even the branches could not be seen.

Then different species of birds would come and sit on this tree, which looked so beautiful from his window. Before the eastern sky turned white and the clock on the church across the road announced the sound of the hour, a family of tufted owls would create a ruckus — chitter-chitter-chatter-chatter — and wake up the sleeping crows and sparrows.

Then it was the cuckoo's turn. She would start with kuk-kuk-kuk in a low voice and then start making loud noises continuously. Most of the evenings, a shy cuckoo, hiding under the cover of leaves, would make sounds incessantly till the sun set and he could see the people coming out of the church. As soon as darkness fell, the pockmarked owls resumed their hoots, which signaled to Vij that it was time for his evening drink.

The mulberry tree had become an essential part of Vij's life. He was awakened every morning by the sound of birds rising from its branches. When the branches of the tree became bare and when the thick leaves came on them. He had never paid much attention to these things. By the time it was the month of March, the mulberry tree was in full bloom. Its invisible flowers would transform into sweet, juicy fruits of pale green, millipede-like appearance.

Vij always watched them for a long time from his window. But what he didn't like was when children of his colony would throw sticks and stones to pluck the fruits and the tree and left with no fruits within a week. The people on the block closest to the tree would find shelter under the tree to protect their cars from the harsh sun but now Vij has compromised with this all. He was watching everything with a smile.