Old Tree

The old tree

I had a week of work and went to the tourist place in town to find somewhere to stay for a while. After looking through the guide I found a nice looking place cheap too. It was a strange place to have a tourist resort there wasn't any major attractions around like a beach or a forest. Just hills and nice looking scenery there was a small lake though. The resort was quite small and
looked more a motel dumped in the middle of farm land. It was very quiet and there was only one other car in the car park apart from my own. There was an old man waiting at the door of the resort.
“Welcome to The country living resort “he said. " I'm the owner, how long will you be staying “said the old man and put out his hand which I shook.
“Just a couple of days " I said.
“Well I’m Jimmy and my wife’s Joan, what’s your name then?”
“Mathew”
I followed him into the main lobby.
The lobby had a blue fine carpet floor and light yellow wall paper walls.
Jimmy took some keys down from the board with a very happy look on his face then brought me down the hall and showed me my room.
" Will you be needing anything else sir"
“No thanks i should be OK thanks " I said.
“The kitchens down the hall there" He said pointing down the hall. " my wife's cook there dinner's at 6:00. If you’re late we will put your food in the oven and you can reheat it later. Enjoy your stay “He said then left.
I studied my maps and decided to go for a drive to nearest beach . I went for a swim then sat reading in the sun for half a day.

I got back at a about three o'clock then had a shower then decided to go for a walk around the resort . There was a rundown tennis court with grass growing on it. Next to that a swimming pool that was covered over and a playground with really old equipment. There was green hills all around and lake and around the whole place which was about a km squared was farmland. I walk around the lake then back towards the resort then I noticed a huge tree sitting on a hill. I went up to look at it. It was dead and had been a very big tree once but the trunk hand been split as if it had been struck by lightning. It was a gum tree and the branches where twisted and pointy. There were a lot of cuts scars and holes around the trunk. I stood there staring at the great thing and the wind howled. The branches swayed and creaked making a bending wood sound. I stood there looking the tree and listening to the branches creak it was as if each creak the tree made was a word and it was talking to me.
A thought came too me that it was late I looked at my watch it five fifty seven. I didn't want to be late for tea so I headed back to the resort. There wasn't anybody else in the kitchen just me the old man who was the owner and his wife. Dinner was roast beef and vegetables quite nice.
After dinner we sat in the lounge and shared a bottle of wine.
“So how long have you been running this business “I said?
The owner said” about five years now, It used to be my grandparents farm I inherited it five years ago and but I didn't want to be a farmer so I built this place instead. I'm going to sell the place soon though. In the summer business picks up a bit but the rest of the year it can get very slow. It can be very boring."
“What do you know about that tree down the hill “I said.
"Ahh yes that tree I remember coming up here for the summer once and my grandfather spent half the day trying to remove that tree he tried chopping it with an axe but the wood got too strong. He then tried to pull it out with a tractor but that didn't work. He even tried to burn it but it rain straight after lighting it so he just gave up after that.
We watched some crapy action movie on the TV then I went to bed.
I awoke to the sound of children laughing later that night. I walked out the sliding door on my room and followed the laughter down the hill. The laughter was coming from the big tree that I was looking at yesterday. As I got closer I could make out a bunch of kids playing around the tree. I heard the sound of rocks being thrown and someone crying. As I got closer I saw the kids suddenly look at me and then run off into the night. I came up to the tree and found no sign of anybody else there. So I headed back to the resort the darkness surrounding me like a cloud. The light of my room was like a beacon of light in the distance in a sea of darkness. I told the owner what I had seen last night.
“There aren’t any kids for miles around here. It could have been some people camping “said the owner.
“Yes I suppose it could be. But it was very late and it's strange that kids should be out at that time of night" I said.
“Yes we'll you know what today’s youth are like. I'm going to the shop for supplies tomorrow morning if you want anything “Said the owner.
" No I’m good thanks " I said. I spent the day driving around seeing the sites then returned just in time for dinner. I ate then chatted for a while then went to bed early as I was tired. I awoke to shouting and a sound like breaking glass. I got out of bed and walked into the lobby up the hall. I stood shocked at what I saw. There in the lobby was the tree I had seen down the hill holding the owner in its branches. The branches where all wrapped around the old man squeezing him. He looked at me with a blank expression as the branches started crushing him. His body started to pop and snap as the branches squeezed tighter until it ripped his body into many pieces. I woke up sweating in my bed it was just a dream I told myself, relived I went back to sleep. I went for breakfast and found the kitchen empty that morning the owner's wife wasn't there as usual cooking eggs or something. Oh yeah they've gone to the shops for supplies. I decided on another trip to the beach and packed my stuff. As I walked through the lobby I felt uneasy and the dream came back to me in flashes. I walked over to where the owner was being crushed and to my horror found blood soaked into the floor. I was struck with panic and my heart started thumping I and looked around the room then launched at the phone but the line was dead. I ran out to my car and jumped in started it and started driving away. There was a loud pop and I lost control of the car and came to a stop. I got out and found what looked like the root of a tree sticking out of a hole in the tyre. I was struck with fear I felt like running but I didn't I just started backing away from the car. Looking to ground and waiting for a root to shoot out of the ground at me. But this is ridiculous it thought how could a tree do such a thing I reasoned. I looked in the direction of the old tree but couldn't see it due to some pine trees blocking the way. The red stain could have just been paint the owner could have been painting. But I knew this wasn't the truth. The owner must have had an accident I thought and his wife drove him to the hospital. Yes that’s it, that’s what happened I thought feeling a bit more calm. The root and the dream where all Coincidences. And the owner must have forgot to pay the bill on the phone. Coincidences happen like that all the time and people just go crazy making assumptions. I started to walk up the driveway to the road then toward the highway. The pines still blocked the view of the old tree. Then I saw a somebody laying on the ground ahead of me. I ran up to it and found it was the owner, his legs where all cut and bruised like he had been bungy jumping using wire. He was unconscious buts still breathing.
“Hey wake up you all right " I said shaking him to wake him up but he wouldn't wake, he must be bad I thought. All my reasoning started to unravel as I looked at the owner. There must be something up here, a serial killer I thought, not wanting think of the monstrous idea that a tree did all this. I started to jog toward the highway, then came clear of the pine trees and looked in the direction of the old tree and what I saw stopped me in me tracks. It was a body hanging lifelessly on one of the branches of the old tree, I looked at it more and realized the body was the owner’s wife.
I started walking toward the highway in a trance of alertness and grief. When I reached the highway a couple hours later I flagged down a car and the driver rang the police on his mobile phone.
The murders remained unsolved , and I forgot about the whole affair never went back to the resort until a few years later
I went back there and it was abandoned and rumors said it was haunted. And the old tree was still there but now there were two new trees about a meter high growing in front of it.