Pear Tree

Igashu gets up and steps towards the barn with the painting of a pear tree. He opens the doors and some unknown force pulls him in and straight down into a dark abyss. Igashu screams until he hits the ground and becomes unconscious.

When Igashu wakes up, he’s laying under a tree, somewhere in the outskirts of the village. He stands up and looks at the vastness of the unexplored lands in front of him. He takes a deep breath in and exhales out and smiles. He heads down to the river to wash his face and decides to walk beside it. Along the way, he spots a peculiar tree, a pear tree. He gets closer to have a better look at it, but he’s not familiar with the fruit it bears since it’s not grown in his home country. Igashu breaks off one of the fruits from its branch and smells it. The fruit has a very sweet smell and Igashu is about to take a bite from it, but his friend, Keokuk, yells out and warns him from eating it. Keokuk tells Igashu that the fruit might be poisonous and that he shouldn’t eat it. Igashu begs to differ by saying the fruit smells sweet. Keokuk doesn’t want to risk his friend dying and tells Igashu that it’s best to bring it back to the village to discuss what to do about it. Igashu gives in and they head back.

They head to the chief’s tent and tell him about their discovery of the unknown fruit and the tree. The chief examines the fruit and heads outside. He yells out to the villagers outside and when everyone is present, the chief discusses the fruit and about the potential dangers of eating it. He asks the villagers if there is a brave soul that would eat the fruit for the sake of the village. A warrior stands up and offers his life. The chief thanks the warrior and hands him the fruit. The warrior looks at it and smells it. He then takes a bite from it and nods happily. He says the fruit tastes delicious and takes another bite. He continues eating while everybody watches. The villagers start murmuring to themselves saying they want to try the fruit. The chief sees this and warns everybody that any potential poison could remain in his body for a few days. He continues saying that everybody should refrain from eating the fruit until then. After the gathering was over, a lot of people asked the warrior how it tasted and the warrior said it’s the sweetest thing he’s ever eaten. They also asked how he feels and he says he feels great. The sun came down shortly after the crowd of villagers around the warrior dispersed and went home.

The next day, Igashu wakes up and leaves his tent. He sees people still crowding around the warrior asking many questions. Igashu sees that he’s fine and heads outside the village. He heads towards where the tree is and notices from afar that villagers are already there, picking the fruit off the tree. Igashu rushes over and asks if they ate it. Some villagers around the tree said they were about to try it and said that their friend just ate one and said it tastes amazing. The villagers, with the fruit in their hands, take a bite and their eyes widen. They were shocked at how sweet and yummy it was. Igashu sees their faces and gulps. Igashu reaches for a fruit on the tree, smells it, and smiles. Just when he was about to take a bite, the drums of the village could be heard from a distance. The sound usually means trouble is present. Igashu holds onto the fruit and, with the villagers nearby, heads over to the village.

When they approach the village, there’s people scattered everywhere, all avoiding the warrior. Igashu gets past the crowd and sees the warrior swinging his axe all over the place. Screaming could be heard from across the crowd, Igashu moves to get a better view and sees dead bodies on the floor as well as people with severe wounds. Igashu sees the chief among the ones dead and runs over. He is crying and demands for an explanation. Nearby villagers said that the warrior was fine one minute and the next minute, he just went berserk. Igashu yells out to the villagers and tells them to take down the warrior. A couple of men try to get a hold of the warrior, but the warrior swings the axe frantically. The men in front dodge the axe while the men in the back grab his arms. They manage to get the axe away from the warrior and tie him up. Even when he’s tied down, the warrior is heavily resisting. With the chief gone, the villagers look up to Igashu since he’s the chief’s son. Igashu tells the men to lock him up. Keokuk walks up to Igashu and says it might be because he ate the fruit. Igashu ponders about it for a bit, but hears crying. He tells the villagers to tend the wounded and to dig holes for the deceased. He continues saying that a funeral will be held in the late afternoon and that the villagers should stay away from the pear tree until everything settles down. When it’s time to hold the funeral, Igashu mourns the loss of his father. Everyone in the village gives their condolences to Igashu and the sun begins to set.

The next morning, Igashu wakes up and heads to the tent where they contained the warrior. Igashu goes inside and sees the warrior in despair, after hearing the news of what he’s done. The warrior explains that he was chopping up some wood and then everything was black. He has no memories of what he’s done. Igashu examines every facial movement when the warrior speaks and believes him. However, Igashu tells the warrior will be kept tied up as a precaution. The warrior understands and thinks about his actions. Suddenly, screaming could be heard outside. Igashu runs outside to see what’s happening. He sees a man naked and running after women. Igashu is confused about the situation and doesn’t know what to do about it. Keokuk yells out to men nearby to get him under control. They hold him down and cover his genitals. Igashu walks towards the man and sees him looking around for something. Igashu looks towards the direction the man is looking at and see women. The man is looking left and right in an erratic manner with his tongue licking all over his lips. Igashu approaches the man and tells him what he's doing. The man doesn’t respond and continues looking around. Suddenly, from a distance, a man is causing a commotion and yells to his wife ,”Honey! What are you doing?! That’s not our food!” The woman leaves the plates of food and moves on to the next. Igashu looks in that direction and recognizes her from the tree. Then, another villager comes up to Igashu and tells him that he shouldn’t be the next chief of the village just because he’s the chief’s son. The villager continues, saying ,”What makes you so great? You’re not as strong as me! I can lead the village, not you! You’re inadequate!” Some men grab the villager’s arms and pull them away from Igashu. Igashu also recognizes the villager from earlier by the tree. After experiencing it first hand, Igashu realizes that the fruit causes people to exhibit the seven sins. The warrior showed wrath, the naked man showed lust, the woman showed gluttony, and the villager showed envy. Igashu is aware of the remaining three sins: pride, greed and sloth, and is fearful of what they might show, so he announces to the villagers that the fruit is dangerous and that anyone who consumes it, will exhibit one of the seven sins. He continues saying that by eating the fruit, it can threaten their way of life and lead to the destruction of their village. Igashu asks for volunteers to help him destroy the tree of evil. Many villagers join him after seeing the damage the fruit has caused. They bring their torches and head to the tree. The moment they get there, they start burning the tree. The villagers stay there to watch it burn. Without knowing, the villagers inhale the aroma of the burnt tree and it goes inside their system.

Years passed and the village is thriving. Igashu is leading his people to prosperity. There has been minor trouble, but not as serious as the events with the fruit. The people exhibit symptoms of the seven sins, but it’s easily mistaken as human nature. Most of the villagers avoid the areas around the pear tree since it’s forbidden territory.

One day, Igashu decides to check up on the tree. He walks along the river and sees that it’s growing back. He makes a realization that our sins will never go away. Even if one tries to get rid of one, another sin will sprout up and take hold. Suddenly, Igashu has a headache and recalls the events with the red barns. Igashu remembers that he either possessed or experienced the seven sins. Eating the chocolate cake, he experienced some form of sloth. As a brown paper box, he exhibited lust. Igashu understood the flaw of pride as a marigold flower. As a bull, he witnessed the power of greed. Under the green light, he saw the dangers of wrath. Skating on the frozen pond, he was unconsciously aware of people's enviousness. Lastly, he found the origin of gluttony and its kin. He then wonders if humans are reincarnated multiple times in order to experience and learn about the seven sins. The more he thinks about it, as long as the seven sins exist, chaos and suffering will follow in an endless cycle.

Suddenly, Igashu is teleported through a colorful wormhole and lands on a rainbow. He looks around and he’s in space. All he sees are stars. In front of him is an endless rainbow road. Behind him are seven different color paths, starting from where he’s standing and branching separately into the endless space. He realizes that each path represents each sin and that his different journeys led him to this point. Igashu turns around and looks at the endless rainbow road and prepares himself for the next journey ahead of him.

- Life is all about the journey.