Third Time's a Charm

The Reeds had always wanted children. Kathy and her husband, Peter, had been trying to have children for years, and had had several doctor visits and appointments with countless specialists. It was starting to set in that they would have to adopt, until one spring day, Kathy became ill and had to be rushed to the hospital. There, they discovered that she was in fact pregnant. The Reeds were so over the moon they almost didn’t believe it. The doctor then dropped another bombshell: Kathy was pregnant with triplets. Kathy looked at Peter and smiled wide. Peter smiled back and said, “Must have been a delay.” The family had never been happier.

Right away, they went into parenting mode. Peter was waiting on Kathy hand and foot, and took care to watch what she was eating and that she wasn’t exhausting herself. The children hadn’t made it into the world just yet, but they were already their parents’ pride and joy. They’d never loved anything so much. They had played around with names, but it wasn’t until they found out the sex of the babies that they really sat down and decided. Two boys and one girl. They picked Phoebe for the girl, then Paul and Trent for the boys. They would decide which one would get which name once they were out. One night, Kathy and Peter were lying in bed when Kathy had an idea.

“I’ve been thinking about doing something special for the kids. Like a welcome to the world present.” She said.

“Welcome to the world present, huh? I’m listening.”

“Of course, you’ll have to do it because I’m packing around a bit of extra weight.” She laughed.

“Well, of course.”

“What if we get a sapling for each of the kids? We can plant it in the yard. Fruit trees. Each kid will have their own.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. “I love it. Do you want them all to be the same or different?”

“Uh, different, I suppose.”

Peter kissed his wife. “I’ll stop by the farmer’s market tomorrow. I love you.” He kissed his wife’s belly.

The next day, Peter drove to the local farmer’s market. It was a bit of a drive out into the country, but he thought better to get the saplings there than a chain store where they probably didn’t take care of them properly. When he arrived, he walked around looking at the various items: fruits, jams, flowers, fresh honeycomb. The only employee was a small, brittle old man, with worn hands. “Hello there. Can I help ya with anything?” he said in an excited voice.

“Hello. Why yeah, I’m looking for some saplings. Preferably fruit trees.”

“Well, honestly, I ain’t got much, but I’ll show ya what I got.” The old man motioned for Peter to follow him. He walked around to the side of the building where there sat a line of four saplings propped up against the wall. They had their roots wrapped in small burlap sacks. None of them had more than three branches on them. One kind of stuck out from the others, though. It was darker than the other three. “Here’s what I got.”

“Wow, I am lucky. I needed three and you’ve got four. What kind are they?”

Pointing to the first two, the old man said, “These first two here are apple. This one is cherry.”

He pointed to the last one, the dark one. “And this one is pear, I think? It was a gift from an older lady. We’d been having some problems out of her ever since we stopped getting supplies from her, but she stopped by and offered this as an olive branch, I guess. We were gonna plant it, but if you want it, it’s yours.”

“Well, I was supposed to get three different fruits. My wife is planting one for each of our kids, ya see, so she wanted them all to be different.”

“Triplets?”

“Yup.”

“Well, ain’t that just a blessing? Hey, what do ya say you buy an apple and a cherry, and I’ll just throw in the pear? Little gift from me to you.”

Peter nodded his head and smiled. He thanked the man and took his three saplings home.

Peter came home to Kathy waiting on him. She smiled wide when she saw the saplings.

“Look how cute!” She yelled.

They picked out a spot in the yard and Peter grabbed his shovel. He dug three small holes with about three yards of distance in between each of them. Once dug, he grabbed one of the saplings and cut open the burlap sack. “Who do you want for the apple tree?”

“Trent.”

He planted the apple tree and grabbed the next one.

“Pear?”

“Oh, that one’s different. Phoebe. Yeah, put Phoebe in the middle.”

He cut the burlap sack and the dirt and roots spilled out of it.

“Uh oh, already the troublemaker.” They both laughed as Peter planted the pear tree in the middle.

“Which leaves the cherry for Paul.” He planted the last tree.

Peter held Kathy’s belly as they looked at the three small trees.

“I love you.” He whispered into her ear.

“I love you too.” She kissed him.

A week passed and Kathy began to complain of stomach pains. Her doctor assured her everything seemed normal and there was nothing to worry about.

The couple also noticed that the only tree showing signs of life was the pear tree. It had grown an unusual amount in such a short amount of time. Its roots were already large and almost reaching the other two trees.

Another week passed and things stayed the same. Kathy was having unbearable stomach pains and the pear tree keeping getting bigger.

Peter and Kathy ventured back to the hospital, where they did another ultrasound. The doctor noticed that the female was the only one growing – both males seemed to have shrunk. Peter and Kathy were devastated. The doctor decided to admit Kathy to the hospital to keep close watch on her and the baby. She soon began to complain about not having her neck pillow, so Peter left to retrieve it for her. On his way back, he noticed that the pear tree was almost fully grown and the other trees were all shriveled up.

“What the hell? That’s impossible.”

He went back to the hospital and gave Kathy her pillow. He didn’t want to scare her or cause any more stress, so he kept the the information about the trees to himself. It occupied his mind all night. He barely slept.

The next morning, he went back to the farmer’s market. The clerk saw him and walked over to greet him.

“Hey buddy, how’s the little ones?”

“Who did you say gave you that pear tree?” he said in a serious tone that took the clerk by surprise.

“Uh, it was the old lady that lives up Wiltin Hollow.”

“What’s her name?”

“Maggie, I believe. Why? Is everything okay?”

“I really don't know.”

The clerk gave directions and Peter followed up. He drove up a long and wooded winding road. It was isolated. He drove for thirty minutes or so until he saw the sign: “Fruit for sale”. He drove past it and into a long driveway. There was an orchard off to the side, but he didn’t see a car or any sign of people. He got out and looked around. The house was a large, wooden cabin. It wasn’t run down, but it also didn’t look inviting.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

A small, brittle woman who looked to be around 70 years old walked out of the house.

“Hello! Did you come by for Maggie’s famous fruit? It’s fresh. Best in the county by a mile.”

“Um, no. It’s actually a weird story, but did you happen to give the farmer’s market a pear tree not too long ago?”

She let out a wide grin.

“A pear tree… hmmm. Did I give a pear tree to the farmer’s market? Why do you ask?” She let out a laugh.

“Well, the other day I stopped by and got a few trees and ya see, the pear tree is… Well, it’s not normal.”

Her smirk quickly turned sour.

“They gave it to you? They were supposed to plant it there!” Her demeanor had completely changed.

“I was looking for fruit trees for my kids.”

“Did you buy it? Did you purchase the tree?”

“No, he gave it to me as a gift.”

She looked up to the sky shaking her head.

“You shouldn’t have taken it.”

“Excuse me?”

“You were given a cursed tree. It’s going to feed off your land.”

“What are you talking about? Cursed tree?”

“That farmer’s market decided they could get fruit cheaper from a big retailer, so they kicked me to the curb. But they don’t know just who I am, ya see, so I fixed a little something up for them. In order for the curse to work, the tree must be given away. As a gift. Then, once they plant it, it takes over their land, destroying everything in its path. I was going to bankrupt those bastards and you’ve ruined it.”

“What? Is this why my wife is sick?” Peter would never be the type to believe in curses, but he saw the tree with his own eyes. This made more sense than anything else at the moment.

“Wife? Wait, you said you planted it for your kids?”

“Yes, I planted the normal ones for my boys and the pear one for my girl.”

“Like a gift… Where are the kids and your wife now?”

“The hospital. She’s still pregnant with them.”

“Oh my. How long has it been?”

“About two weeks. Is she in danger?”

“Listen to me carefully. I fear by giving the tree to your daughter and then the other two to the boys, that the roots killing the other two trees is going to foreshadow your daughter killing the other two in the womb. If we don’t do something soon… Your wife…”

“No. That’s not an option! Take the curse off my family!” Peter began to cry. "I'm begging you."

“I’m afraid it might be too late for your boys, and for that I truly am remorseful, but we can save your wife. The tree should have bloomed by now. Take a pear from the tree and bring it to your wife. You must get her to eat it. After she does, you must rush back home and cut the tree down. Cut it down and burn it, then the curse will be no more. Though I would not let your wife know of this. It could have grave consequences.”

Peter stared at the old woman with tears in his eyes, still in a state of shock.

Peter arrived at the hospital with a ripe, bright green pear. He handed it to Kathy, who gave him a confused look, but took it and ate it anyway.

That night, Peter chopped at the wide base of the pear tree. Each hit chipped away and away at it, until it finally tipped over. He grabbed a can of gasoline and poured it over the branches. He lit a match, tossed it onto the tree, and let tears fall down his cheeks as the flames grew higher and higher.

Kathy stayed in the hospital until she gave labor. The doctor lowered his head. “I’m sorry, the two boys didn’t make it.” Kathy and Peter gently wept as a baby let out a loud cry. The doctor handed Phoebe to Kathy.

“Congratulations, though. You are the mother to a perfectly healthy baby girl.”

Peter and Kathy looked into the bright green eyes of their baby girl. They smiled and embraced one another.