May 14, 2025 • 19 mins
A city boy, lured by a strange girl and the promise of magical fruit, discovers that some rural secrets are far more dangerous — and far more ancient — than he could ever imagine.
Arpad Nagy is a 51yr old, Hungarian Canadian, working husband and father, with a storyteller’s soul and a romantic’s heart, who, began his writing journey in 2021 after sustaining serious work injuries. After surviving a year as soulless content writer, he quickly refocused to fiction and nonfiction writing, finding success as a fiction ghostwriter, creative consultant, and developmental editor. His fiction writing, nonfiction essays, and memoirs have achieved a measure of success, most recently shortlisted for the Northwind Writing Award in fiction and nonfiction, as well as being accepted as a feature author for Dragon Soul Press Winter Anthology. His work is published regularly at Medium.com.
Photo by Art Lasovsky on Unsplash
You can read "The Mango Tree" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
Other work by Arpad Nagy featured on the Kaidankai:
The Ghosts of Black Rock River
Through the Shadow Glass
Josephine's Candle
Website: kaidankaistories.com
Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.
Follow us on:
Instagram
Facebook
Bluesky
Substack
Arpad Nagy is a 51yr old, Hungarian Canadian, working husband and father, with a storyteller’s soul and a romantic’s heart, who, began his writing journey in 2021 after sustaining serious work injuries. After surviving a year as soulless content writer, he quickly refocused to fiction and nonfiction writing, finding success as a fiction ghostwriter, creative consultant, and developmental editor. His fiction writing, nonfiction essays, and memoirs have achieved a measure of success, most recently shortlisted for the Northwind Writing Award in fiction and nonfiction, as well as being accepted as a feature author for Dragon Soul Press Winter Anthology. His work is published regularly at Medium.com.
Photo by Art Lasovsky on Unsplash
You can read "The Mango Tree" at https://www.kaidankaistories.com.
Other work by Arpad Nagy featured on the Kaidankai:
The Ghosts of Black Rock River
Through the Shadow Glass
Josephine's Candle
Website: kaidankaistories.com
Please feel free to contact me through the website contact form.
Follow us on:
Bluesky
Substack
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Kaiiton Kai Podcast, where the eerie, the mysterious,
and the spine shilling come alive in stories that linger
long after the last word is spoken. I'm your host
Linda Gould, and tonight I'm reading The Mango Tree by
Arpad Naji, where a city boy abandons his skepticism to
follow a country girl deep into the outback in search
(00:32):
of mangoes with effervescent flavors. They do find the magic mangoes,
but to partake, the boy must pay a price. Arpad
Naji is a fifty one year old Hungarian Canadian working
husband and father with a storyteller's soul and a romantics heart,
who began his writing journey in twenty twenty one after
(00:55):
sustaining serious work injuries. After surviving a year as a
soulless content writer, he quickly refocused to fiction and nonfiction writing,
finding success as a fiction ghostwriter, creative consultant, and developmental editor.
His writing has achieved a measure of success, most recently
shortlisted for the North Wind Writing Award in Fiction and Nonfiction,
(01:20):
and he's been accepted as a feature author for Dragonsoul
Press winter anthology. Arpad Naji's work is published regularly at
medium dot com and so now dim Delights. Settle in
and prepare yourself for the Mango Tree by Arpad Naji
and joy Uh. I don't know, Penny, I think you're fibbin.
(01:49):
I ain't never heard of a mango tree droppin plumfruit
tasting like a fizzy Oh, Michael, you're from Sydney, Penny answered,
with a roll of her sparkling green eyes. Guys, and
no one from the city knows what kind of good
secrets we Bogans keep past the black stump? Where's that
the black stump? With hands upturned and thrust to the heavens,
(02:13):
Penny shook her head, sending her braided blonde pigtails flailing.
It's not a real black stump. It means it's far off,
like a long way out of the way. Michael stood
there looking at this girl. Since his family moved to
Borau last week, he'd hardly seen any kids his age.
(02:34):
School was still more than a month off, and even
though this rural town was only a couple hours from Sydney,
it felt far away, past the black stump, far and
it was odd. This girl was weird too, But she
was also cute in a silly sort of way. Penelope
hath Away shrugged, turned and began walking away in a
(02:57):
slow knee dip toad in the dusty trail. Suit yourself, Michael,
come on if you want, go on if you don't,
but don't expect me to invite you to the Mango
tree again. He followed along, but kept his distance. Come
you call me Michael and not Mike or Mikey. It's
(03:18):
your name, isn't it. Yeah, well, Michael, you're from the city,
means you're sophisticated. Plus we already have a Mic and
a Mikey around here. Mike Wallins he's okay, but he
doesn't talk. And Mikey plunk it but he's a real
bludger and would never make it to the mango tree. Hmm, Well,
(03:42):
how come Mike Wallins doesn't talk? Don't know, just never has.
Michael watched as Penny stopped, snapped her heels together and
twirled her pigtails, swung out horizontally, and held spinning like
a helicopter rot her with her arms out as if
she were trying to rise from the ground. Her eyes
were closed and she was smiling when she stopped and
(04:05):
opened them, looking right at him, she winked. Michael jumped
like he'd been stung by a bee. So you said,
these mangoes taste like fizzy pops? What flavors? Penny's mouth
curled into a smile. Hmm, Well, you'll have to come see.
(04:26):
But I've had ones that tasted like cherry, root beer
and pepsi, but I really want to find one that
tastes like cream soda, my favorite. After a long, hot
slog through open fields with low, dry grass and dust
that puffed up with each step like talcum powder, Penny
pointed to a slope at the bottom. A lone tree,
(04:49):
bursting with greenery and resplendent with great globes of fruit,
stood at the edge of a flat plot. That's mother,
Penny said, with a sigh. Mother asked Michael, yes, Penny answered,
now skipping toward the tree, because she gives me whatever
I want and loves me. A funny feeling crawled up
(05:13):
Michael's neck. He stopped walking and turned around. The sun
was getting low, and everything around him looked like nothing.
A plain field, not much of a road, no signs, houses,
or landmarks. He realized he had no idea where he was,
(05:36):
and his parents would never know where to find him.
He heard his mom's voice. Don't go off with strangers.
Was Penny a stranger? What are you doing standing there?
Penny shouted, Already halfway to the tree, his feet didn't
seem to want to take another step forward. Why'd I
(05:58):
follow this stupid girl anyway? It'll be almost dark by
the time I get back. It felt like a pile
of rocks was tumbling in his tummy. He looked at
Penny walking backward, slowly descending the slope toward the tree.
He watched as her legs disappeared, then her shoulders, until
(06:18):
all he could see was a hand waiting for him
to follow. Damn it, Mike, Now you're sunk. You're lost.
It'll be dark soon, and you've got no way home.
Just that dang country girl you followed into the middle
of nowhere. He kicked the dirt path a mushroom cloud
of pale dust rose to his knees. Concluding that it
(06:41):
was better to be with a strange girl than alone,
and that at least the mango tree would provide food,
he decided the best plan was to follow Penny find
out about this magic mango tree, and then get himself home.
After I get home, after they nearly kill me. I
bet Mom and Dad will finally get me a phone.
He began walking again and turned to see the sun
(07:03):
almost touching the hilltops in the distance. The rocks, and
his stomach tumbled again. If I get home, he thawed.
Even with nighttime approaching, it was still plenty hot, and
it felt good to sit under the cool umbrella of
the mango tree. He watched Penny as she slung herself
around the trunk, hugging and kissing the bark, saying sweet
(07:27):
things and telling mother that she'd brought a new friend
and she had to show him her magic. He looked
at the many plump, oblong fruits hanging from the branches,
and his mouth began to water. His stomach still turned,
but now it was from hunger. How do I know
which one will be a fizzy? Penny came and scooched
(07:48):
down in front of him, with her knees touching his.
You have to close your eyes and ask mother for it.
Michael peered at this girl with the small nose and
pretty eyes. He didn't know enough about girls to know
anything about them, but he was pretty sure Penny was
pulling a prank. I bet this is a gag, he said,
(08:11):
rather petulantly. I bet you'll have me making silly wishes
and asking Mother like she was real, And when I
bite into a mango, it'll be just that, a plain
old mango, and you'll have a big laugh at me. Oh,
for heaven's sake, Michael, you're carrying on like a pork chop.
You'd think I'd drag you all this way for a joke,
(08:31):
that I haven't anything better to do with my time
than tease some stupid boy. Her nose got all squished
up and her eyes pinched, so she looked mean, but
somehow Penny looked even cuter. It made him think of
a rabbit about to sneeze. He got another funny feeling
floating in his stomach. All right, sheeesh, it was just
(08:52):
a question, fair dinkm You don't need to get so mad,
So you'll try, Penny asked, softening her and brandishing a
smile that could make this moon blush. Sure, I'll try.
What kinds of flavors can I ask mother for? Well,
Penny drew the word out as she quietly clapped her
(09:13):
fingers together. I asked for chocolate cake once and a
bikie a few times, but getting those rights seemed to
be about as scarce as Hen's teeth. So I stick
some more basic flavors. I once asked for a strawberry float,
and didn't Mother give me the most luscious mango. Penny
leaned in and laid her hand on his arm. I
(09:33):
swear I thought I was at old Pip and Sip
soda shop having their best cream float. Mother, Michael said,
looking up at the tree. I'd like, no, Michael, not
like that. You have to close your eyes and imagine
the flavor, then you ask. Sorry. Michael closed his eyes
(09:54):
and steepled his hands. He was thirsty and hungry, but
most of all, he just wanted to be done with
this and go home. He played along as genuinely as
he could. Muster, Mother, my favorite fizzy in the whole
world is doctor Pepper. We don't get it much and
haven't had any since we left Sydney. I'd be very
(10:16):
grateful if I could have a taste right now, he felt.
Penny sidled beside him, her hair touching his, and he
smelled the lilac scented shampoo. Good. She whispered, Now keep
very still and your eyes shut. Mother will show me
which mango is for you. Her hair fell away, and
(10:39):
he heard her feet scrape the dirt, and the shake
of a leafy branch, a snap, a rustle, and then
a hand on his head. Bite, Michael, sink your teeth
in and taste what mother has given you. He bit.
The mealy pulp threw him off for a moment, but
(11:00):
then the sugary, peppery bubbles leaped along his tongue. It
was real, a doctor pepper mango. He bit again, drinking
and gorging on the phizzysota sensation bursting from the fruit.
Overwhelmed and overjoyed, he opened his eyes and looked at Penny,
who leaned over him with the fruit in her hand, smiling,
(11:22):
looking proud and contented. I can't believe that mango hath
taste like emerthin. Puzzled, he felt his tongue fat and heavy,
pushing on his lips and filling his mouth. He looked up,
but Penny didn't look like Penny any more. She seemed
to stretch up from the ground, her body pulled like
(11:43):
an elastic band, her face ballooned and distorted. His head lulled,
and in the silty dirt between his feet lay the mango,
the fruit black and porous. Penny reached a long, bony
arm at him, and he felt her hand clamp around
his wrist. Thank you for coming with me to day, Michael.
(12:07):
It's been an awfully long time since I've been able
to bring some one to see mother. What all the way? What?
What a doin the way? His thick and soupy words
spilled from his lips like the sugary syrup dripping from
his chin. She was dragging him now, pulling him around
the back of the tree. His legs felt heavy and wet,
(12:29):
like he'd been dunked in a pool. His chest wheezed,
and he felt his heart beat thumping in his ears.
Everything was failing him, but his eyes remained clear, and
what he saw set terror into his soul. The base
of the mango tree turned the blackest black he'd ever seen,
(12:50):
like a hole into endless nothingness, an emptiness filled with need, hunger,
and pain. Thick, pulsating rude broke from the earth and
moved like spider legs, with bends, knots, and knuckles everywhere.
The grayish blue tendrils folded over one another, looking like
the twisted blue veins in his grandfather's calves. They grabbed
(13:13):
at him, rolling around his legs, tightening over his feet,
wrapping around his ankles, pulling him toward the dark. Mangoes
and leaves fell from Mother's branches. The heavy, soft, rotten
fruit fell apart in globs of gray flesh, and an
army of hard shell beetles with luminescent oil skinned backs
(13:34):
crawled out and stormed his body like an army. Though
he felt no pain, he watched as the swarm of
bugs tore away at him, sending bits of flesh into
the air like shavings spit from a chainsaw. And Penny
loomed over him. Her pretty eyes looked almost grateful, her
(13:56):
smile nearly loving, while her reached down and felt the
cool touch of her fingers slip between his exposed rib boons.
There was a tightening and then a tug. He felt
his body go cold. He looked up at her, and
the last thing Michael Moorehouse would ever see was Penny
(14:22):
eating his heart. And then he fell into darkness, falling
and falling and falling into the black. The good citizens
of Bawras showed their sympathies and grief to the Moorhouse family.
Over the weeks after Michael's disappearance, police and volunteers scoured
the town, the fields, woods, ravines and creeks searching for
(14:45):
the lost boy, but they found no trace. Following tips
and reports from passers by who saw Michael playing alone
at the park and later walking on the dirt track
toward the old orchard, searchers used every available asset to
find him, including drones with heat detecting cameras. It seemed
like the earth had just opened up and swallowed him whole.
(15:09):
The corner plot was staked out and Casey Barlow stood
with his wife looking over the expanse of open land
around them. Like countless others, the Barlows decided to leave
the pace and stress of city life behind, leaving Sydney
for a life of leisurely country living between the outback
and the city. Can you believe it, beth Anne Casey
(15:31):
asked his wife, who held their nine year old daughter
Adelaide by the hand. First one's in another year, babe,
and these prices will double. We're gonna love it here. Look,
Mama Addie said pointing to the lone tree in the
entire subdivision. Do we even get our own tree? Casey
(15:53):
tussled his daughter's hair and took a knee beside her.
This used to be a mango orchard. Addie, looks like
we inherited the last tree. I can see she's sprouting
buds too. Reckon. We'll have fresh mangoes all summer. At
the corner of the new subdivision, Barney Chambers and Luke
(16:13):
Dawson stood in front of the bulldozer and greater her
having lunch while watching the new arrivals and soon to
be residents of thorough Wallgate. Shoulda tore out that damned
old tree, grumbled Barney, Yeah, agreed Luke. Damn whom business
that was? You? Reckon? The developers told those folks about
madnessus Darby hanging herself from that old timber. If you
(16:37):
was selling a slab of good for nothing, used up
old plot for barrels of dash, would you go and
tell a story of Amma who lost her young and
then hanged herself dead because her heart was tore out. No,
you wouldn't. They ought to have at least left the
gravestones there, Luke said, finishing off his Fizzy ain't right,
not knowing she's buried there with her girl, He climbed
(16:59):
back into his and took a last look at the
nice young family. Funny about that tree, he said, I've
never seen one ever grow such fruit. Wow, what a story.
One thing I loved about it is that that it
(17:20):
was about a child. It's actually relevant for all of us,
regardless of our age. I mean, how many times have
we suspected that something wasn't right, but our desire for
it to be right overcame our common sense or our
inability to stand up to someone because we don't want
(17:42):
to look foolish or make a scene. And so that
means that we follow along with something a little farther
than we're comfortable with. And children maybe are more vulnerable
to that, but I think we all experience it from
time to time. I'm learning as I do this podcast
just how many stories out there are about trust and
temptation and how we humans need trust and temptation. They're
(18:07):
part of us and they inspire us, but then they
can also be used against us. Like in today's story,
Michael's longing for connection and adventure blinds him to the
warnings and leaves him vulnerable to being lured by sweet promises.
It would be a great lesson to learn to remember
(18:28):
to act upon, but then again, we're human, so of
course we will never fully learn that lesson. Please subscribe,
leave a review, and share the kaiiton Kai podcast with
your fellow lovers of eerie tales. The kaiiton Kai has
so many interesting stories from every genre. I also pretend
(18:48):
that I post things about the supernatural or ghosts on
social media, but I'm terrible at social media. I usually
just post art, any kind of art that I really like,
So pick poison. I'm out there on Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky,
and substack. It's all in the episode description. So thank
(19:09):
you so much for listening today, and I'll see you
next week for another really interesting and exciting story.
Welcome to the Kaiiton Kai Podcast, where the eerie, the mysterious,
and the spine shilling come alive in stories that linger
long after the last word is spoken. I'm your host
Linda Gould, and tonight I'm reading The Mango Tree by
Arpad Naji, where a city boy abandons his skepticism to
follow a country girl deep into the outback in search
(00:32):
of mangoes with effervescent flavors. They do find the magic mangoes,
but to partake, the boy must pay a price. Arpad
Naji is a fifty one year old Hungarian Canadian working
husband and father with a storyteller's soul and a romantics heart,
who began his writing journey in twenty twenty one after
(00:55):
sustaining serious work injuries. After surviving a year as a
soulless content writer, he quickly refocused to fiction and nonfiction writing,
finding success as a fiction ghostwriter, creative consultant, and developmental editor.
His writing has achieved a measure of success, most recently
shortlisted for the North Wind Writing Award in Fiction and Nonfiction,
(01:20):
and he's been accepted as a feature author for Dragonsoul
Press winter anthology. Arpad Naji's work is published regularly at
medium dot com and so now dim Delights. Settle in
and prepare yourself for the Mango Tree by Arpad Naji
and joy Uh. I don't know, Penny, I think you're fibbin.
(01:49):
I ain't never heard of a mango tree droppin plumfruit
tasting like a fizzy Oh, Michael, you're from Sydney, Penny answered,
with a roll of her sparkling green eyes. Guys, and
no one from the city knows what kind of good
secrets we Bogans keep past the black stump? Where's that
the black stump? With hands upturned and thrust to the heavens,
(02:13):
Penny shook her head, sending her braided blonde pigtails flailing.
It's not a real black stump. It means it's far off,
like a long way out of the way. Michael stood
there looking at this girl. Since his family moved to
Borau last week, he'd hardly seen any kids his age.
(02:34):
School was still more than a month off, and even
though this rural town was only a couple hours from Sydney,
it felt far away, past the black stump, far and
it was odd. This girl was weird too, But she
was also cute in a silly sort of way. Penelope
hath Away shrugged, turned and began walking away in a
(02:57):
slow knee dip toad in the dusty trail. Suit yourself, Michael,
come on if you want, go on if you don't,
but don't expect me to invite you to the Mango
tree again. He followed along, but kept his distance. Come
you call me Michael and not Mike or Mikey. It's
(03:18):
your name, isn't it. Yeah, well, Michael, you're from the city,
means you're sophisticated. Plus we already have a Mic and
a Mikey around here. Mike Wallins he's okay, but he
doesn't talk. And Mikey plunk it but he's a real
bludger and would never make it to the mango tree. Hmm, Well,
(03:42):
how come Mike Wallins doesn't talk? Don't know, just never has.
Michael watched as Penny stopped, snapped her heels together and
twirled her pigtails, swung out horizontally, and held spinning like
a helicopter rot her with her arms out as if
she were trying to rise from the ground. Her eyes
were closed and she was smiling when she stopped and
(04:05):
opened them, looking right at him, she winked. Michael jumped
like he'd been stung by a bee. So you said,
these mangoes taste like fizzy pops? What flavors? Penny's mouth
curled into a smile. Hmm, Well, you'll have to come see.
(04:26):
But I've had ones that tasted like cherry, root beer
and pepsi, but I really want to find one that
tastes like cream soda, my favorite. After a long, hot
slog through open fields with low, dry grass and dust
that puffed up with each step like talcum powder, Penny
pointed to a slope at the bottom. A lone tree,
(04:49):
bursting with greenery and resplendent with great globes of fruit,
stood at the edge of a flat plot. That's mother,
Penny said, with a sigh. Mother asked Michael, yes, Penny answered,
now skipping toward the tree, because she gives me whatever
I want and loves me. A funny feeling crawled up
(05:13):
Michael's neck. He stopped walking and turned around. The sun
was getting low, and everything around him looked like nothing.
A plain field, not much of a road, no signs, houses,
or landmarks. He realized he had no idea where he was,
(05:36):
and his parents would never know where to find him.
He heard his mom's voice. Don't go off with strangers.
Was Penny a stranger? What are you doing standing there?
Penny shouted, Already halfway to the tree, his feet didn't
seem to want to take another step forward. Why'd I
(05:58):
follow this stupid girl anyway? It'll be almost dark by
the time I get back. It felt like a pile
of rocks was tumbling in his tummy. He looked at
Penny walking backward, slowly descending the slope toward the tree.
He watched as her legs disappeared, then her shoulders, until
(06:18):
all he could see was a hand waiting for him
to follow. Damn it, Mike, Now you're sunk. You're lost.
It'll be dark soon, and you've got no way home.
Just that dang country girl you followed into the middle
of nowhere. He kicked the dirt path a mushroom cloud
of pale dust rose to his knees. Concluding that it
(06:41):
was better to be with a strange girl than alone,
and that at least the mango tree would provide food,
he decided the best plan was to follow Penny find
out about this magic mango tree, and then get himself home.
After I get home, after they nearly kill me. I
bet Mom and Dad will finally get me a phone.
He began walking again and turned to see the sun
(07:03):
almost touching the hilltops in the distance. The rocks, and
his stomach tumbled again. If I get home, he thawed.
Even with nighttime approaching, it was still plenty hot, and
it felt good to sit under the cool umbrella of
the mango tree. He watched Penny as she slung herself
around the trunk, hugging and kissing the bark, saying sweet
(07:27):
things and telling mother that she'd brought a new friend
and she had to show him her magic. He looked
at the many plump, oblong fruits hanging from the branches,
and his mouth began to water. His stomach still turned,
but now it was from hunger. How do I know
which one will be a fizzy? Penny came and scooched
(07:48):
down in front of him, with her knees touching his.
You have to close your eyes and ask mother for it.
Michael peered at this girl with the small nose and
pretty eyes. He didn't know enough about girls to know
anything about them, but he was pretty sure Penny was
pulling a prank. I bet this is a gag, he said,
(08:11):
rather petulantly. I bet you'll have me making silly wishes
and asking Mother like she was real, And when I
bite into a mango, it'll be just that, a plain
old mango, and you'll have a big laugh at me. Oh,
for heaven's sake, Michael, you're carrying on like a pork chop.
You'd think I'd drag you all this way for a joke,
(08:31):
that I haven't anything better to do with my time
than tease some stupid boy. Her nose got all squished
up and her eyes pinched, so she looked mean, but
somehow Penny looked even cuter. It made him think of
a rabbit about to sneeze. He got another funny feeling
floating in his stomach. All right, sheeesh, it was just
(08:52):
a question, fair dinkm You don't need to get so mad,
So you'll try, Penny asked, softening her and brandishing a
smile that could make this moon blush. Sure, I'll try.
What kinds of flavors can I ask mother for? Well,
Penny drew the word out as she quietly clapped her
(09:13):
fingers together. I asked for chocolate cake once and a
bikie a few times, but getting those rights seemed to
be about as scarce as Hen's teeth. So I stick
some more basic flavors. I once asked for a strawberry float,
and didn't Mother give me the most luscious mango. Penny
leaned in and laid her hand on his arm. I
(09:33):
swear I thought I was at old Pip and Sip
soda shop having their best cream float. Mother, Michael said,
looking up at the tree. I'd like, no, Michael, not
like that. You have to close your eyes and imagine
the flavor, then you ask. Sorry. Michael closed his eyes
(09:54):
and steepled his hands. He was thirsty and hungry, but
most of all, he just wanted to be done with
this and go home. He played along as genuinely as
he could. Muster, Mother, my favorite fizzy in the whole
world is doctor Pepper. We don't get it much and
haven't had any since we left Sydney. I'd be very
(10:16):
grateful if I could have a taste right now, he felt.
Penny sidled beside him, her hair touching his, and he
smelled the lilac scented shampoo. Good. She whispered, Now keep
very still and your eyes shut. Mother will show me
which mango is for you. Her hair fell away, and
(10:39):
he heard her feet scrape the dirt, and the shake
of a leafy branch, a snap, a rustle, and then
a hand on his head. Bite, Michael, sink your teeth
in and taste what mother has given you. He bit.
The mealy pulp threw him off for a moment, but
(11:00):
then the sugary, peppery bubbles leaped along his tongue. It
was real, a doctor pepper mango. He bit again, drinking
and gorging on the phizzysota sensation bursting from the fruit.
Overwhelmed and overjoyed, he opened his eyes and looked at Penny,
who leaned over him with the fruit in her hand, smiling,
(11:22):
looking proud and contented. I can't believe that mango hath
taste like emerthin. Puzzled, he felt his tongue fat and heavy,
pushing on his lips and filling his mouth. He looked up,
but Penny didn't look like Penny any more. She seemed
to stretch up from the ground, her body pulled like
(11:43):
an elastic band, her face ballooned and distorted. His head lulled,
and in the silty dirt between his feet lay the mango,
the fruit black and porous. Penny reached a long, bony
arm at him, and he felt her hand clamp around
his wrist. Thank you for coming with me to day, Michael.
(12:07):
It's been an awfully long time since I've been able
to bring some one to see mother. What all the way? What?
What a doin the way? His thick and soupy words
spilled from his lips like the sugary syrup dripping from
his chin. She was dragging him now, pulling him around
the back of the tree. His legs felt heavy and wet,
(12:29):
like he'd been dunked in a pool. His chest wheezed,
and he felt his heart beat thumping in his ears.
Everything was failing him, but his eyes remained clear, and
what he saw set terror into his soul. The base
of the mango tree turned the blackest black he'd ever seen,
(12:50):
like a hole into endless nothingness, an emptiness filled with need, hunger,
and pain. Thick, pulsating rude broke from the earth and
moved like spider legs, with bends, knots, and knuckles everywhere.
The grayish blue tendrils folded over one another, looking like
the twisted blue veins in his grandfather's calves. They grabbed
(13:13):
at him, rolling around his legs, tightening over his feet,
wrapping around his ankles, pulling him toward the dark. Mangoes
and leaves fell from Mother's branches. The heavy, soft, rotten
fruit fell apart in globs of gray flesh, and an
army of hard shell beetles with luminescent oil skinned backs
(13:34):
crawled out and stormed his body like an army. Though
he felt no pain, he watched as the swarm of
bugs tore away at him, sending bits of flesh into
the air like shavings spit from a chainsaw. And Penny
loomed over him. Her pretty eyes looked almost grateful, her
(13:56):
smile nearly loving, while her reached down and felt the
cool touch of her fingers slip between his exposed rib boons.
There was a tightening and then a tug. He felt
his body go cold. He looked up at her, and
the last thing Michael Moorehouse would ever see was Penny
(14:22):
eating his heart. And then he fell into darkness, falling
and falling and falling into the black. The good citizens
of Bawras showed their sympathies and grief to the Moorhouse family.
Over the weeks after Michael's disappearance, police and volunteers scoured
the town, the fields, woods, ravines and creeks searching for
(14:45):
the lost boy, but they found no trace. Following tips
and reports from passers by who saw Michael playing alone
at the park and later walking on the dirt track
toward the old orchard, searchers used every available asset to
find him, including drones with heat detecting cameras. It seemed
like the earth had just opened up and swallowed him whole.
(15:09):
The corner plot was staked out and Casey Barlow stood
with his wife looking over the expanse of open land
around them. Like countless others, the Barlows decided to leave
the pace and stress of city life behind, leaving Sydney
for a life of leisurely country living between the outback
and the city. Can you believe it, beth Anne Casey
(15:31):
asked his wife, who held their nine year old daughter
Adelaide by the hand. First one's in another year, babe,
and these prices will double. We're gonna love it here. Look,
Mama Addie said pointing to the lone tree in the
entire subdivision. Do we even get our own tree? Casey
(15:53):
tussled his daughter's hair and took a knee beside her.
This used to be a mango orchard. Addie, looks like
we inherited the last tree. I can see she's sprouting
buds too. Reckon. We'll have fresh mangoes all summer. At
the corner of the new subdivision, Barney Chambers and Luke
(16:13):
Dawson stood in front of the bulldozer and greater her
having lunch while watching the new arrivals and soon to
be residents of thorough Wallgate. Shoulda tore out that damned
old tree, grumbled Barney, Yeah, agreed Luke. Damn whom business
that was? You? Reckon? The developers told those folks about
madnessus Darby hanging herself from that old timber. If you
(16:37):
was selling a slab of good for nothing, used up
old plot for barrels of dash, would you go and
tell a story of Amma who lost her young and
then hanged herself dead because her heart was tore out. No,
you wouldn't. They ought to have at least left the
gravestones there, Luke said, finishing off his Fizzy ain't right,
not knowing she's buried there with her girl, He climbed
(16:59):
back into his and took a last look at the
nice young family. Funny about that tree, he said, I've
never seen one ever grow such fruit. Wow, what a story.
One thing I loved about it is that that it
(17:20):
was about a child. It's actually relevant for all of us,
regardless of our age. I mean, how many times have
we suspected that something wasn't right, but our desire for
it to be right overcame our common sense or our
inability to stand up to someone because we don't want
(17:42):
to look foolish or make a scene. And so that
means that we follow along with something a little farther
than we're comfortable with. And children maybe are more vulnerable
to that, but I think we all experience it from
time to time. I'm learning as I do this podcast
just how many stories out there are about trust and
temptation and how we humans need trust and temptation. They're
(18:07):
part of us and they inspire us, but then they
can also be used against us. Like in today's story,
Michael's longing for connection and adventure blinds him to the
warnings and leaves him vulnerable to being lured by sweet promises.
It would be a great lesson to learn to remember
(18:28):
to act upon, but then again, we're human, so of
course we will never fully learn that lesson. Please subscribe,
leave a review, and share the kaiiton Kai podcast with
your fellow lovers of eerie tales. The kaiiton Kai has
so many interesting stories from every genre. I also pretend
(18:48):
that I post things about the supernatural or ghosts on
social media, but I'm terrible at social media. I usually
just post art, any kind of art that I really like,
So pick poison. I'm out there on Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky,
and substack. It's all in the episode description. So thank
(19:09):
you so much for listening today, and I'll see you
next week for another really interesting and exciting story.
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