The woman died in the lap of a spreading apple tree. She just shut her eyes for a second, and then remained like that. The people walking by assumed she was sleeping and nobody bothered. They just kept walking, stepping on the crackling leaves on the ground.

After a while, a little boy went and poked her arm. She was sitting in his favourite spot and he wouldn’t quite have it. He grew increasingly impatient at her lack of response and finally resorted to tapping her head in a army-like rhythm. He called out to his mother who scolded him for troubling the old lady and asked him to leave her alone. He ignored the mother and started shouting, “Getupgetupgetupgetup” right next to the lady’s ear.

The mother of the frenzied child began to panic. She called out to a few others and they came and surrounded the old lady, gently slapping and watering her face. One of them pulled out her cell-phone and called an ambulance. The little boy looked stricken on gathering what had happened.

The old lady died in a way she had always hoped to; amidst trees and concerned people. It was only a small matter that they didn’t know h