The corpse that walked

The Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanium) is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. Due to its odour like that of a rotting corpse, it is also called the Corpse flower. The plant is native to the rainforests of Western Sumatra, in Indonesia.

The inflorescence can grow up to ten feet high or more, and consists of a fragrant fleshy axis (called spadix) of flowers wrapped by a large petal-like structure called the spathe. The spathe is a deep green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, with a deeply furrowed texture.

Near the bottom of the spadix, hidden from view inside the sheath of the spathe, the spadix bears two rings of small flowers. The upper ring bears the male flowers; the lower ring is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the Titan Arum resembles rotting meat, attracting flies and beetles that help in pollination.

The inflorescence's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.

Why don’t you go out and see the countryside, Dian?” said Dian’s grandmother for about the hundredth time that day. “Umm… I’ll just stay at home, Grandma… please”, said Dian, his knees knocking together at the very thought of having to step out of home. “Nothing bad is going to happen, Dian”, said his grandmother patiently. “Believe me, you’ll enjoy it!”

Dian was an extremely timid thirteen-year-old boy, who had come down to the island of Sumatra to visit his grandparents for the holidays. He stayed with his parents in the United States of America, and went to school there. He was always scared of unfamiliar places and people, and living each day was a challenge for him.

When he went to school, he stayed away from the other kids as much as he could, because he felt nervous every time someone spoke to him. If he had to speak to someone he didn’t know, he broke out into a sweat, and almost had a nervous breakdown before he could get a word out properly.

To make matters worse, the other kids teased him about the way he looked, especially because he was of Indonesian origin. When something went wrong, they didn’t hesitate to put the blame on him, since he was the weakest of the lot. And Dian, of course, couldn’t defend himself! This led Dian to believe that no matter what he did, he would get into trouble, thus making him stay away from anything that he wasn’t comfortable with.

So Dian grew up into an extremely self-conscious, nervous person with high levels of anxiety, and an aversion towards everything new. When his parents decided to send him alone to Sumatra to visit his grandparents, he protested vehemently. He knew his grandparents well, but the thought of having to go to a strange place he wasn’t familiar with almost killed him.

When no amount of crying, pleading and begging could reverse his parents’ decision, he made up his mind not to step out of his grandparents’ house once he reached there. So now when his Grandmother tried to coax him to go out and explore their coffee and rubber plantations, and the rainforest in the region, Dian was in no mood to listen. “But Granma, everything goes wrong with me all the time”, he argued, “I’m scared I’ll get into trouble!”

Dian’s grandmother signed. “Alright, if you get into trouble, we’ll take care of it. Now just go!” she ordered, pushing him out of the kitchen door and banging it shut. Dian blinked back a few tears. Why was everybody being so mean to him? First it was his parents, and now his grandmother. He first thought of waiting outside the kitchen door till his grandmother relented and took him back in.

But what if she complained to Grandpa? His grandfather was a very strict and serious man, who would definitely take him to task. So he set out, walking through the trees, the farms and the plantations, hardly taking in any of the scenic beauty around him. He grumbled about why his grandparents couldn’t at least accompany him. How was he supposed to manage all on his own?

It took Dian a while to realize that he was surrounded by beautiful plants and tiny, strange but beautiful creatures. He started observing the tall trees that towered over him, the pretty flowers that lined the path, and the colourful insects that whizzed around. He quite forgot his nervousness, and started enjoying himself.

After he had gone a little way, a strange smell hit his nostrils. He wasn’t able to immediately recognize the stench, but it disgusted him all the same. He wondered if a garbage truck had unloaded itself nearby. He however kept walking, and was surprised to find the smell growing stronger. He reached a clearing. There, in the shade of a few trees, lay a boy, who seemed to be of Dian’s age. What was the boy doing there? Dian wondered.

The place belonged to his grandparents, and if a boy was sleeping there unknown to them, he was probably trespassing on their property, he thought. Dian went closer, and the stench seemed to get stronger. The boy lay motionless, his right hand covering his eyes. There was a huge red scar running down his cheek. There were bruises on his arms and feet.

He was wearing black pants, a green shirt, and had a white scarf tied around his neck. He seemed to be unaware of the flies and insects buzzing around him.

“Uh… hello?” called Dian, timidly.

There was no answer. Dian went a little closer. “Hello? Who are you?” he called again. Dian could hardly breathe because of the stench. He held his nose and peered down at the boy at his feet. Suddenly, it hit him— the stench was that of a corpse- a dead body! The boy was dead! Dian leapt back in a hurry, trembling all over. He had never been near a dead body before and he shivered in fright.

Without waiting a single moment, Dian started running as fast as he could towards his home. His first thought was to tell his grandparents what he had seen. It looked like the boy had been murdered, going by the scar and the bruises on his body. Then, he thought, what if they thought that he had killed the boy?

After all, there had been no one else around. He had got into trouble all his life for no fault of his own. What if the same thing happened now? What if the police took him away? Dian finally decided he wouldn’t tell his grandparents anything. He slunk back inside unnoticed, still fearful, and worried that someone might ask him something.

That night, he had dinner in his room, with an excuse that he felt feverish. His grandmother let him be, thinking that his evening walk had made him tired. As Dian lay in his bed, listening to the rain, he thought of the dead boy again. He couldn’t sleep, and finally got up and went to the window. A flash of lightning lighted up the countryside, and what Dian saw in that split second made him scream in fright.

It was the dead boy standing near the fence, in his green shirt and with the white scarf tied around his neck! Despite his fear, Dian waited by the window again, to see if he could spot the corpse walking again. When the next flash of lightning struck, Dian found the face of the dead boy grinning at him, his face pressed against the glass of his window!

Screaming and stumbling, Dian found his way to his grandparents’ room. “What’s wrong, boy?” asked his grandfather, who had awakened by then.
“G-g-ghost!” cried Dian. His grandfather laughed. “Nothing of that sort exists here. Now go back to bed”, he said. Dian couldn’t sleep that night, and the next morning he stuck close to his grandfather as he accompanied him to the fields.

Dian looked this way and that warily, as his grandfather gave instructions to his workers. Soon, everyone dispersed. Dian waited with his grandfather, fidgeting in impatience. As he looked around, he saw a figure coming towards them. To his horror, it was the same corpse! There was no mistaking the white scarf and the green shirt. It was smiling eerily at him. And funnily, nobody else seemed to notice him!

Dian inched backwards as the corpse came closer. Suddenly, his grandfather turned, saw ‘it’ and gave an exclamation. “Oh there you are, Rudi!

Good that you came. Here, meet my grandson, Dian!”

Dian was shocked. What was happening? Wasn’t the boy dead?

“Hi”, said Rudi, grinning from ear to ear. “Now go along with Rudi”, said his grandfather, and pushed Dian ahead.

“I… saw you in that clearing yesterday” startled Dian, nervously, once his grandfather was out of earshot. “I thought you were dead!”

Rudi looked puzzled. “Yes, I was sleeping”, he said. “But why did you think I was dead?”

“The stench of a corpse filled the whole place! I thought you were the dead body, giving off that awful smell”, said Dian.

Rudi laughed. He started running to the clearing, taking Dian with him. Just beyond the clump of trees that Dian had seen, stood a huge flower, it’s

inside a deep red in colour and almost ten feet tall, hidden by the other plants and trees around.

“This is the Titan Arum or the Corpse flower”, said Rudi. “It gives off the stench of a rotting corpse to attract insects for pollination!”