Tiger Speaks- A call of the wild | Story | Bookosmia

Tiger Speaks- A call of the wild

I sat on the warm grass and stared at the forest surrounding me. I whistled to pass time and wondered if father and his friends had caught anything yet.

They had been trying to catch a tiger for weeks now. I still remember father’s beaming face when he came home with a dead tiger a couple of months ago.
I really wanted to join but missed out as I had slipped and fallen over a large rock. I was missing out of all the fun. Imagine if they caught a tiger!

I started strolling aimlessly around the bushes when I heard a sound. I thought it must be a squirrel or a rabbit but from it, emerged an old woman.
She was short, stout and had friendly ebony eyes. She wore a simple sari and her hair was tied up in a bun.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Ram,” I mumbled.
“The hunter’s son?” she raised her voice. I nodded.
“Follow me,” she said, disappearing into the bushes behind her. I followed hesitatingly. Something told me that she could be trusted. We passed through teaks and banyans till we reached a large grassland.

“Look down there,” she pointed.

I followed her direction and saw a large tigress. She had a beautiful saffron coat and amber colored eyes. And then I noticed her neck. It was bleeding.

“Do you love your mother?” the lady asked me. I said yes.

“She has three young cubs who will suffer because of hunters like your dad. They will grow up without knowing the love of a mother. One by one our pride is vanishing. It will cause nothing but imbalance in nature but people like you never understand.”

It slowly began to sink in. A majestic beast was killed. Her cubs abandoned. For what? Just so a greedy man can boast about it?

“You must stop this Ram, please,” she begged me. I slowly nodded and turned back to the woods.

I went to find father. I had to tell him. I had to stop him. I just had to…

***

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