Syeed and I mourned Shikharna's death and let tears flow out our eyes. Kharn and Broken Ear kept pacing up and down, whining constantly at the top of their voices. They were chewed up inside. They couldn't even look at their mother's body lying on the ground, she was still and lifeless. No pulse at all. I could hear Syeed whispering Indian prayers to himself, they were very meaningful and made me cry more.
"Should we bury her?" I quietly asked Syeed while eying Broken Ear as he was trying to settle down but then got straight back up and joined Kharn pacing up and down.
"Yes. It wouldn't feel right leaving he body to rot".
"What would we use to bury her?" Syeed got up and searched for two flat rocks, then grabbed two vines and then got two strong branches, they weren't too heavy and weren't too light. Just the right kind of branch. I watched his demonstration of creating a shovel out of natural resources and then I copied his example, following his instructions accordingly. First, he grabbed one of the flat rocks. After that he got one of the branches and then very strongly but neatly tied the branch to the rock. He slammed it on the ground, I was assuming he was testing its strength, if he wasn't God knows why he was slapping the ground with it.
We got to work straight away after creating a shovel whilst Kharn and Broken Ear joked around with each other to brighten up their spirits. Syeed and I were shoveling basically all night long, of course we stopped for some breaks but not that often because we just wanted to bury her as quick as possible before another animal comes and drags her carcass away and enjoys it. We didn't get to sleep one bit that night, we stayed up and occasionally sat down to watch Kharn and Broken Ear sleep but we didn't sit down for too long in fear that we would fall into a deep slumber.
We finished burying Shikharna's body at approximately 5:00 AM. So that was the time our bodies collapsed from exhaustion and we fell into deep sleep. While Syeed and I were sleeping Kharn and Broken Ear stood up and ran off. Where did they go? we do not know. Kharn and Broken walked together for some time but then deserted each other and didn't turn back.
Syeed and I woke up quite late, maybe in the afternoon. We were full of energy again and it felt really good. I went to check up on Kharn and Broken Ear but they were not there and there was no tracks.
"They've gone. They have finally started their own lives in the jungle, I shall miss them," Syeed said as he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, me too," I replied, staring out into the great beyond.
"I guess it's time we got a move on."
"A move on? Where to?" I was slightly confused.
"Back to the village, Stupid," He gently slapped the side of my face and chuckled.
"Great," I said being sarcastic. Syeed and I licked one of our fingers and put them up in the air. The wind was coming from the west, so that's the way we headed.
"Have you ever heard of the expression 'I go where the wind takes me?'" I asked as Syeed and I were heading west.
"No, I can't say I have actually. Is that even an expression?" I shrugged. "I think it's a quote," Syeed said.
YOU ARE READING
A Tiger's Tale
AventuraThis is a delightful tale about a man who goes to India to research tigers but it turns out to be much more than that. His companion "Syeed" and him become the best of friends with a family of tigers and follow them through every step of their life.
