REUNITED

Earth is damp from night showers. The breeze is moist. The jungle is alive with a cacophony of excited calls by animals, birds and insects as an ode to the arrival of monsoon.

Martin steps out of his cabin. He pauses for a moment to take in the fresh air and bask in the rejuvenating aroma of green abundance around him. He is dressed for the job of a ranger with his hat securely on his head and a double-barrel gun in hand. He spring marches into the jungle.

It is a part of his routine to cover a certain part of the jungle on foot under his jurisdiction. He will return in a couple of hours, shower; make breakfast, and then drive to the administrative office in his jeep.

Drawn by nature he loses track of time. He keeps walking deeper and deeper into the jungle until he reaches the river bed and realises how far he has come inside. He stops by the river and hunkers to scoop water in his palm. He splashes his face with icy-cold water several times. As he looks up, he notices a black bear at a distance ambling towards him. He quickly changes takes off to give it a wide berth.

Fifteen minutes later as he is walking back, he senses something amiss. He checks all his belongings and then abruptly stops. His wristwatch is missing. It is the only thing he has saved of his mother that makes him feel constantly connected to her. People who are not aware of its emotional value tease him for having a fetish for ladies' watches.

He immediately turns and runs back to the river. He strongly suspects it might have come off his wrist while scooping water. He goes as fast as he can. He is afraid the water current might displace it.

Suddenly, he comes to a halt. His face contorts. His eyes enlarge. He parts his lips to purchase moisture from the drops of sweat building around his mouth out of nervousness. He slowly lifts his gun to point ahead. The same bear is standing before him looking straight into his eyes. It is threateningly grunting and groaning in an attacking posture. The ranger slowly backs up while keeping his gun pointed at it.

“Don’t attack,” he speaks under his breath as he slowly moves back without any sudden moves to avoid alarming the animal. The bear stands on its feet and growls dangerously. It is four to five inches taller than him on its hind legs. His heart sinks. He continues stepping back.

The bear returns on all four and charges at him. The ranger hurries his retracting moves until he can no longer feel the ground underneath his feet and before he knows he finds himself on his back at the bottom of a deep ditch. As he was falling he lost his gun into the bushes.

By this time, the bear is also committed to its jump. It leaps hard and lands on top of the ranger in the ditch.

The animal is confounded. It forgets about the ranger and the fact that it is right on top of him. It struggles to manoeuvre its large body in the limited space. To the ranger’s predicament, he is bearing the full weight of the animal. Every hasty move by the bear is taxing his body to the core. Any moment could suffocate him to death. He tries to push it up with all his failing strength, but it is unable to find purchase in the slippery mud.

With every passing moment, it is becoming more and more difficult for the ranger to breathe. "So this is how I'm supposed to die," he tells himself.

Until, he hears soft gurgling sounds. He looks up and notices a cub at the edge of the ditch looking down longingly at its mother. The mama bear looks up and out of newfound urgency heaves itself up with a massive force. The ranger supports it with his feet at the bottom and pushes it up with all his strength. It digs its sharp claws into the mud with a mother’s ferocity wanting to unite with its offspring and manages to hurl itself out.

After finding his breath back, the ranger also climbs out of the ditch and finds his gun. His body has taken a beating, but fortunately, he is all in one piece with no broken bones. Even though he was hard-stuck, he managed to keep his flesh away from the bear’s claws and mouth.

He limps to the river. He hunkers to scoop water in his palm to rinse his face. He notices something shimmering underwater at the deep end. He takes a dip to have a better look. It is his wristwatch that is wedged between rocks at the bottom catching the morning sunlight. He does a deep dive and retrieves it before the strong undercurrent takes it further down the stream. He steps out of the river and collapses on the bank. He had almost lost the most precious thing to him in the world. At a distance, Mama Bear is leading its cub along the river and soon they disappear into the jungle. He can’t help feeling like the cub who has been reunited with his mother.