A Valiant Act

Dusk was setting in.  Due to the incessant rains there was dark green foliage all around. The rhapsody in the cries of the peacocks, the chirping of the squirrels and the twittering of the nesting birds could do little to make him feel at home. The known human faces had left long ago and won’t be back before the end of the week.  No one really took notice of his misery.  Little could he communicate that someone should stay back, that he feels safe with people around him.  He knew that he won’t be able to hold fort for long.  The rouges were prowling somewhere in the vicinity, waiting for the right opportunity to pounce upon his mother.  It has been attempted several times earlier.  But his mothers’ sheer knowledge of the forested campus sprawling over a massive 15 acres saved her from getting trapped. But this time he was aware of the pitiless fate that awaited them.  His mother was suffering from some respiratory disease that left her coughing all day long.  She was physically frail and was visibly old.  She was unable to move out of the enclosure and search for food and thus they were all left at the mercy of the other part-time occupants of the campus, the homo sapiens.  

Finally night descended draping a dark coat on the sky above......and with it, a deafening silence.  Except for the occasional owls fluttering their feathers and the restless land mice, there was hardly a noise.

His sharp ears pricked up.  All the muscles of the body were gaunt, all his senses directed towards the source of the sounds approaching stealthily.  They were here.  His mother had sensed it but her frail health barred her from crying for help.  They took the flight of stairs in the maze of concrete that otherwise bustled with life in the daytime.  They tried the doors wishing if at least one door was left ajar by some careless caretaker.  But no… they had no option but to face the predators. The opponents stood a good chance.  

They were in a gang of five, all well built, hungry and merciless. He knew that this was going to be his last fight.  But he wanted it to be his best one.  He wanted to show his mother that he was born with a spine and had the heart at the right place.  They had reached at the bottom of the stairs.  Without wasting time, he took advantage of his altitude and flew headlong to land on them, tearing through the eyes of one.  The impact was staggering but the outcome was nasty.  The other one thawed and slit open his throat.  The river of life was ebbing out.  The gang proceeded upstairs to satiate on the solitary female.

The small lifeless body lay at the bottom of the stairs while the elder female waited for the ordeal to get over. 

(This ‘bloody’ incident occurred yesterday in our office campus. What you read above is a post-mortem of the last remains).

[Today morning when I reached office, the first thing I noticed was the mauled body of the eight month old puppy.  It was light brown in colour. 

Few months back, when the puppy was just a few days old, I packed it in a discarded cardboard box and a tattered sack.  I wanted to surprise my eight year old son with a pet.  He was surprised for sure.  But the infant could not bear the separation anxiety from its mother.  The entire night, I kept sitting with the puppy.  In between, I fed it with milk and kept it in the makeshift home but nothing could comfort him. The next day, I had to return it to his mother, much to the displeasure of my siblings.

Since a few days, after the onset of the monsoons and thus the mating period for the dogs, I have noticed some male dogs trying to corner the bitch taking shelter in our office campus. (Our office is a labyrinth of trees and concrete blocks).
Many a time, the incessant barks of the small pack would compel me to leave my desk to go out and take note.  At others, I would join the pack to shoo away the male dogs. 

But this is nature...... raw, rustic, ruthless. How long could I have offered immunity? Struggle for survival became too brutal to be cognized with.