Forest Fire

The magnificent sunlight glinted off the pristine flowing river in the forest. The holy soil of the forest acted as a catalyst in producing bounteous crops. Chirping birds joined the morning symphony of breezing wind. The lush greenery in the forest depicted the beauty of mother nature. Madappa and Pushpamma looked excited, since they had a good harvest in the forest. Along with their son, Shiva, they danced to express their joyous emotions. Tribal people in the forest too joined their celebrations. Little did they expect their joy to be short-lived. A tall black monster looking man, Ranga, emerged along with his troops. They seemed to have materialized to usurp the forest. They had wild animals inside a huge truck all set to release them to attack the tribals. Madappa sensed the danger and persuaded his wife and son to leave the forest with immediate effect. Pushpamma had tears in her eyes. She had to leave along with her son owing to the ominous signs of forest capture. Madappa and other tribals charged at Ranga and his gang. They gave a tough fight too, but the wild animals were released in quick time, which allowed Ranga's gang to get the upper hand over the tribal men. The wild animals pounced on tribal men and tore their flesh apart with their mighty jaws. Unfortunately, Madappa to succumbed to the wild animals attack. The macabre scene of tribal men's death was gut-wrenching. Ranga and his gang emerged victorious. They sent the wild animals back into a huge truck. They now forcibly owned the ownership of the forest. Some tribal people who survived were forced to work as their slaves. 

Pushpamma, along with her son Shiva, had managed to evade the eyes of monsters. But they did not know where to go. They had been accustomed to living in a forest. If they go back, they knew the repercussions. Pushpamma sobbed at the fate of her husband. Shiva tried to pacify her, but to no avail. After wielding its power through the day, the Sun God descended to make way for the night to take over. Pushpamma sat opposite a bonfire with her eyes gazing at the flames that attempted to warm the cool breeze blowing around. A black man who happened to pass by observed her shedding tears. He slowly approached her from behind before resting his arm over her shoulder, which took her off guard. 

"Why are you crying alone? Shall I give you a company?" he flaunted his rotten teeth. 

Pushpamma picked up a fire wood log and wielded at him. "Go away or else you will burn in flames."

He bent his body and touched both his palms on the ground before swinging both his legs in a horizontal direction to disturb her foot balance. She fell, losing her balance. He immediately picked up the fire wood log and laughed maniacally. She closed her eyes as he tried to place the burning charcoal on her head. Before he could do, an arrow sped furiously to hit his back. In a matter of second, few more arrows hit his back as he collapsed. Pushpamma's rescuer was none other than her son Shiva. She felt proud of her son, who appeared in the nick of time to save her from the impending danger. 

Pushpamma and Shiva hunted animals to survive in the forest. They knew at any time Ranga's men could appear to seize them, but they had no other option but to stay in the forest. Both of them had each other's support, which was essential for them to survive in the dense jungle. Sometimes, Shiva would climb up the trees and pluck delicious fruits for his mother. Both of them shared a deep bond and looked inseparable as the days marched ahead. 

One day, Pushpamma looked tired as she chose to rest while Shiva went for hunting. Things took a violent turn when a tiger lurking behind a tree approached the sleeping Pushpamma. A golden opportunity indeed to satiate its hunger. Pushpamma opened her eyes, only to see a giant tiger roaring at her. Before she could get back to her feet, she had become a lunch for the tiger. The tiger devoured her before Shiva could come to her rescue. The teary eyes of Shiva couldn't believe his eyes. His emotions were a mixture of pain and anger. He roared at the top of his lungs, which reverberated across the forest. The tiger that was about to disappear into a dense foliage heard his voice. It charged at him. Before it could prey on him, he left a hail of arrows one after the other to kill the tiger. He had lost both his mother and father and now had to go through a grind to survive alone in the forest. He had lived happily with his parents in the forest before Ranga disturbed their peace. Shiva became physically and mentally hardened enough to exact vengeance. Years flew by. Shiva had now become a grown up muscular man with a flowing beard. He even fought with wild animals, which was a testament to his colossal courage and physical stamina. 

Ranga organized a contest in the forest wherein a chance was given for forest men to join their troop. Anyone could come forward to fight with a tiger alone. If they mange to kill the tiger then they would earn a chance to become part of their troop. Seizing the opportunity, Shiva came forward to take on the challenge head on which raised eyebrows. Ranga gazed at Shiva from top to bottom, unable to fathom why he chose to become a prey to the tiger. He glanced at his troops who broke into a laughter to enjoy a chance to see a tiger tear apart a man. It sparked excitement within them. His henchman rang the bell as they released the tiger from the cell. It growled at Shiva, who stood confidently, without even an iota of nervousness on his face. It charged at Shiva and flew in the air, but Shiva evaded its blow. It again came charging at Shiva, but he again cleverly deceived the beast. He heroically jumped on top of the animal and dug a hole deep into its eyes as it became blinded. He then grabbed the tiger by its jaws and tore them apart, demonstrating his excellent combat skills against wild animals. Ranga opened his mouth in awe as this looked unprecedented, hitherto never seen before. Everybody broke into a round of applause being awestruck by his insane skills. Ranga went and embraced Shiva as he made him part of his gang. 

"I had seen nothing like this before. This transcends the boundaries of a human skills. I am proud to make Shiva part of my troop."

Shiva had been waiting for decades to avenge his parents' death. Now, he had managed to sneak into his enemy territory. 

Shiva and Ranga's henchmen, Bheera, went around the forest to hunt animals. They weaved past a plethora of trees chasing a jackal. An old lady who passed by lost her balance and fell on Bheera, which irked the latter to the core. 

"You rotten scumbag. We lost that jackal because of you," he left an arrow at the old lady who died on the spot. 

Shiva did not like this inhumanely act as he left a plethora of arrows that claimed Bheera's life. But he cooked up a story stating that there is a monster hiding in the forest who is trying to take over the reins of the jungle. Ranga believed the fictitious story. He asked his men to keep an eye everywhere to ensure the monster would not win an upper hand over them. 

Ranga's other henchmen, Madhu, seemed to mistreat the forest people. He kicked them as per his whims and fancies, not even giving respect for their age. Shiva, who noticed this terrible behaviour, vowed to teach him a lesson. At night, when everyone had retired to sleep, he woke Madhu up. He complained that an old man spoke ill about Madhu and was also conspiring to kill him. Madhu couldn't believe his ears as he scrambled back to his feet. He asked Shiva to show that old man so that he could swing his sword and kill him. Shiva took him to a deserted spot where there had been no prying eyes. On the pretext of showing him an old man, he choked him to death and then returned as if nothing had happened. The next day, Ranga's men saw Madhu's dead body and informed their master, who believed the monster to have played a part in this murder. 

Ranga, who had treated the tribal people as slaves, had made them work day and night. Multiple sandalwood trees, spices, expensive crops all had been thrust into a huge truck. His plan was to sell these items at an expensive cost to the Japanese people and make a hell lot of money. He asked his henchmen to keep an eye on the truck, as he believed the monster could steal it. Seven of his henchmen, along with Shiva, had been entrusted to protect the truck. Since everyone had a pot of water in their hands, Shiva had mixed some powder, which would make them unconscious. All of them gulped down water in no time, not realising the consequence. They all fell asleep at night. Sensing the golden opportunity, Shiva asked his friend Bheema to sell the items to the Arabs at an exorbitant price. His friend acknowledged his words and ran away with the truck before selling the items for an expensive price, making a lot of money. Shiva had an idea beneath the cloak of this trade. 

The next day, Shiva happened to sleep along with Ranga's henchmen, as if he did not know about what happened at night. Ranga couldn't believe the absence of the truck as he lashed at his henchmen for their folly. He couldn't grapple with the bitter reality of failing to make a lot of money. They all said that they had a pot full of water before they fell unconscious. 

"The monster could have played a part in this," Shiva again made up a story. 

"I want that monster at any cost. All of you go and search the nook and corner of this forest. I do not want to see this unseen monster subjugating our business. We should not allow him to fuel his business."

They all went in search of the monster, who was only an imaginary character. Shiva strayed away from his duty and joined the forest people in uplifting their sagging morale. He promised to free them from Ranga's hegemony. They all tried to prostrate before him, which was a testament to the conviction they had about him after going through years of pain. One of Ranga's minion noticed Shiva fueling the tribe's courage. He quickly apprised his master about the reality, which took him aback. He had pinned a lot of hopes on Shiva and had also believed in his cooked up story. Now, to be betrayed by his own men enraged him to the core. He couldn't grapple with the betrayal as he ordered all his men to assemble before him. His eyes widened in terror, spoke volumes about the anger that sputtered within him. 

"I want to see Shiva dying a dog's death. He seems to have a hidden agenda, which he cleverly executed. He is cooking up a story about an unknown monster, but the reality is he is the monster himself. Now the time has come for me to show him who is the real monster."

Ranga took steps authoritatively as his henchmen followed him. They glared at Shiva, who was pacifying the forest tribes. 

"Hello, mister monster. How are you doing these days? Are you done with your philosophical advice?" Ranga barked out. 

Shiva turned behind, only to see Ranga's gang confront him. He chose to remain silent. 

"Why are you silent, Mr Tiger Killer? Don't you have words to express your hidden emotions? How dare you betray me? Where is that truck?" Ranga bellowed. 

"I don't know."

"You do not know about the truck. Then where is the monster you were talking about?" 

"I don't know."

"Your game is over."

"No, my game is not over," laughter replaced Shiva's silent face. 

Ranga couldn't believe his eyes as he lost his cool. 

"Before you could gang up on me, let me make a startling revelation. Do you know Madappa whom you killed before you encroached upon this forest?" 

"Yes, I know."

"I am his son. I have not forgotten what you have done to my family."

"Oh, great! I killed your father like a street dog thanks to wild animals. Now, you have come to avenge his murder. Unfortunately, you have run out of time. Just like I killed your father, I will kill you. No, No, No. I won't kill you in a second but I will ask my wild animals to tear you apart inch by inch," he fumed. 

Shiva broke into a hysterical laughter as if he had a backup plan. 

"Kindly crane your neck up and watch those rotor blades swinging at the wind," he pointed his finger up and there emerged multiple helicopters emerged. 

As the rotor blades turned immobile, halting its fight with the wind, multiple men emerged out of it armed with firearms. 

"Do you know what I got in return for selling the truck filled with expensive items?" 

Ranga gritted his teeth as he understood the reality. He cued his men to charge at them and also released the wild animals. Before they could walk a distance, a hell lot of bullets flew past the air to halt their movement. Just like that, bullets squeezed past Ranga's henchmen and wild animals to hand them an embarrassing defeat. Shiva asked the Arabs to leave the place as he desperately wanted to fight Ranga one on one. The armed men slipped back into their helicopters. The wailing engines compelled the rotor blades to do its duty as a bunch of helicopters soared high into the sky. Ranga charged at Shiva menacingly. Shiva ducked and punched his gut. Ranga quickly landed a blow on Shiva's head, which reeled him for a while. Seizing the opportunity, he landed blows on his gut, which made him fall. The forest tribes came running, but Shiva raised his arm to stop them. Ranga picked up a wooden log and swung at Shiva, who ducked in the nick of time before clenching his fist and landing a killet blow right on his face. Ranga lost his balance and fell thud on the floor. Shiva kept on punching his face until his soul ran away from his body. The forest tribes cheered him as he made a mincemeat out of him. He looked up at the sky with a smile adorning his face as he avenged his parent's death. They considered him as their saviour and lived happily thereafter.