Nature Personified

A long black boat that was stranded over the mud, waited for its owner to add mobility to its otherwise immobile life. The yellow daffodil flowers had encroached on the immobile boat. A river glinted owing to the demure smile of sunlight. The cooing sound of the nightingale served as a lullaby for the forest creatures. The lush green enchanting forest was an abode for a man named Madhava and his protector, Ruby, which was a ferocious lion. Madhava never encouraged anyone to stay in the forest since he deemed the intruders or the visitors as his opponents. Ruby assisted him in the hunting and he believed he was the owner of the forest. He and his protector slipped into the boat. He picked up the paddle and manoeuvred it over the river thereby assisting the boat to move forward. The lion seemed to be vigilant to protect its master as it looked around. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an alligator jumped out of the water into the boat. The owner immediately cued the lion to attack the deadly predator. Ruby, used different manoeuvres skillfully and managed to get into the back of the alligator. It used its sharp claws and teeth as leverage to tear open the alligator. Madhava gave a pat on the back of his protector as they both reached the other side of the river. He nestled his back against a huge banyan tree and his protector wagged its tail looking at the flesh of the alligator. He plucked flesh inside the dead alligator and stuffed it in his mouth. Upon satisfying his hunger, he threw the remaining flesh for the lion to devour.

Madhava heard a voice of a human being that emerged from the faraway bushes. Subsequently, he barged inside his hut, to pick up his rifle because he never wished to see any other human being in the forest other than himself. He gestured for the growling lion to shut its mouth as he crouched behind his hut expecting the person to come near him. Following the master's order, Ruby sat behind him. A hunter from another forest had trespassed here to conduct a recce because he and his brother wanted to usurp this forest. Slowly, the hunter made his way towards the hut with a rifle in his hand. As the place was dead silent, he didn't suspect anyone to play a deception game against him. Like a professional sniper, he aimed the rifle at the approaching man with acute precision. In a jiffy, a bullet squeezed into the hunter's chest with monstrous force rendering him motionless. Madhava broke into deadly laughter upon seeing the dead body and he stomped on the bleeding body and proclaimed, "This is my forest and nobody can usurp it not even nature." Ruby nodded its head, genuflecting before the master.

Anyone who tried to infiltrate the forest had to meet the same fate. Until now, nobody had been able to successfully occupy the forest because their plans were always neutralized by the dangerous duo, Madhava and Ruby. The aftermath of the hunter's death did not go down well with his brother, Mayavi, who roared in pain and vowed to avenge the loss of his beloved brother. 

The glorious sun disappeared to commemorate the beginning of the perilous night. Rasping sounds manufactured by the forest conspired with a brutal plan that was hidden beneath its cloak. Madhava cleared his throat before moving out of his hut to stare at the plethora of stars that dotted the sky. He asked his lion to patrol the forest to ensure there would be no intruders. He then sauntered his way into the hut and slipped into slumber. After two hours, a strange nightmare jostled him awake. He blinked his eyes, scrambled back to his feet and then heard a haunting human voice from outside. He quickly picked up his rifle and sprung into action outside, his vigilant eyes scanned the surroundings of his hut but the voice had disappeared. A barrage of thoughts sprang up in his mind to intertwine together to create fear in him. A sudden voice appeared from behind that exploded his heartbeats and took him off guard. Without wasting a second, he called the lion by its name but a sudden jerk from behind made him fall with his rifle out of reach. He stared at the ground and was able to see the shadow of a human being whose footsteps approached him. He could see the lion coming from the opposite direction and he quickly gestured for the lion to assault the intruder. Subsequently, the lion sprinted towards the intruder but turned back and attacked Madhava. The intruder, who was none other than Mayavi had turned up to not only avenge his brother's death but also become the new owner of the forest. But how can Madhava's protector turn into his enemy? The lion showed no remorse whatsoever as it pounced upon Madhava who desperately tried his luck to get the rifle but to no avail. The behemoth lion tore him into pieces amidst his painful screams. Later, the lion and Mayavi feasted on his flesh to put a full stop to his rule and start a new chapter in the lush green forest.

"No one will be spared if they try to intrude on my kingdom. Even nature here has to obey my orders because I own nature." His body shook like a puppet as he roared in delight while the lion licked his feet.

The next day, Mayavi and his lion walked on the banks of the river glancing at the shimmering water which absorbed sun rays to churn out warmness. Mayavi had come up with a clear plan yesterday to terminate Madhava and he executed the plan to perfection without any iota of hiccups. He cupped his hands to get some water from the river and then splashed over his face while the lion slurped the river water. They had a glimpse at the dead lion which was none other than the protector of Madhava, Ruby. Yesterday, amidst the darkness, Ruby had appeared at the banks of the river only to get a bullet injected into its body by the lurking Mayavi. The piercing wound took the life out of Ruby and Mayavi's lion which was similar to Ruby's in colour and size was unleashed to kill Madhava. Mayavi had managed to avenge the loss of his brother and now he deems himself the owner of the forest. They heard a jeep sound wafting across the river. 

"Who is that intruder? Whoever it is, their fate is in my hands."

Four men had come to the forest as an expedition but they had no idea what they were to confront. They parked their jeep at the side of the tree and jumped out to sling their bags over their shoulders. They had just ventured into an unknown perilous territory which would consume their lives. 

"I had never been to a forest before. This is indeed a surreal experience," one of them said.

"Beware of the wild animals because you never know when they might ambush you," another said.

"Don't worry, guys! I don't embark on a risky journey without a backup plan. I do have a gun with me and if any animal tries to mess with us and I will put a bullet into its body," a grey-bearded guy said.

The fourth guy was very silent and there was fear embedded in his eyes.

"Why are you so scared like a cat?" 

"I don't think this is a safe place for us. We can't just piggyback on the gun because my intuition says this ominous jungle has murkier creatures that can ambush and kill us at any time," he quivered.

"Oh, scary rat! You had never been on any expedition in your life that is why you don't possess even an inkling of courage. You are not alone here. We are here to help you if in case you get into any trouble. Stop pondering over negative thoughts and learn to enjoy the stay here," the bearded guy said.

The four guys set off to roam the forest while Mayavi and his lion waited patiently to set in motion their inevitable ambush. They partitioned their group into two parts with each having two guys. The impending doom awaited them. Two guys enjoyed the view of the pristine river against the backdrop of a greyish sky. They began clicking photos completely oblivious to the peril lurking behind. Mayavi glanced at the lion giving a cue to attack one of the guys while he got ready to pull the trigger against another guy. Sudden ambush from behind took both of them aback as they started squelching but had no backup because the guy with the gun had gone to another direction. The lion tore apart the short guy and its master pulled a trigger, coaxing the bullet to snub the life out of the tall guy. Without wasting a minute, the two of them feasted on the morning breakfast like a pack of wolves. The other two guys could hear the roaring sound of the lion and they realized there was something amiss and decided to move in the direction where the sound emanated. The silent guy persuaded the bearded guy to retreat to the city as soon as possible because they knew something was waiting to confront them but the bearded guy refused to heed him. They zoomed past the bushes to materialize at the brink of the river and all they could see was a gory sight which made their hearts throb in fear. These city bros did look incongruous in an old forest. Their fear was exacerbated when the lion appeared out of nowhere. It was a double whammy for them. Before they could come to terms with their friend's savage murder, there was a danger staring down their throat. The silent guy buckled under pressure and collapsed making the work of the lion pretty simple while the bearded guy pulled out his gun only to get shot from behind. So the city folks' expedition turned into mayhem. None of them was spared. Mayavi and his lion roared in delight which reverberated across the forest to stamp their authority in the deserted jungle. Anyone who tried to step inside the forest met with the same fate.

Mayavi grew impatient and started being callous towards nature. He used his axe to cut down the trees and made up his mind to destroy the forest. He had indeed turned bonkers and he wanted to supply all useful materials to his old forest. 

"I will destroy you, nature!" he warned.

He thought he would excel in his mission to destroy nature. Rainwater from a tree trickled down his face which exasperated him as he cut down the tree with one swing of his axe. If that was not enough he turned his attention towards innocent birds and started to kill them. While he was on a killing spree, the lion looked tamed in front of a tree. It sat down, wagged its tail and genuflected before the great banyan tree. It had seen nature itself personified within the trunk of the tree. It respected the divine energy but Mayavi got enraged after his orders were turned down by the lion. He kicked the lion hard and tried to swing hard at the tree but his hand didn't budge even an inch. It had indeed become numb but still, his anger hadn't subsided as he used his feet to kick the tree. In an extraordinary turn of events, the lion pounced upon his master and bit his neck to end his life. All the animals and birds engulfed the banyan tree to prostrate at the nature God that had personified in the trunk. Birds and animals lived peacefully thereafter. Even visitors came occasionally to quaff the beauty offered by nature.

Nature always has the last laugh. Our ego and anger never come to our rescue if we wage a war against nature. Human beings must pray and protect nature whose blessings are our protection. Going against nature only invites its wrath which in other words is mankind's destruction.