Chapter 5: The Friends

  All the animals and birds woke up and started doing their daily routine. The first and most important task of the day for all the animals and birds is to find food and water. Everyone went in search of that; food was everywhere in the forest. But everyone wants to eat what they like. Just as on a normal day, all the animals and birds went to search for food. The ones who want to drink went to the rivers or lakes nearby. It was just a normal day, as always in the forest. Only that everyone was more cautious than before, because of yesterday’s attack. No one wants to go to the area near where the hunters were staying.

  “Hey, Neel, wake up now! It’s already dawn,” said Purnima, waking Neel. She toddled Neel with her head, “Come on, you can’t sleep all day,” continued Purnima.

  “No, mother, it’s so cold. I want to sleep more,” said Neel with his cute voice, not wanting to wake up. He pulled his legs to his body to feel warm.

  “Oh… really… It’s fine, you can sleep as long as you want, but…” Purnima turned around and said while walking away from Neel, “You know it’s winter season, and there will be so many winter fruits in the forest, like Berries, Jujube, Custard Apple, etc. I thought you liked to eat these sweet and yummy fruits,” after a little pause, “but it’s ok… You can sleep here if that is what you want,” said Purnima, to tempt Neel so that he wakes up.

  Purnima’s trick worked. Just as Purnima said about the sweet fruits, Neel’s mouth watered. Neel stood up like a wind, and started to stretch his body.

  “Mother, I am ready, I woke up now,” said Neel with excitement to eat yummy fruits.

  “Oh… but you said you want to sleep, right, Neel?” said Purnima with sarcasm. “It’s fine, Neel, you can sleep, I won’t get angry,” Purnima continued in her sarcastic tone.

  “No, mother, I am ready. I want to eat yummy fruits, please, please take me with you,” Neel requested.

  “Ok, ok, I will take you. Let’s drink water first,” said Purnima, and they went to the nearby lake to drink water and start their new day.

  The day at the forest was looking good as always. The sun shone bright. The cold breeze blows. The birds were flying and filled the sky with colours. All the animals were searching for food in different places in the forest. It was like a normal day, as always. At the riverbank, all the animals were drinking water and talking.

  “Hey, did you know the hunters were wandering into the forest last night?” said one of the deer.

  “Yes, I heard monkeys and birds talking about them,” said the other deer.

  “Yesterday was so scary when they attacked suddenly,” said the first deer.

  “Yes, I still get goosebumps when I think about that. We were lucky that we survived that hunt,” said the second deer.

  “We still have to be careful, who knows they will attack again,” said the first deer.

  All the animals of the forest were talking about yesterday’s attack. And were scared and cautious. They want to live peacefully, and don’t want to go to other places, but they have to, for food, or else without food, they eventually die. They are being more cautious and paying attention to every small movement in the forest.

  “Mother, how long do we have to wait for the fruits?” said Neel, eager to eat the sweet fruits of the forest.

  “Yes, Neel, just a little. We will go there together,” said Purnima, as she was drinking the water at the lake and talking to other deer.

  “Hey Neel, let’s play,” said Bholu, one of the fawns.

  “I want to play, but I am hungry right now. I want to eat,” Neel replied to his friends.

  “Hey friends, I know a really good place, I just found it a week ago, there were so many yummy fruits, want to go there?” said Golu, one of the fawns, with excitement.

  “Yes, let’s go there, it will be fun,” said Dholu, one of the fawns.

  “Where is that place?” asked Neel.

  “It’s at the southern part of the forest, near the waterfall,” said Golu.

  “Yes, yes, I have seen that,” said Dholu.

  “No, no, we can’t go there, isn’t that the place where the hunters have built their camp?” said Bholu.

  “Oh, yes, we can’t go there. It’s really dangerous. Don’t you remember what happened the other day? We barely escaped,” said Dholu.

  “Oh, come on, you cowards. You're just scared by a little incident,” said Golu, arrogantly.

  “But we shouldn’t go there, that place is really dangerous,” said Bholu.

  “Yes, Bholu is right. We can’t go there alone. We need someone big if we want to go there. We can’t go there without permission,” said Neel

  “Hey, come on, Neel, you stupid coward. We are not kids anymore. We don’t have to ask for every little thing,” said Golu, “We are grown-ups now, we can do whatever we want. I am not a coward like you.”

  “It’s not about being cowardly, Golu. That place is really dangerous. There is a danger not just of the hunters but also of other animals like lions and Leopards,” said Neel, opposing Golu, and making him understand the situation.

  “You are really stupid, Neel. There won’t be Lion and Leopard there, because they are already afraid of the hunters, don’t you remember how Vanraj ran when the hunters attacked?” said Golu with frustration and a louder voice.

  “Yes, but it’s still dangerous, because there are hunters there,” said Neel, with a soft voice, putting his head down, and trembling a little, because he got scared of Golu’s loud voice.

  “I heard that the hunters stayed up till late at night. They will be sleeping now; we will go there and eat juicy and sweet fruits and vegetation and come back fast. No one would know that we were there,” said Golu.

  Everyone was quiet after hearing Golu; no one was saying anything. They were all looking at each other with confusion.

  “Oyy, come on, everyone, why are you afraid? Nothing will happen. We just go there, eat and come back fast. Or you guys are cowards like Neel, huh?” said Golu, mocking Neel, “we all know Neel is very cowardly, he is always with his mother and sister. He can’t do anything on his own. Are you guys like him?”

  Everyone was quiet for a few moments, then everyone said with little hesitation, “No, we will come.”

  Harsh words from Golu hurt Neel’s feelings. He felt ashamed. Everyone looked at Neel with eyes of pity. Neel couldn’t stop himself. His eyes were wet; he was about to cry. But he controlled his feelings and hid his tears.

  “I will come too, I am not a coward,” said Neel, controlling his feelings and anger.

  “Good, you are not a coward after all, huh Neel,” said Golu, mocking Neel, and everyone laughed.

  Neel felt very disrespected and pitied. But he controlled his feelings and went with them in the southern area of the forest. Purnima and the other deer were at the lake, talking normally and grazing. They have no idea where their fawns are going.

  A group of fawns went to the southern area of the forest, which was not very far from where the hunters had built their camp. When they reached there, there were so many fruits and vegetation. Nearby was a beautiful waterfall. Sun’s rays coming out of the open areas of the tree’s leaves were casting very beautiful beams of light.

  Twittering of birds was filling the forest with melody. The sound of the waterfall was so calming that you forget about yourself, and feel like just standing there and enjoying the symphony of nature. Not just the sound and visual beauty, the smell of sweet fruits, vegetation, plants, trees and the smell of wet earth and stones because of the waterfall, gives the pleasure of smell too.

  The fruit tastes sweeter than it smells; they are so sweet that you can’t stop eating them. Not just that, the water in the waterfall was sweet and chill, you want to spend your entire time there, in the waterfall, playing and relaxing.

  Fawns were mesmerised by the eternal beauty of the forest. It was the first time they came to this area of the forest. They all were enjoying the beautiful gifts of nature.

  “See, I told you this place is the best,” said Golu, when they all were relaxing under the shadow of the big tree, near the waterfall, after eating and playing in the waterfall.

  “Yes, Golu, you were right, this place is amazing. My tummy is so full,” said Bholu. Everyone laughed with enjoyment.

  “I think I will take a little nap now. I am so full, and the forest is so calming,” Dholu said while yawning.

  “Yes, I will sleep too,” said Bholu, and they both fell asleep.

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  “You both are really lazy,” said Golu, and he saw the surrounding area and went for a walk to the waterfall.

  Golu looked around and went to the waterfall. Neel saw it, and he followed Golu. Golu stopped at the river channel. Golu looked at the other side of the river. He was curious what could be on the other side of the river. He looked at the other side and started crossing the river. The water level in the river was low, so it was easy to go to the other side of the river. As he was crossing the river, Neel shouted from behind.

  “Golu, where are you going?” Neel shouted.

  “That’s none of your business,” Golu rudely replied.

  “It’s dangerous there. There might be hunters there,” Neel insisted.

  Golu didn’t reply to Neel this time and continued walking. Neel was confused and nervous. He went back to Dholu and Bholu, but they were sleeping. He tried to wake them up, but they didn’t wake up. Neel looked around in confusion. He tried to convince Golu not to go there, but he didn’t listen. He again went back to the riverbank to stop Golu, but when he reached there, Golu was not there; he had already gone inside the forest on the other side. Neel stood there in confusion and nervousness.

  Finally, he gathered some courage and decided to go after Golu and bring him back. When he put his leg on the river to cross it, again he hesitated, but he controlled himself by thinking about what his mother said to him, “Bravery doesn’t mean that you never get scared, bravery means get scared, but still face your fear and defeat them” He gathered courage, crossed the river and ran into the other side of the forest to look for Golu.

  When Neel went into the forest, he looked at his surroundings. He never came to this part of the forest. He was moving slowly, carefully looking at his surroundings to see if there was any danger. His eyes were constantly moving and looking all over his surroundings.

  “Golu… Where are you? Let’s… Go... Home,” Neel said slowly, in a broken voice. He was really scared and nervous. He was quivering a little, but he kept walking and looking for Golu.

  When Neel was looking for Golu, he heard something moving near the bushes. First, when he heard that and saw the bushes move, he was scared, but then he went there to check. He slowly put his steps forward and went near the bushes. When he tried to move bushes with his head, a snake falsely struck at him, to warn him to stay away. Neel shouted and jumped from there and ran in the other direction.

  When he was running, his legs bumped into the old tree roots, and he fell on the ground. For a moment, he doesn’t know what happened, but then he stands up quickly. He was panting when he saw that there were no more snakes there. Then, finally, he sighed with relief and again started looking for Golu.

  He started walking slowly. When he walked a little, he finally saw Golu. He felt more relieved. He quickly goes to where Golu was standing.

  “Golu, thank God you are ok. I was looking for you. We should go back home now. This place is really dangerous,” said Neel, while looking at Golu and his surroundings. He was still looking everywhere because he was still scared.

  “Shh…. Stay quiet, stupid,” Golu whispered rudely to Neel, “And also, why are you here? I didn’t ask you to come look for me.”

  “I was worried for you. I was scared that you would get into some danger. That’s why I followed you,” said Neel.

  “Yes, yes, thank you for worrying about me. Now, please stay quiet,” Golu replied rudely and uninterested.

  “What are you doing here, Golu?” asked Neel.

  “Shh… I said, stay quiet. See there,” said Golu, pointing in front of him.

  Neel went forward, and he was stunned after watching what he saw. It was the camp of the hunters. They cut all the trees in that area and built their camp there. There were so many people working. There were Jeeps, Motorcycles, and Trucks, all full of cages and guns. They were unloading the boxes from the truck and putting them in different camps.

  “Golu, this… they… We…. They are the hunters who attacked yesterday.” The words were not coming out of Neel’s mouth properly, and his voice was cracking because of fear. He started quivering and sweating out of fear.

  “We should go back now, Golu, come on fast,” said Neel.

  “If you want to go, go now. I didn’t tell you to come after me,” said Golu.

  As they were talking. A man who was working came towards them. They both got scared. They were thinking that they got caught because the man saw them. They both hide behind the bushes.

  The man came there, saw around and started peeing. Neel and Golu were both hiding behind the bushes just next to where the man was standing. They both were able to see him. That man looked drunk and half asleep. He has a dagger on his right leg. Neel and Golu decide to run before they get caught by that man. After some time, the man left, and they both sighed. Just when they thought they were out of danger, a snake slides from next to them, and they both shouted, “Ahhhh…...” and jumped from there.

  The man heard that and quickly looked there. He saw two deer, and he shouted back and ran after them. Neel and Golu were running from the man. The man was chasing them. When Neel and Golu were running away from the man, Golu’s leg hit the tree’s root, and he fell on the ground. The Neel didn’t notice that for a moment, but then he looked behind to see Golu, and he saw that he had fallen on the ground. He quickly stops and tries to go back, but before he reached Golu, the man was already there.

  The man jumped on Golu and captured Golu. The man was holding Golu with his whole body, the man pushed Golu’s neck with his forearms, and held Golu’s legs with his legs and the other hand. The man put all his body weight on Golu. Golu was trying to get away; he was moving as quickly as possible to get away, but his efforts were all in vain.

  Neel was watching that from a distance; his body again started quivering; he was sweating and couldn’t move for a moment. He looked all around to find some way to save Golu. His body and mind feel numb. He couldn’t think of anything. All he can do is watch Golu suffer.

  The man pulled out his dagger from his right leg and was ready to kill Golu. Neel thought he couldn’t just stand there, he pulled himself together, and started looking for something or someway to save Golu. When he was looking for some way, he saw a snake sliding from the bushes. He saw a snake, and then he saw the man who was about to kill Golu. Neel gathered all his courage and lifted the snake with his head, ran towards the man and threw the snake at the man. When Neel threw the snake at the man, the man looked at what fell on him, and when he saw it was a snake, he got scared and quickly jumped off out of fear, and when he jumped, Golu saw the opportunity and ran from there. The man was struggling to put the snake away from him. The snake bites his nose, and the man shouts out of pain.

  “Come on, Golu. Run…” Neel shouted.

  Neel and Golu managed to run away from there quickly when they saw the opportunity. They both ran like the wind and quickly reached the waterfall and crossed the river without even looking back for a single moment. They both reached where Dholu and Bholu were sleeping. Neel and Golu both woke up Dholu and Bholu, and they all started running back to their home. When they reached their safe place, they all took a breath of relief. They all were panting; they were breathing heavily. When they all thought they were safe now, they all fell on the ground and took rest.

  “But what happened to you both? Why did you both run?” asked Dholu.

  Neel and Golu didn’t reply for a moment; they both were exhausted after running so much. After some time, Golu replied, “We went to the other side of the river, and we saw the camp of the hunters.” Neel and Golu are still panting a little.

  “What?... Why do you both get there? What were you thinking?” said Dholu and Bholu, their eyes got wide and surprised.

  “I was curious about what was on the other side of the river, so I went there to check,” replied Golu.

  “Are you stupid, Golu? You know that there are hunters, yet you went there to see?” said Bholu with a louder voice.

  “And Neel, you too? You are really cautious. Why did you go there? Why didn’t you stop Golu?” asked Dholu.

  “I tried to stop Golu, but he didn’t listen. I can’t let him go there alone, so I followed him,” Neel replied.

  “You both are crazy. What if the hunters caught you? You both would be dead already then,” said Bholu.

  “We are safe now, all thanks to Neel. If Neel wasn’t there, I would be dead already,” replied Golu with a smile of gratitude, “Thank you, Neel, for saving my life. If you hadn’t thrown that snake at the hunter, he would have killed me with his dagger,” Golu continued.

  “What? Dagger? Snake? Hunter? Kill?” asked Dholu and Bholu, their eyes and mouths got wide open when they heard Golu. They both were confused.

  “Yes, when we were looking at the hunter’s camp, one of the hunters came where we were standing, and we quickly hid. But when we ran away, he saw us and started chasing us. And then my leg hit the tree root, and I fell on the ground. Then the hunter climbed on me and pulled out his dagger and tried to kill me,” Golu was telling what happened to them at the other side of the river.

  The eyes and mouth of Dholu and Bholu were wide open and shocked when they heard the story of Golu.

  “When the hunter was about to kill me with his dagger. Neel threw a snake at the hunter, and then we quickly ran away from there,” Golu continued, “Thank you so much, Neel.”

  “It’s ok, I just did what’s necessary,” replied Neel, he was blushing cause Golu was praising him.

  “Yes, Neel, you are really brave. You saved his life,” Dholu and Bholu also praised Neel.

  “I am really sorry, Neel, for calling you a coward and stupid. You are not a coward or stupid; you are brave. Thank you again, Neel,” Golu praised and thanked Neel.

  “It’s ok, friends, I just did what I thought was right at that moment. We are friends. We’re supposed to help each other, right? I can’t let you suffer there. I just did what was necessary,” Neel replied with gratitude.

  Golu, Bholu and Dholu all circled Neel and started running in circles, praising Neel and shouting his name and cheering.

  “Neel, Neel, Neel….” They all continued saying Neel’s name while running and jumping around Neel and cheering Neel’s name with joy and excitement.

  They were all happy. Neel’s eyes were filled with emotion, but he controlled his tears of happiness, and then they all started playing together. It was already afternoon, and the sun was at its highest. They all went where the other deer were grazing.

  While the group of fawns were celebrating their escape, on the other hand, the hunters’ party were in shock and anger when they heard that two deer had come near to their camp and injured one of their hunters. The man who was injured by the snake bite was in one of the camps where he is being treated with medicine and bandages. He got lucky cause the snake that bit him was not poisonous; if it had been poisonous, he’d be dead by the time his comrades found him and brought him back to camp.

  One of the workers there told the boss about this incident. The boss was full of anger, his eyes were dead red, and there was a sudden change in his breathing. He started to breathe faster with anger, and quickly went to the camp where the man was being treated. When the boss came out of his tent, everyone was scared after watching the deadly look on the boss’s face. The boss threw away everything which came his way, boxes filled with hunters’ guns and people who were working. He pushed everything out of his way. He went inside the camp and saw the man who had been injured. The man was lying on the bed, and there was a bandage taped over the area where the snake had bitten him. When he saw the boss enter the tent, he quickly stood up.

  “Boss, you are here-” before the man could complete his sentence, the boss punched him, and he fell on the ground.

  “You stupid bastard. You got injured by a deer,” said the boss after punching him.

  Everyone who was in the tent then was shocked and scared after seeing the boss’s angry face. The man who got punched couldn’t move for a second. He doesn’t know what happened. His view got blurred, and he couldn’t even hear for a moment. Before he could process what had just happened, the boss grabbed him by his collar and lifted him from the ground.

  “Tell me what happened? How many deer were they?” the boss asked the man with anger.

  “Boss…. There…. Were... two fawns,” the man replied with a broken voice and with fear.

  “What? Are you telling me two fawns did this to you? What rubbish,” said the boss with frustration and anger, and then the boss pushed the man to the ground again. The boss turned around and said with anger, “What a stupid people I have in this hunter group, you got defeated by the two little fawns. You stupid bastard,”

  “Boss… they were not any normal fawn. I had captured one of the fawns and was about to kill it, but then suddenly the second fawn threw a snake at me, and-” again, before the man could complete his sentence, the boss kicked him this time.

  “Shut up, you bastard. What do you mean they are not normal fawns? They have wings on their back, huh? Don’t try to hide your incompetence with this kind of rubbish talk,” the boss said after kicking the man with anger.

  “I will take revenge. This is the stain on my pride. Tonight, I will show the forest who I am. I will show what I can do. Tonight, I will make the forest cry with blood,” said the boss with extreme anger.