(This short story is based on a true incident. Names have been changed, as have been the locales. To keep each post short, the story is divided into two parts.)
Raj was not sure how to deal with a situation like the one at hand. There was a leopard in the building and his staff was inadequately equipped for capturing the big cat. Their small town did not face emergencies like that very often.
This morning, as Raj was getting ready to leave town, he had got a call about something being wrong at the Town Hall. There were no details, so he thought to himself:
“ I will stop by the Town Hall on my way out.”
It was only when he saw the large crowd gathered outside the Town Hall that he realized that something big was at hand. He had been updated about what had happened by a subordinate:
“ This morning as the sweeper came around, he saw something moving on top of a cupboard. Thankfully, instead of trying to figure out what it was, he chose to lock the door and call the police. The police came and found that it was a leopard and we were called and Sir, we called you as soon as we reached here.”
“Did you call for the tranquilizers?” Raj asked , fearing the worst.
“Sir, the ones we had... are not working...er... the guns are rusty and stuck. We have asked for them from the city but it will take another couple of hours.”
Raj was the wildlife warden of the small town, which did not have a lot of forest. So his job was mainly restricted to taking care of the zoo and the wildlife sanctuary near the town. Today was a new and difficult situation for him. The crowd that had gathered around the building was trying to look in through the window at the leopard. Raj could not see anything because of the crowd, but he tried to move forward through the people, as he asked, “ What is being done?”
“We have placed a cage at the door and the guards are trying to goad in the leopard in to the cage.”
“Are we trying to catch a leopard or a cow?” Raj thought to himself but stayed silent.
At that moment, the crowd in front of Raj, parted and a few loud screams were heard and the leopard came out of nowhere and lunged at Raj…
……Cont.
Raj was not sure how to deal with a situation like the one at hand. There was a leopard in the building and his staff was inadequately equipped for capturing the big cat. Their small town did not face emergencies like that very often.
This morning, as Raj was getting ready to leave town, he had got a call about something being wrong at the Town Hall. There were no details, so he thought to himself:
“ I will stop by the Town Hall on my way out.”
It was only when he saw the large crowd gathered outside the Town Hall that he realized that something big was at hand. He had been updated about what had happened by a subordinate:
“ This morning as the sweeper came around, he saw something moving on top of a cupboard. Thankfully, instead of trying to figure out what it was, he chose to lock the door and call the police. The police came and found that it was a leopard and we were called and Sir, we called you as soon as we reached here.”
“Did you call for the tranquilizers?” Raj asked , fearing the worst.
“Sir, the ones we had... are not working...er... the guns are rusty and stuck. We have asked for them from the city but it will take another couple of hours.”
Raj was the wildlife warden of the small town, which did not have a lot of forest. So his job was mainly restricted to taking care of the zoo and the wildlife sanctuary near the town. Today was a new and difficult situation for him. The crowd that had gathered around the building was trying to look in through the window at the leopard. Raj could not see anything because of the crowd, but he tried to move forward through the people, as he asked, “ What is being done?”
“We have placed a cage at the door and the guards are trying to goad in the leopard in to the cage.”
“Are we trying to catch a leopard or a cow?” Raj thought to himself but stayed silent.
At that moment, the crowd in front of Raj, parted and a few loud screams were heard and the leopard came out of nowhere and lunged at Raj…
……Cont.
2 comments:
leopard... not panther?! :P
wonder how the story will continue
@ stev : :)
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