H - THE GREAT SAVE

THE GREAT SAVE

GOLDY THE STORYTELLER TELLS HIS STORY (Story -1).

The morning was very pleasant. It was bright and sunny and the smell of
the air all around Toon Moon Jungle was nostalgic. High spirit ranked
in those living in this wild. There were blossoms all around. Such
colourful flowers adorned the wild trees that one could see them in
different colours as red, white, purple, blue, yellow, orange and a hue
of colours. Some flowers bloomed on big trees, some bloomed on creepers
and some bloomed on tiny plants. Flowers of different sizes caught the
eyes. The wild was blooming everywhere. Sweet smelling flowers gave out
their sweet scent, the bees busied themselves in collecting nectar.
Nature and the wild life were so close to each other in this
jungle.

The jungle springs were gushing downstream and the water was crystal
clear. The suns rays fell on the clean running water, at times creating
a sparkle like that of a diamond. It was in this happy atmosphere that
Goldy The Storyteller was sitting on a high seat at the trunk of a huge
tree. A large number of animals had gathered to listen to his
story.

Goldy said, "Today I will tell you a real story. From this you all can
know the dangers facing our lives in this jungle".

Goldy paused a little and went on to tell all that happened a few years
back. He said that one fine morning Jolly Elephant had come running to
King Sheru's court. She was panting and was totally out of breath and
thus was unable to speak. King Sheru offered her a seat and told her to
take some rest before speaking.

Goldy stopped to drink some water. He changed his posture by moving
his legs and body and continued. He said that by then Jolly Elephant
had started crying and in between sobs she said, "My Lord, my youngest
son Pummy cannot be found. He is very young and he depends on me to
feed him. He has not returned home since yesterday." So saying she
again started crying loudly.

King Sheru consoled her and said, "Mrs. Jolly, I will help you to find
your child. But I need some more information's. When was he last
seen?"

Jolly Elephant went on to tell that the previous evening Pummy had been
playing all by himself. Before dusk he had sought her permission to go
and get some purple flowers. Usually he went to get the flowers from
the nearby trees. He loved to decorate the entrance of the house with
flowers. For this she had nodded with a 'yes'. He had gone to get the
flowers and had not returned.

King Sheru gave her assurance of finding out Pummy and told her to go
back to her house.

Two days passed off but Pummy could not be found. Some feared that he
might have fallen in the river waters and got drowned while some others
thought that he might have fallen into some deep pit and could not get
out. Some even suspected that he might have died. King Sheru's search
party had searched every nook and corner of Toon Moon Jungle but could
not find him.

By then Jolly Elephant had drowned herself in her tears. She feared
that her son might have died. She was dipped in sorrow and grief.

Although it was the third day the search party did not give up hope. It
was at this time Burly Bear informed the King that a baby bear was
missing. Fear gripped the hearts of the jungle folks. The next day news
was brought to the King that some more jungle children were missing.
They were two baby monkeys and two tiger cubs. It was as though these
jungle children had vanished into thin air.

This was a real trouble time for the animals of this jungle. King Sheru
was very disturbed. He sought advice from his court advisers. All his
search efforts failed. This was the seventh day, of the missing
instance. On the eighth day, Chimpu, a clever little monkey came
running to the King's court. He said that he had seen something while
playing. He had been jumping from tree to tree and did not know when he
had reached the outskirts of the jungle. There he found something that
was astonishing and also suspicious in nature. He found that some men
had pitched their tents there. There also stood some big wagons and
huge boxes. There were about six to seven men and one of them carried a
gun. Seeing all that he was so frightened that he hurried back
immediately.

King Sheru was very pleased with Chimpu's information and patted him on
his back. Immediately a meeting was called and it was decided that
about two to three members would have to find out as to why the men had
pitched their tents there. That night information was gathered that
those men had come to catch some animals and take those innocent one's
with them. They would then sell them to a circus party and earn a lot
of party. King Sheru decided that they had to rescue the trapped
animals as their lives were in danger. He declared that mission as
"Mission Save".

Everything was planned and decided. All the animals were very alert
that night. When they found those poachers had gone off to sleep, they
started their attack. From the ground the tigers, lions, elephants,
rhinos, wild pigs, boars and all the big animals rushed forward in a
big group and attacked them. The monkeys pelted stones from the
treetops.

Hearing the sounds of those wild animals the men got up. They were
constantly being hit with stones. In their nightclothes and holding
their torches these men ran out to find a way to save themselves,
leaving behind everything they had brought. The elephants went and
trampled their tents and over turned some of their vehicles. As they
came closer they found the jungle children trapped in iron cages. With
utmost care and everyone's help the baby elephant, the baby bear, the
baby monkeys, and the tiger cubs were rescued.

Some of the men were hurt but they managed to escape in a jeep.

The jungle babies were in a state of shock. Seeing their near and dear
ones they started crying loudly. They were taken home and fed properly
for they said that they had been without food and water for the last
two days. Later on they were cared, caressed and put to bed.

It took a few days for these children to come out of the shock and
trauma. But these children soon coped up and came back to their regular
life. Then they were asked as to how they had been trapped. Each one
narrated their story. But ultimately it was found that unknowingly they
had strayed away from the jungle and thus the poachers were able to
trap them.

It was then that the elders told the young ones to be very careful
while moving about here and there. They told them that they were lucky
enough to be rescued timely.

"Remember, it may not be the same the next time. You may even lose your
life. This way you will trouble yourself and also be a cause of pain to
your parents," said Jolly Elephant.
She then brought Pummy close to her and caressed her and both were in
tears.

"So you see, it is better we take care not to fall into trouble. Isn't
it?" said Goldy.

The young ones looked at one another and their eyes showed that they
were frightened. "We'll come tomorrow Grandpa Goldy," they shouted and
ran away.