A Tale of Two Mothers

The half moon enlightened the whole landscape. It was a yellow pale night and the trees were standing still in the absence of any wind. The stillness and quietness of the forest projected a false sense of peace and tranquility in one. The river however was indifferent as usual, minding its own business, flowing with its usual nonchalance attitude, shimmering as the moonlight played on its surface and giving shelter to life and death alike. She had witnessed everything in her course, death and life, destruction and creation, sadness and elation. So many times she had been the part of the most terrible as well as the most euphoric moments of the earth’s history that she has learnt that nothing but plain naivety is what is expected from her.


The doe gracefully started walking towards the river. She was still in pain from giving birth to a beautiful fawn a few hours ago and wanted to drink a little water before she guides the young one towards the herd. She will show him all the green pastures, the safest watering holes, how to keep with the herd. And will watch him grow up to be a strong member of the group, watch him fight for dominance and finally forget his mothers existence as soon as he will reach puberty.

She was a beautiful deer with soft, charcoal-black eyes which sparkled dimly in the translucent night, with short antlers residing on her head like a queens crown and a coat of brownish-yellowish colour on her back that turned white as it reached her belly. She had strong and powerful legs making her capable of reaching the speed of wind in a matter of seconds and at the present moment she was using them to display a graceful walk, a walk every women in the world will die for, as if she was gliding in the sky instead of walking on the damp earth.

She reached the river, avoiding the slippery rocks and watching closely for any signs of danger, for it was an ungrateful companion of every animal in the forest, an unforgiving friend which when decides to betray you leaves you nothing but as a long forgotten ruin of an ancient dynasty. And the first and only rule that she knew of surviving in this world was to be careful, even when you are in the group and specially when you are on your own.

But tonight she was not careful enough. Maybe it was the pain and tiredness of giving birth or maybe it was the joy of being a mother, whatever might be the reason, she had missed a pair of eyes observing her every movement.
The eyes burned bright and were like two miniature suns in the darkness. How she missed them is truly baffling because even a blind man could’ve felt there intensity, if not see them, but maybe this was written in the course of destiny that she was supposed to be unaware of there existence completely until it was too late.

Nothing at that moment held the concentration of the tigress more then her pray. She watched her reach the shore and must have decided that this was the opportunate moment to strike because she suddenly started to move out into the open. With the river acting as her ally and forming a barricade against the deer and herself playing the part of the perfect attacker, the deer had nil chance of survival unless fate decides to spare the new mother and settle to have a cruel laugh on her expense instead.

With a snarl she got out from her cover and instantly she could feel the heat of the hunt entering her body and all the instincts hone in for the kill. She sprinted towards the shore just as the deer’s instincts warned her of the approaching death but too late. She turned but was petrified right there on the spot and saw the yellow striped death meters away from her, ready to jump on to her. The last thoughts of the deer were about her newborn.

BANG !!

The tigress could smell the fear, she could taste the blood, and she could see that this time she’ll have plenty of food for herself as well as for her three month old cubs, who hadn’t eaten a full stomach since the day they were born. With surety of success in her grasp, she extended her claws and with the aid of her powerful hindlegs leapt the last few meters separating her and the deer. Her last thoughts were about her cubs. She died before she hit the ground.

BANG !!

From dense foliage the fawn witnessed the whole scene unraveling before him. A moment before where his mother stood near the edge of the river, now lied her lifeless corpse & inches away lied a big yellow thing, which had appeared suddenly out of nowhere, running and leaping towards his mother an instance before, now lying just as lifeless beside her. He saw two things descend from a nearby tree walking towards the bodies on two legs in a strange uptight manner and holding glistering, shining rods in their hands. He could smell the strange odour, which had spread in the air just before two loud noises had disturbed the quietness of the forest.

From beneath another tree two cubs observed the same scene.

The river flowed callously, adding another instance to her experience.