Rahul didn’t wait any longer. He backed away slowly at first. Then quicker. Only stopping once the sound of the digging began to fade behind him. By the time he reached the edge of the forest, his pace had picked up. That feeling hadn’t gone away. If anything, it had gotten worse. Something wasn’t right.
And he knew he couldn’t handle it alone. He headed straight into the village. People were already outside. Talking. Moving through their routines. Rahul went straight to the group near the well. “You need to come see this,” he said. A few of them looked up. “What happened?” one of the older men asked.
“An elephant,” Rahul said. “Something’s wrong with it.” That got a reaction. But not the one he expected. A few of them laughed. “Wrong?” someone said. “What do you mean wrong?” “It’s probably just bathing in the mud,” another added. Rahul shook his head. “No… this is different.” They exchanged glances.
Still unsure. So Rahul took out his camera. And showed them. The laughter stopped. One by one their expressions changed.
