I cannot describe my situation at that moment! I was about to be shot dead by an assailant just because I did not heed to his request of divulging secret information about my boss’ secret locker and bank accounts which were the source of his wealth and income! Oh my God! I wondered and cried out very loudly within my heart as I thought that my life was going to end in this way after having grown up very happily and comfortably since childhood, going to college and passing my CA examinations with flying colours in Amazonopolis and landed up an lucrative offer to work under my boss. My boss was Seetharaman Cheetah, a famous industrialist who is the head of the Seetharaman Garments, a famous garments business in Animal Land whose headquarters was in Amazonopolis.
As the gun of my goat assailant who was masked held up straight and very closely to my head below my horns, just as before he was about to press it, I also thought that how overconfident was I when I had listened to an astrologer who had predicted that I will live up to 88 years when I visited him last year and scolded him very harshly within my heart as I was very very sure (about 99.99% sure) that I going to meet my end today. I never knew that my life would be so short! My God! Is 28 years of age a life to die?
Can’t this 2 and 8 interchange their places and make it 82? So that I will get married, live happily with my wife and begot kids and then live a life post retirement peacefully after getting them married and seeing them being well-settled. Why can’t this happen at that age?
As these thoughts were running in my brain, I happened to open the eyelids of my eyes slowly and was both happy and petrified; yes although I was a bit happy that I was alive and still there is a very narrow chance of 0.01 % of me surviving this murder attempt, I was also petrified on the other end that still this danger is far from over and still this gun was positioned very firmly in my head. What can I do? Is there any minute chance of me escaping from this danger?
“Hey Antelope! I am asking you for the last time! I will spare you and your life if you just tell me where Seetharaman’s secret locker and the details of his bank account in Amazonopolis! Just two answers to my question and I will let you go! I just want his money and YOU ARE NOT IN MY HIT LIST AT ALL! So, you better tell me and you will be a free bird!” spoke the assailant very softly and yet menacingly. At this point, I even thought of divulging to him the information that he wanted in order to escape from him.
However, later on, I cursed myself saying that how ungrateful can you be due to this unexpected and dangerous circumstance and although life is very important for every animal, honesty, honour and pride is more important than life and you can even sacrifice your life for the sake of honesty and gratefulness to your boss who has always held you in high esteem due to your talent and hard work and also the wife of your boss who has served you food several times? What kind of an animal you are if you betray them?
Suppose even if you betray them and escape from this situation, then they will also be robbed and even be murdered in the worst case. However, you still will be caught eventually and sentenced to jail and then you would be despised and hated by everyone, including your family and friends? Even if these do not happen, you will eventually get your punishment by God for this sin in your life and that will be even more torturing than this and your life will become like hell!
So, it is better to end your life through a bullet or two from this unknown assailant rather than betraying your boss and his family out of ingratitude and selfishness! So, I coughed myself and declared very ironically very bravely in this moment of life and death, “Even if you kill me, I will rather be killed by your bullets than revealing the details of my boss’s wealth to you and betraying him!”! Then the goat after listening to me with a wicked smile and stare, also again spoke slowly, “Okay then Mr Antelope! Then no one can save your life!” and then he prepared to press his gun and kill me.
Then in this moment in my life where this is definitely no redemption from this absolutely doomed state, although I again moaned that why did I not take the usual route to my office from my house in Bilesbury to South Avenue and instead going through the bypass road from Bilesbury to Sheikh Muhammed Street and then going to my office! Achhoo!
Me deciding to take this route proved very beneficial for these kidnappers or assailants as they suddenly sprang out of nowhere from the bushes after I went past the bypass road, kidnapped me and took me to this place. Now, I was being tied to a pole and they had been threatening me for the past fifteen minutes or so! Then they had left and now this goat had arrived and even went a step further and now was going to kill me!
So, I can no longer escape and then I decided to let go of all of my worries and accept my fate gracefully as a defeated king in the battle of life and death! I also told myself that I am free from all of my desires and worries and now I prayed to God that my life must end peacefully without any delay or torture if this is how my life should end! However, even in such a dreadful situation, surrendering myself to God completely was one such happy moment which can never be described through words as I was completely relaxed till now.
Then, as a free animal from the worries of this mortal world, I closed my eyes and waited for the goat to shoot and kill me. Then, after a sneer from that goat, that moment came when I heard the sound from his gun which was positioned to my head. Bang! I could sense that my life was over in a couple of seconds through a couple of bullets! My stay as an antelope in this beloved Planet Earth was over!
After some time which seemed like days, I finally woke up from my mortal abode and looked around to see how my abode in heaven looked and then I received the greatest shock in my life when I touched my head to feel how it was now as I thought that it must be free as the goat shot and killed me. However, it was rather the opposite when I felt a bandage around my horns and some of the area surrounding it! Then the barrage of emotions which came over me when I realized that there was a minute chance that I was alive as it was only this area that could have been shot and wounded instead of my head, can never be described! Then for a moment, I thought that it was all a dream and could not believe that it was real!
Then I stood up slowly but steadily after I had stopped touching my bandage and it was only that precise moment that I had realized that after seeing the painting, a female hippopotamus nurse in the uniform and the bottles and medicines at the table opposite my bed and also some doctors walking outside my room, that it finally dawned onto me that I had actually survived and was still in my mortal abode, not in heaven!
I could feel myself getting dizzy and I asked the nurse, “Excuse me, Sister? Have I really survived? Am I still in Earth?”, in a manner of exasperation and shock. After listening to me, the nurse was both surprised and happy that I had regained consciousness. She came towards me and said in a soft but teasing tone , “Of course Sir! You have survived? Do you think that you are in heaven? Can’t you see us and find out for yourself? It is actually a big miracle and also a big story that you have survived from this murder attempt! However, we will tell you the story later! Now Sir, you just calm down, relax and drink some water ! I will inform the doctor about you regaining consciousness!” as she gave me some water and left.
Then after she had left from the room, I also finally began to realize that this was indeed truth, not fiction as I started relaxing gradually and adjusting myself to the current situation, while also feeling about the power of God and fate. I also started praying to God and thanking him whole-heartedly for making me to survive such a close attempt on my life. After that, my whole family came barging into the room when they came to know of my news. Then literally tears of joy and gratitude to the Almighty and surprise flowed down my cheeks as I hugged my parents, sister and brother as I was happy and lucky to be alive and see my loved ones again, after having survived such a close call on my life which I was sure that I would be dead. However, fate had another script written for me.
After some time, a doctor lion entered into my room and after seeing me sitting up on my bed, he became extremely happy and placing his hand on my shoulder and said, “Mr Gopal, it is a very big miracle that you have survived! Before telling you the story of how you had survived, let me first check you!” and started checking my body thoroughly.
Then he requested my family to be outside so that they will not get panicked while he was telling me the story of survival or rather re-birth and started telling me, “Mr Gopal, the assailant had placed the gun on your head and was about to kill you. However, unexpectedly, as he had tripped over a table between the both of you while pressing the gun, the gun had narrowly missed your head and instead you were shot in the region between your horns and head.
Then you had also fainted in the shock and seeing the sound of the gun, a worker elephant who was going near the factory in which you had kidnapped came rushing towards into the factory . Then he became very alarmed when he saw you being shot and lying in the ground, he immediately tore a small piece of cloth from your shirt and tied it on your head as blood was flowing from it. He also overpowered the goat assailant by dealing a fatal blow to him.
Then after he had become unconscious and he was about to go out from the factory with you in his arms, when the other kidnappers had entered and were furious to see him carrying you, they were about to charge towards him. The elephant then suddenly whistled loudly like a parrot and then started to run.
The other kidnappers also started running behind him when suddenly a group of elephants and tigers confronted them(the elephant’s friends) blocked them and were engaged in a fierce fight, but they were no match to the latter who overpowered them in a jiffy. Then the elephant who had rescued you came to our hospital through an auto and admitted you in the ICU and then narrated all of this to me.
Then his relief and joy knew no bounds when I told him after a few hours of surgery that you were out of danger and would soon regain consciousness. He was very happy and thanked the God for providing him the chance to save you. He also handed me your visiting card and your family photo, which had fallen out of your pocket while he was coming out of the factory with you. He had picked them up, kept them safely and gave them to me.
He also refused to reveal his identity and name when I had asked him about it and instead went away smiling. He also added that animals must help other animals in need or desperate circumstances and why should we require thanks and appreciation for that and left. Then after a while, I discovered your name you’re your visiting card and contacted your office, informed them of this incident who then in turn informed your family who came rushing to the hospital.
Mr Gopal, it is indeed a miracle that you had survived and this is all due to the grace of God! Imagine what would occurred otherwise if the assailant had not tripped and instead shot you in your head as he had targeted ! Really even doctors such as me will also have to agree that life is sometimes full of unexpected and unexplained miracles! However, now be happy and peaceful and take rest! Since it is a kidnapping case, the police will be coming to record your testimony tomorrow morning and then after two or three days of observation in hospital, you will be discharged and then you can go to your home!”, he finished with a smile and left from the room.
After he had left from the room, I kept on wondering about this miraculous story of how I had survived and how it seems very unlikely and unbelievable to me now, even though this was what had occurred. As the doctor had said, life throws up unexpected twists and surprises at the dire moments in our lives and stuns us! I once again prayed and thanked God and also my mysterious saviour who had saved me from such a close attempt on my life!
I shuddered when I thought that what would have happened otherwise!
By: Karuppiah Saravanapperumal
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