The Call of the Jungle

Guowang looked out of his enclosure at the sea of faces that had come to gawk and stare. To them, he was beautiful and majestic; one of only a few hundred Sumatran tigers left in the world. To Guowang he was a shadow of his former self.

The enclosure was only a few hundred square feet and looked somewhat like a jungle. Grass covered the hard cement ground and there some trees; the species of which were not actually found in Asia. The “lake” was nothing more than pond full of weeds and not much else. Guowang couldn’t even find his reflection in it.

He spent his days aimlessly wandering the confined enclosure, its solitary soul isolated from its natural world. Thousands of people would come and watch him every day. Crowding around the enclosure and jostling see, they’d take their pictures and squeal in delight. Folks from a big metropolitan city don’t often see anything as exotic or as rare as a tiger. This would be a day they would remember forever.

He used to give the people a show. He would splash in the lake, climb a tree or let out an almighty roar but after years in captivity, he had changed. His majestic strut was now a slow walk; his head, once held high with pride, hung listlessly from his slumped shoulders while his tail dragged on the ground behind him. He opened his mouth but all he could manage was a rumbling growl.

Guowang loved night time at the zoo. After the crowds for the day had left, the sky turned to black and the stars were the only things to look down at him. As he sat and looked back, the despair he felt would melt away and he was comforted by something familiar. The sky at the zoo was exactly the same as the sky in the jungle.

He continued to stare at the sky until he drifted off to sleep and found himself back in the jungle. The trees were lush and green, the grass felt moist underneath his paws and the birds sang high in the canopy. In the distance, he saw a sight that brought a tear to his eyes; Nuwang, the love of his life.

He playfully chased her throughout the jungle as he done as a cub. She weaved through the trees as he excitedly gained on her, waiting to be close enough to pounce. She led him to the bank of the river. It was wide but Nuwang leapt across it, easily landing on the other side. She stood and watched Guowang run and take his own, falling just short and plunging into the river. He climbed onto the bank and playfully wrestled with her in the moonlight.

She then led him down the river to a clearing where he stood in amazement and gazed upon a thousand tigers. They all let out an almighty roar that echoed beyond the jungle, causing the birds to take flight and the ground to shake. This was the call of the jungle.

The tigers stood and began to walk further into the dense jungle; Nuwang followed and tilted her towards them, asking Guowang to follow. He took a step but was stopped by a powerful force. He roared and thrashed his body as he Nuwang and the rest of the tigers got further away but he couldn’t get any closer. He watched in despair as the tigers disappeared into the jungle leaving him alone and heartbroken.

A tear rolled down his cheek as the moonlight hid behind the clouds. Everything grew dark.

There were more people than usual surrounding Guowangs enclosure. They were excited to see the main attraction, Tiger feeding time. The more people that were there, the more Guowang wanted to hide, but that was hard to do in such a small enclosure.

The zookeepers entered the enclosure with a big bucket of meat. The one with the bucket slowly walked towards Guowang while the other stayed by the door of the enclosure, leaving it open in case they needed a quick getaway.

The bucket keeper took a piece of meat from the bucket and slapped it several times on the ground, trying to get Guowangs attention. Instead of attention, Guowang laid on the ground.

As the keeper slapped the meat harder and harder, the crowd became more impatient. This wasn’t the show they were promised. They began calling out to Guowang, their calls turning into boos.

Amongst all the noise, Guowang heard something. It was soft at first and grew louder. He lifted his head and looked around with alertness. It got louder and began to drown out the noise of the world around him. It sounded like roar but more intense. It was 1000 roars. It was the call of the jungle and it was calling to Guowang. He felt something that he hadn’t felt for a long time. It was a fire and it was growing inside him.

He stood up and cautiously walked towards the slapping meat. The crowd began to cheer loudly. As he got close to the meat, he began to sniff it; the keeper tossed it to the side away from him. That’s when Guowang pounced.

He let out an almighty roar as he landed on the keeper. The crowd screamed in horror as Guowang scratched and bit the frightened keeper. He headed for the door of the enclosure. The doorkeeper raced through the door and tried to close it behind him but Guowang had wedged his body in between the door and the frame. He roared and scratched at the keeper until he let go of the handle and run for his through the safety enclosure with Guowang closely behind him.

The keeper had managed to open the door to the safety enclosure and get through it but couldn’t close it before Guowangs powerful body burst through. He let out a roar as the thousand zoo visitors screamed and ran for safety. He followed the crowd which caused them to run faster and scream louder.

Guowang was chased throughout the zoo by staff with guns. They maintained a safe distance and fired tranquillizer darts at him. Guowang ducked and weaved like he was back in the jungle and was narrowly missed by the darts. He continued to follow the crowd of people who were hastily making their way out of the zoo. Once outside they continued to run and warn everyone in earshot, a tiger has escaped from the zoo.

Guowang roamed the once busy street. Apart from news crews which were at a distance away and the helicopter hovering above, the streets were empty and hard with concrete. It was a bigger version of his enclosure.

The SWAT team, dressed head to toe with armour and armed with more tranquillizer guns, approached Guowang. They kept their distance and drew their guns. Guowang roared at them, warning them to stay away. They fired several shots, ignoring the warning.  A dart, which had landed in Guowangs rump, stang like a wasp. He thrashed violently and roared until the dart dislodged itself and he ran u the street with the SWAT team hot on his tail.

Guowang approached a small deserted park. For the first time in years, he felt grass, real grass underneath his paws. He lay down and rubbed his body all over the refreshing grass. For a brief moment, he felt closer to home.

The SWAT team surrounded the park. Guowang defended his newfound freedom by swiping and roaring at the officers. They took a step back. The Captain raised his arm, giving a signal. On top of the building opposite, a sniper viewed Guowang through the scope of a rifle. The sniper looked the tiger in the eyes as he slowly squeezed his trigger.

Guowang opened his eyes and found himself on the bank of the river. He was back in the jungle, surrounded by lush moist greenery. He slowly walked along the riverbank, the path illuminated by the moonlight. He came to the clearing and looked upon thousands of tigers.

Nuwang excitedly ran over to Guowang and licked his face. He took a step towards the clearing; a powerful force pushed him towards the streak and took his place among the tigers. They let out a call of the jungle; Guowang added his mighty roar to the call.

Guowang followed the other tigers as they began walking towards the jungle. Nuwang nuzzled into him lovingly as his heart filled with emotion. He was finally home, where he belonged.