The Deeper He Walked, The Stranger It Became
As Rahul moved deeper into the trees, the forest seemed to grow quieter around him. The birds had stopped calling. The leaves barely rustled. All he could hear was the same painful bellow in the distance, each one louder than the last. He slowed his steps, watching the ground carefully. Soon, he noticed signs that something heavy had been moving in the area for a while. The soil was loose, broken, and disturbed.
Then he heard a heavy thud nearby. Rahul stopped behind a tree and carefully looked around it. That was when he saw her. A large female elephant stood alone over a patch of churned-up earth. She was not grazing or moving through the forest. She was lifting her trunk and striking the ground again and again. At first, Rahul thought she might be throwing mud on herself, something elephants sometimes do to cool down. But this was different. There was no calm rhythm, no pause, and no sign of rest. Every movement looked urgent.
