Run fast! Keep moving! Hide! These are not natural thoughts for one of the fiercest predators on the earth, but Chanti was thinking them now. Normally, a tiger had no fear of any other animal, but this was different. The thing that was chasing Chanti was a monster. It had no true reason to kill, but was very capable of doing so. This was a nightmare for any animal, because the monster that was chasing her was a hunter, a human hunter.
She was running through the jungle when she heard the first gunshot. Chanti almost stopped in her tracks when a snake dropped out of a tree and landed at her feet. It was obviously dead. There was a gaping hole in its head. Shock slammed into her, almost paralyzing her with fear, but she knew she had to keep going or else she would share the snake’s fate. Chanti knew that a human was a fierce predator, but how could anything, even a human, kill at such a distance? A cold shiver ran down her spine as she ran even faster through the trees. This hunter could bring instant death.

After some time the tiger came upon a river at the edge of the jungle. “Perhaps,” Chanti growled, “if I cross this river the hunter will not be able to follow me.” She jumped into the river, expecting to touch the bottom, to find that the water was very deep. It was so deep and cold that Chanti almost couldn’t swim! She struggled with all her might against the current for a while. Just as she felt she could swim no more, the tired tiger reached the shore. Chanti crawled onto the bank and lay on her belly. She was wet and cold, but at least now she wasn’t drowning. She almost fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Then she remembered the snake. If the hunter could kill from so far away, then could he not kill her from across a river? So, when she had caught her breath, she stumbled over to a bush and fell asleep behind it, thinking that she was safe at last.


Chanti awoke to the sound of a gunshot and a thump as something heavy hit the ground. He was back. The hunter was back and had found her. It was time to move on. Chanti got up and ran as fast as she could from the bush. She heard an enraged shout coming from behind and hurried footsteps but she ran on. Bang! A bullet whizzed past her ear, missing her by inches. Bang! Bang! Bang! The hunter shot his gun continuously as if he no longer cared if he hit his target. Was he trying to scare her even more? She was running through a field now and there was nowhere to hide for miles. Chanti knew that she couldn’t keep running. Sooner or later he would hit her and she would drop. The tiger knew she would rather go down fighting than die a coward. So she stopped and turned to face her enemy.
A few moments later a man on a roaring four wheeler burst in to view. When he saw Chanti sitting there he stopped his vehicle. The man stood and looked at the tiger. He was pale and had hair like the golden grass of the fields on which they were standing. His eyes were an icy blue, almost silver, and they shone in the sun with a meanness that scared even Chanti. A few moments later, he raised his gun and smiled a snaggle-toothed smile. Chanti crouched low and prepared to pounce when the hunter aimed and- click. Nothing happened. The man’s face turned a ghostly white and he tried to shoot again. Click. Nothing. He had foolishly wasted all of his ammunition on random shots and small prey. Panic and fear spread across his face like a wild fire in a forest during the dry season. Chanti did not miss her chance. She roared and pounced! The hunter screamed the scream of a man who is facing his doom. However, as she was in the air the hunter pulled a knife from his belt and held it out in front of him, as if this small piece of metal could defend him from 400 pounds of vengeful tiger. It was his last act.

A few hours later Chanti limped over to the river. It had been an extremely long and debilitating day. The hunter had been killed but she hadn’t escaped entirely unscathed. The man had pierced her with his knife so that there was a large, deep gash in her side. It was bleeding profusely and it worried her a bit, but she was so tired that it was hard to focus on anything. In fact, her exhaustion was so great that she felt that she could drop to the ground right there. However, that wouldn’t be very comfortable, and Chanti knew that she could be resting for quite a while. She sighed and spotted the bush where she had been dozing earlier that day. Chanti walked over and lay down behind it. As soon as she was on the ground she closed her eyes and slept. She was weary and it was obvious that it was her time to rest. Time to rest in peace for all eternity.