“Wheez! wheez! cough! splutter...,” went the jackal. He could barely breathe.
The sloth bear stopped in his tracks and looked at him quizzically. “What happened, Jack? Smoking much?”
By now the jackal was red in the face, his cheeks were puffed out and he was still on his “wheez! wheez! cough! splutter” routine.
“Slo, don’t just stand there watching. Get him something to drink...clear his throat,” said Gaur who had ambled up.
“You want to help him, you Gau ahead...,” said Slo with a sly smile.
Gaur rolled his eyes, swished his tail and blew hard through his nostrils.
“Oh, I am so scared...” shivered Slo theatrically.
“Hey fellas, come on!” shouted Monkey as she swung past. “Jack’s dying and you are arguing...” Monkey jumped from tree to tree and disappeared. In no time she returned with some water in a coconut shell and made Jack drink it up. Poor Jack was so tired with all the coughing and spluttering that he drank the water and lay down, panting hard. With his eyes rolled up and his tongue out, one could not but help feel sorry for him.
Gaur and Slo continued to watch him. After what seemed an age, Jack calmed down and made a feeble attempt to sit up. He leant against a tree and sighed.
Why so sick?
“So, what caused this great attack? Is it serious? Should we be worried?” asked Slo.
Jack did not answer. He just sat there with his eyes closed.
“Wonder what the problem with him could be?” said a puzzled Gaur.
Just then Wolfie came loping along. “Hey, everyone. What’s up?” he said cheerily. “Catching up on the latest gossip or what?”
“Yeah, right! Can’t you see Jack’s unwell,” said Monkey.
“Oops! Sorry, darling,” said Wolfie with a sly smile on his face. Monkey grimaced when she heard his term of endearment.
“He’s had a bad attack of coughing. He’s just about recovered,” continued Monkey.
“We were wondering what could have brought it on,” said Slo.
“Well, I can help you out with that,” said Wolfie. Everyone looked expectantly at him.
“Yesterday, after sunset I was out for a walk, when I saw Jack slinking away. You know me...an intelligent being like me...I was curious. So, I followed him. Half way through, I figured his destination. So, I ran ahead and warned him to think twice before he continued...”
“Oh! Wolfie...” whispered Jack hoarsely, “I wish I had heeded your advice.”
“Hmmm,” said Wolfie, nodding sagely. “He was off to the city...”
The animals gasped in shock. “What?”
“Yes,” continued Wolfie, gravely. “He was off to the city. He knew about the dangers there, but he still went.”
“Ah! So that’s why he’s like this!” said Gaur.
Without anyone noticing,Turtle had crept up. “What’s the problem with going to the city?” she lisped.
“You don’t know?” said Wolfie, his eyes with disbelief.
She shook her head, and looked at him with her large eyes.
Just more smoke
“It’s a horrible place. The minute you step out of the forest there’s a big monster like thing. It spews black smoke into the skies, and a dirty, oily substance flows out of a pipe into the stream...”
“I know that stream...” began Turtle, excitedly. “My grandma used to take me swimming there...”
“Sweet Turtle, don’t ever ever go searching for that stream...and if you find it and you swim in it you will not even make it to Turtle Soup,” warned Monkey.
Turtle looked suitably chastened.
“And what about the roads?” prompted Slo.
“Ah yes!” said Wolfie. “The roads are full of these ugly mechanical things on wheels. Hundreds and hundreds of them, with just one person inside...and all travelling in the same direction...may be even to the same place... And as these mechanical contraptions move along the road it emits a black smoke that is soon absorbed into the atmosphere.”
“If you visit at dawn,” began Monkey, “it’s just hazy. You can’t see a thing. A thick brown smog covers the whole place. And the smells are all trapped in that too.”
Turtle shuddered with so much feeling that her shell was almost shaken off.
“Yes, that’s true,” said Gaur. “I remember one early morning in September when the air was so thick I couldn’t see my nose! The sun’s rays was struggling to shine through. That’s the last time I went there.”
“Oh, this sure sounds like a horrible place,” said Turtle. “Why would you want to visit Jack?”
Jack had recovered some of his energy. He said, “I was hungry. I thought it would be an adventure to venture out into the city. See if I could get some food...”
“That’s the craziest idea I have heard,” said Slo. “What can you get there that you can’t get here? You must have seen my starved bovine cousins trying to make a meal of plastic and waste from the garbage bins?”
“I know, I know...” said Jack. “Call me stupid!”
“Anyway, I spent the day there inhaling that foul air, and breathing in their exhaust fumes. And, I didn’t find any food. Of course, I refused to eat the plastic and paper. So, I got back. It was the effect of that visit that you just saw...,” said Jack, sheepishly.
“Do you think we can give humans some advice?” asked Gaur.
“Hah! You think they will listen to you?” asked Slo scornfully.
“We could try...” whispered Turtle.
“Okay. Let’s have a rehearsal. What will you say to them?” said Slo.
“We could begin by telling them to make sure their factories are more environment-friendly. You know — use green fuel, don’t discharge effluence into our river...” said Turtle.
“Oh! oh! I’ve got one. We could suggest they use public transport or more people join together and travel...” said Monkey, excitedly.
“It’s called carpooling, Monkey,” said Gaur, patronisingly.
“Well, you get the general idea,” said Monkey. “But, I don’t think they will listen to us...”
