Splash! The pebble just disappeared beneath the film of clear water. That was my third attempt at stone skipping. I can be considered one of the worst stone skippers in the village. My school had just finished and I was under my favorite banyan tree by the lake passing time. The village did not have a lot of recreational activities for kids, we busied ourselves with mundane games like stone skipping, marbles or gilli danda. Our village was tiny settlement of farmers with the Preethban forest in the south and the Upar hill range on the north. A wide opening in the hill range provided us with a connection to the outside world. But hardly any kids ventured out of the village as there was nothing much outside except a path that went on till the eyes could meet. Our villagers were used to cutting down the forest and farming their lands. Every year a tiny portion of the forest would be consumed by our village. It was like a monster biting into a big loaf of bread. Every year I could see animals getting pushed back into a little box or hunted down. Every year the villagers blamed the animals of encroaching into their land. The land on which they were born and the land which was their home. I always empathized with the animals as I was like them. My parents had a house, a farm and I had toys, but one day when I was little I saw my dad being dragged out of the house by the village head, I never saw him again. My mom followed him and I did not see her too. Some villagers took me out of the house and I could hear people shouting loudly and destroying my house. Then some villagers brought fire sticks and lit fire to our house and our farms, everything was ablaze. I was homeless, I was deserted, I had no where to go. I felt like the poor innocent animals of the forest. I was shifted to this community home where other kids like me stayed. The villagers said my parents had done something really wrong and had left the village and were never going to come back, but I knew they would be back for me. The animals always returned to their homes, even though they were hunted, why would my parents not return. The community home was nice, the lady taking care of us was a middle aged lady who always wore a white sari. Her name was Nirmala, she cooked average tasting food and provided us with clothes, books and took care of us when we were sick. I liked her a lot.

Spash Splash! I was able to get two bounces out of that flat rock. I had just sprung about 50 places in the top ranked stone skippers in the village. I was accompanied by Karun, Kriti and Aparajith under the banyan tree. They were witness to history. We always visited the edge of the forest near the lake after school. The banyan tree was our hangout spot where we discussed our futures. We all had quests to leave the village and do something about our lives. My quest was to search my parents and save the animals. Suddenly I spotted a reddish orange streak of fur among the tall grass on the edge of the
forest. It was then followed by a black streak. I froze and asked the others to keep quiet.
"What's going on there" shouted Karun
I just Shhhh'ed him. He got the message and he simmered down. I could see two gem colored eyes with black lines staring right at me. I stood still and looked at them. It felt like I looked into them for minutes, while it was just a glance. It looked at me again and then hustled through the bushes into the forest. We were scared and excited at the same time. The other's also saw him. We fell in love with that elegant beast. It was a confusing feeling.
"Dont tell Mukhiya" I said to the other's."This is our secret". Mukhiya was our village head
"Why??!!" said Karun and Kriti
"They will hunt him down and we will never see him again"
I got them all to promise and they agreed. Also this made us feel proud and happy. We now had something to look forward to. Every day after school we visited the banyan tree, wait for the tiger till sunset and leave. We saw him once every five days or sometimes alternate days, there was no set schedule. The tiger made his own destiny, he didn't have to follow a routine. He does what he wishes. A couple of times we made eye contact. A somber eye contact but with no aggression, as if he understood me. We named him Preeth, after the forest. I wanted to be like him free, not shackled by the village, making my own rules and riding into the open world not knowing what I encounter next.

A couple of years went by, the village was again ready to slice up the forest and burn the beautiful green trees. They had exhausted all the land and now were ready to gorge some more. They chopped down a kilometer of forest and nothing was left, I could see bird's nest and some small animals in the debris. It was a massacre, the tiny birds who stood their ground, did not have a chance. We still visited our banyan tree, but we could only see barren land now. Days joined together to form months, we did not see Preeth. I grew sadder everyday but was happy he did not come to the lake as the villagers were ruthless. The season turned to summer and the earth was parched. I was thirsty all the time. The river provided us with water. The river was now part of the village. We were sitting in our community house with our study books when I suddenly heard loud noises and people running with sticks. It spawned bad memories and I did not like it, I was afraid and scared, but also sad and I had that strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Karun, Kriti, Aparijith and me all came out of our house and asked the passing villagers what happened.
One of them stopped and said "A tiger was spotted near the lake in front of the banyan tree. It was here to hunt our children and lifestock and we will not let it do so." and then he began running towards our banyan tree with that look of mad rage. We stood there shocked. None of us uttered a word. They all knew how much I loved Preeth. We went into our community house and sat there hopeful that Preeth goes back into the forest and never comes out again. After an hour the voices became louder near our house, we heard a thud in our courtyard. I could see a huge majestic beast standing in our courtyard with a shiny orange-yellow sheen and black lines painted on it. He was looking around searching for something. Our room doors were locked and we saw him through the window. He looked right into my eyes, he found me. He shouldn't have but he did. I started tearing up but I composed myself. I tried getting out of the room door but Nirmala did not allow that. Preeth just jumped through a small gap in the terrace and left. Everyone in the community house was relieved, except me. I was sad and hoped Preeth escaped. The villagers continued their hunt and eventually found him near a tank drinking water and shot him. They were happy the hunters were revered as heroes. Everything went back to how it was. Preeth had just wanted some water from his lake. He was the king of the jungle, he was not going to back off, it was not in his nature and that led to his death. I missed him.

I eventually finished my school, went to the city and studied hard and finished my college and became a Wildlife conservationist. I traveled the whole world and visited many forests in the hopes of rescuing as many Preeth's as I could. My search for my parents ended very fast, as I learned that the villagers had killed my parents due to some petty village politics. My ultimate revenge on the villagers was the conversion of the Preethban into a nature reserve. The lake was freed from the villagers. The banyan tree stood strong and the grass grew back. My childhood view from the banyan tree was restored.