A Girl and Her Tiger

by Zoey Gong

  Perhaps Priya was hoping her apology reached the people who needed it the most—her parents. Whether she lived one more day or a hundred years, she would never forgive herself for the pain she caused them. She was glad they would not know she had died like this, but even if they thought she was alive, she was still lost to them forever, and they would always ache from that loss.

  She thought about how her mother taught her to pray, to kneel before the family altar and burn incense and recite the mantras. Then she would sit on her mother’s lap and listen to the stories about warrior goddesses and hero kings. Her father wasn’t around much, but she knew he loved her. Many times, late at night, long after she had fallen asleep, she would awake with his hand petting her hair and his voice saying how proud of her he was. Even though she didn’t see him often, she always felt he was there in spirit, guiding and protecting her.

  She had always dreamed of one day making enough money that they wouldn’t have to slave away for the Parker family anymore. She had hoped to care for them in their old age. They didn’t have any other children. Who would now care for them when they were too old to work? Priya’s body was too dry to shed any more tears, but if she could cry for anything, it would be for failing in her filial duty to care for her parents one day.

  Priya had pulled her dhoti over her face and hunkered down into the boat to try and sleep through the day when she heard Nabhitha chuffing. Priya looked up and saw that Nabhitha had raised her head and was panting hard, as though she was looking at something. Then, Priya heard it.

  Overhead, a seagull flew by, cawing all the way. Priya shot up and looked at the water. Floating nearby was a seagull, happily taking a bath. Nabhitha squirmed, obviously hungry for something other than fish. Priya wondered if she could use the net to catch the seagull and feed it to Nabhitha. But then she realized that if there were seagulls about, then there had to be…

  Land!

  Priya nearly screamed in her excitement when she saw a brown haze in the distance.

  “Nabhitha!” Priya said, pointing. “Look! A beach! We are saved.” Priya shook her head, surprised that land was not the first thing she thought of when she saw the birds, but she thought that the sun must have fried her brain as well as her skin.

  Nabhitha sat up and looked anxiously at the shore. She looked at Priya and whined, as though begging for her to somehow get them to that land as quickly as possible.

  Priya thought about what to do. The land was still quite far away, probably farther away than she realized. She didn’t think even Nabhitha could swim that far without passing out from exhaustion. She still had the paddles, but she knew from experience that she wouldn’t be able to get them much closer under her own pitiful strength.

  “It’s okay, Nabhitha,” Priya said. “The ocean has brought us this far. We just need to be patient and hope that the current will continue to move us toward the shore.”

  Nabhitha sat back down but continued to whine. She then seemed to remember the nearby bird. She looked at it and licked her lips, anxiously shifting from one foot to the other.

  Priya thought that if she wanted to keep Nabhitha from leaping out of the boat, she needed to give her something to tide her over. She picked up the net and waited until the bird wasn’t looking before tossing it out.

  “I’m sorry, friend,” Priya said as she untangled the bird from the net. “Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated.” Then she tossed the bird to Nabhitha and turned her head away as Nabhitha eagerly ate.

  Priya and Nabhitha watched for hours as the shoreline slowly crept closer. They didn’t see anything that looked like a city, and Priya wondered if they were drifting around a remote island. They could be anywhere within a few days of sailing from Goa. The ship had only sailed for a day and a night, but they had been drifting for several more. She didn’t think it was possible that they could have drifted as far away as Africa or Indonesia, but there were countless islands in the ocean. They could be anywhere. When day turned into night, they were still much too far from the shore to try and reach it, and they couldn’t see anything at night, so all they could do was wait for the next day. Priya prayed that they did not drift away from the land in the night and end up in the empty sea again. She didn’t think that they would live much longer if that happened.

  Neither of them slept very well that night. They both looked out of the boat in the direction they had last seen the shore and waited anxiously for the sun to rise.

  They were not disappointed.

  “There it is!” Priya said, jumping up as soon as there was enough light to see. The shore was much closer now. It was still too far away to swim, but they were certainly closer.

  Nabhitha stood with her paws on the edge of the boat and leaned as far forward as she could.

  “It won’t be long now,” Priya said. “By the end of the day, we will—” She screamed as a wave rolled up under them, knocking them both off balance and back into the boat. She sat back up and held on tightly as the boat rocked from side to side and then settled.

  “What happened?” she asked, even though she knew that Nabhitha couldn’t answer. She looked at the shore and thought it was a little farther away now, but she didn’t know why or how.

  They sat in the boat and waited as they started to drift closer to the land. But then it happened again! A wave rolled up and pushed them back out to sea.

  Priya grunted in frustration. She remembered when she was on the ship, how it rocked violently as they pulled away from the port. Once they were out at sea, the ocean, and the ship, calmed. In the distance, she watched as waves broke upon the shore. She tried to recall ever learning anything about the ocean from her classes or her parents, but her mind was blank. She could only assume that the ocean had brought them as close to shore as possible. As the gentle sea turned into crashing waves, the boat was pushed away from the land instead of closer to it.

  “Don’t worry, Nabhitha,” Priya said as she pulled out her paddle. “We haven’t come this far just to sit here and do nothing.”

  The next time a wave rolled up under them, Priya used her paddle to try and cut through the water, like making a path to the shore. To her surprise, it worked! They weren’t any closer to the shore, but they weren’t any farther away from it either.

  “Is that progress?” Priya asked the tiger. “I think that was progress.”

  Priya used her paddle with the next wave, but it took considerably more effort to hold the paddle straight. But it did work, and now they were slightly closer to the shore.

  “Just…just wait,” Priya panted. “We…we will get there.”

  With the next wave, Priya held her paddle with all her strength, her feet hooked under the paneled seats to keep from falling over. She grunted with the exertion the task required, but then she gasped and fell forward, nearly tipping out of the boat as the current sucked the paddle from her hands, under the boat. Priya fell back as the wave then knocked them back where they were before.

  “By the gods!” Priya cursed, screaming at the ocean as she went to the other side of the boat and watched her paddle drift away. Priya looked back at the shore, a lump forming in her chest at the thought that it was so close, and yet so far.

  Nabhitha had finally had enough. She leaped into the water and swam for shore so quickly and easily, she moved like a shark with only her head peeking above the water. In moments, she was halfway to the shore.

  Priya knew she had no choice but to follow. She knew she probably wouldn’t make it, but there was no other option. If she stayed in the boat and ended up stranded at sea, she would die. Her only chance at survival was getting to the land.

  She tied her dhoti tightly and then jumped into the sea. She kicked her legs and thrashed her arms to stay above water, which was not easy as the water rolled around her. She then aimed for the shore and kicked and kicked. After several minutes, she knew she wasn’t making any progress. The shore still looked the same. She looked back and saw that the boat had been pushed back out to
calmer sea waters. There was no way she could reach it either at this point.

  Priya moaned as she rolled onto her back and just did her best to keep her head above water. She whimpered as water got into her eyes and mouth and open wounds. She wondered if this was at least better than dying on a slave ship or in bondage in a foreign land and decided that it was. Of course, given the choice, she’d rather not die at all. But in this moment, as she felt her strength go out of her and she floated listlessly, she supposed there were worse ways to go.

  She felt something touch her leg and she gasped. Shark! she thought. She pulled her legs up, but then she felt the creature swim up under her and lift her higher in the water. She lowered her hands and placed them on the creature’s back. She knew what it was.

  “Nabhitha!” she cried as the tiger’s head popped out of the water. Nabhitha pulled Priya along on her back toward the shore. Priya kissed the top of Nabhitha’s head. “My dearest friend! Thank you! For this life and hundred after it, thank you!”

  Nabhitha did not swim as elegantly as before. In fact, she seemed to struggle a bit, panting and slowing before pushing herself harder. But quickly, the land grew closer. If Priya could have cried tears of happiness, she would have.

  Finally, Nabhitha’s feet touched the sand under the water and she was able to climb out of the ocean with Priya on her back. Once the water was shallow enough, Priya rolled off of Nabhitha and kissed the ground. She then thanked the gods for her salvation, and she blessed Nabhitha.

  Priya crawled across the hot sand to the tree line and to the much-needed shade. She looked around and saw Nabhitha, panting as she stared out at the sea. Priya wondered what the tiger was thinking. Was she as grateful as Priya that they had somehow managed to survive?

  Nabhitha then looked at Priya, and Priya knew it was for the last time. Together, they had survived, but now, Nabhitha was free. She was a tiger, and she needed to go her own way.

  “Thank you,” Priya said one more time. Nabhitha chuffed, then she turned and ran into the jungle.

  Priya laid down and fell asleep, thankful for her hero tiger.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Priya awoke and wiped the sand from her face. She had no idea how long she had slept, but she felt rested. It had been horribly uncomfortable sleeping on the little boat. It was hard to sleep at all, but when she did she woke up in every sort of pain. Here on the shore, she had been able to stretch out and not worry about the sun beating down on her.

  She sat up and looked out at the sea, the gentle waves rolling up the shore. The air smelled fresh and clean and she dug her toes into the warm sand. It was so peaceful here, not another human in sight. Only the sounds of the crashing waves and cawing birds could be heard. For the first time in longer than she could remember, she was at peace. She raised her face to the sky and thanked the gods once again for saving her. She was alive. She was free. She didn’t know where she was, but at least she was not in America or England. Wherever she was, she was not far from home. Of that she was certain.

  She had hope.

  Once she found people, she could find out where she was and then find her way home. She knew there would still be difficulties ahead. She had no money, no food, no clothes. She was lost and alone. But sitting here wouldn’t improve her situation. She needed to get moving and figure out a plan.

  She stood up and stretched. She was hungry and thirsty. She started to wander into the woods, but she winced when she stepped on a burr. She knew she had been wearing shoes on the ship, but they were long gone now. She needed to find some sort of footwear. A new sari wouldn’t go amiss either, and she couldn’t even imagine how abhorrent her hair must have looked. Her hair was normally long and thick. Her mother would help her brush her hair out every night before bed, and at least once a week she would have to wash it and oil it to keep it strong and healthy. She couldn’t see her hair, but she knew it was terribly matted and caked with salt and sand.

  She looked toward the water and saw there was a lot of rubbish along the shore. Mainly splinters of planks, but she could see there were some crates and barrels. She wondered if they were remains from the shipwreck. If so, she knew the ship had lots of quality merchandise on board. She might be able to find some things that would be of use to her. She stepped out of the shade and onto the sand, and she immediately ran back into the shade. The sand was like walking on hot coals!

  She looked around and debated what to do. She supposed she could wait until the sun set. But as she looked up at the sun, high in the sky, she knew it would be a long time before that happened, and she would rather not wait. She looked back to the woods and saw several large palm fronds on the ground. She wrapped them around her feet and used some long thick pieces of grass to secure them. She almost laughed at how ridiculous she surely looked. But as she stepped out onto the sun and discovered that her makeshift “shoes” worked, she felt more than a little proud.

  As she walked along the shore, she was surprised at the amount of debris, but most of it was useless. Broken planks and worn ropes littered the beach. She found an empty barrel and wondered if it had been used to hold rainwater at some point. She came across a crate that was cracked open, and as she moved it, hundreds of sticks of cinnamon poured out. They smelled fantastic, which made her stomach rumble, but there was little they could do to ease her hunger or thirst.

  Even though her leaf shoes, her feet were getting hot on the sand, so she wandered down to the water to cool them off. As she walked along the water’s edge, she came across several small items that had become tangled in a net—including a canteen.

  She opened it and to her surprise it was full of water. She fell to her knees as she drank the water, putting her lips around the opening so as not to lose a single drop. She relished the taste of the first fresh water she had drunk in days. She knew she should probably ration it, but her body wouldn’t let her. She drank every drop, and still her body begged for more. She panted, catching her breath after not even stopping to breathe as she drank. She was once again out of water. But that was okay. Once she finished scavenging the beach she could head into the woods and find a freshwater source. And now that she had her canteen, she wouldn’t need to worry about finding water again.

  As she continued walking, she saw a heap of…something further down the beach. She couldn’t quite make out what it was until she got closer. She finally realized that it was a body.

  Her first instinct was to run away and hide. She had been attacked by too many men lately to take any chances with her safety now that Nabhitha was gone. She ducked behind an empty, smashed crate and watched for a moment. The body only moved when the waves washed over him, and he was laying at an unnatural angle. Surely, he was dead. Still, she grabbed a broken stick and held it in front of her as she approached. She poked him with her stick, but he did not move or utter a sound.

  “Hey!” she yelled, and then waited. “Hey, you!” she said again, poking him harder with her stick. She then moved around the other side to try and get a look at his face. But when she saw it, she almost wished she hadn’t.

  It was the man who had been tasked with watching her after Nabhitha killed the man who attacked her. The one who had said he was friends with her would-be rapist. She knew it was wrong, but she was glad he was dead. But his eyes were open and his mouth was agape in a never-ending yet silent scream. His face was as pale as a ghost. It was a gruesome sight, so she turned away, walking back around him so she didn’t have to see that twisted contortion of a face. She nearly walked away when she realized he was still wearing his boots.

  It was morbid, she knew, and possibly sacrilegious, but she was in desperate need of shoes. Once she started traveling, who knew what she might come across. If she needed to run from bad people or dangerous animals, she would need sturdy shoes. This man was already dead, but her life could depend on taking the boots. She took a deep breath and removed the man’s boots. She then sat down and put them on her own feet. They were a little big for her, but
she pulled the laces tight. As she got up to leave, she noticed that the man also had a large knife tucked into a sheath and belted around his waist. She gritted her teeth, unlatched the belt, and pulled the knife and sheath from his body, then belted it around her own waist. She then gave the man a small nod and continued her walk down the beach.

  She rifled through some more debris as she walked, but she didn’t find anything else of use until she came to a large crate that was nearly intact. She used her knife to pry some of the boards loose and thanked the gods when she found dozens of bolts of silk.

  The silks were incredibly soft and in some of the most vibrant colors she’d ever seen. She pulled out one of a mottled green color—she didn’t want to stand out too much while she was traveling—and cut a piece a few meters long, long enough to wrap around her properly. She also cut a long thin piece and used it to wrap her hair. She then cut a few extra pieces for good measure. You never knew when a length of cloth might come in handy. She tied one piece into a bag and put the other pieces and the canteen inside it.

  She was still a long way from having her needs met, but she had shoes, clothes, a way to carry water, and a weapon, which was more than she had when she washed up on the shore. She felt she had earned a break, so she went back to the tree line and walked to where she had slept overnight. The spot didn’t really offer any more comfort or protection than any other place she could have chosen along the edge of the jungle, but it was familiar and gave her a sense of balance as she tried to orient herself.

  As she approached her spot, she saw something that had not been there before. A dead rabbit. At first, she was alarmed. Who could have left it? Were there other people around? Was it a warning? Then she heard a low growling sound emitting from the jungle.