By Kiva Nguyen

Near the Bay of Bengal, there lived a fisherman named Aresh. He was a dark skinned boy who had black hair. The village he lived made its home near the Sundarban forest. There, people lived happily. One day however, the village became more urbanized and the relatively quiet sounds of the village were replaced with the busy sounds of carts being pulled and people shouting out for deliveries. It went from being as quiet as a Bengal Tiger hunting for its prey to being as loud as a stampede. Aresh decided he wanted to live alone and walked a good few kilometers. He remembered that there was an old hut with a dock near the ocean where he could fish. When he came there, he was surprised. The wooden hut was long abandoned but it had the materials he needed to repair it. There were tools and nails and even some more fishing gear. He set to work and by nightfall, he already had fixed the roof. There was a fireplace in a corner of the hut with stones to prevent the fire from spreading so Aresh cooked one of the fishes he had caught earlier and went to sleep. When he awoke, he heard some rustling outside. When he went to investigate, he saw a tiger, eating some scraps. In a normal situation, Aresh would've barricaded the doors and waited for the tiger to go away. But Aresh had dealt with tigers before, so took a hatchet and walked outside again. "Shoo! Go away! You are not welcome here!" shouted Aresh. The tiger perked its ears up before slowly walking away. Aresh then resumed repairing the hut and fishing. After 2 years, Aresh had been living a good life. He repaired and fortified the fence around his hut area. In the yard were rows of fruits and vegetables. For every tree he cut down, he planted three more in its place. But he didnt cut himself off from the rest of the world. Apparently, there have been some people known as Westerners who had come and brought their animals as well. The best thing was that they never came close to his home because of how remote it was. He was happy. Until one day.

As he walked through the rainforest to cut down some trees, he heard rustling. Slowly turning, Aresh readied his hatchet. He wondered what was around. It could be a something as small as a fox or as big as a tiger. He began to become a little scared, mainly because of the mystery of what was coming. Roaring loudly, a tiger jumped and pounced on Aresh from the bush with the strength and weight of a boulder. From fishing, farming and chopping trees for so long, Aresh had built some strength. He held the tiger back with all his might. The tiger snarled in his face and began to gain the upper hand. Aresh realized that it was a lost battle and became saddened because he would die after all his work. Suddenly, something jumped and tackled the tiger off of him. As he rolled and stood up, he saw the same tiger that he told to go away was right there helping him. The tiger that attacked him grunted before limping away. Aresh and the tiger looked at each other for what seemed like minutes but actually only a few seconds, and then they both nodded and walked off. Aresh had trouble going to sleep that night. Why would that Tiger help me? he thought. Ive done nothing that is nice to him and yet he saved my life. Sitting up, he decided what he was going to do. Taking some of the raw fish, he walked to the gate of the fence and placed some of the raw fish on the ground. Its the least I can do. In the morning, Aresh awoke and saw that a tiger was eating the fish that he left out. Looking to the left, the tiger faced Aresh. You will not believe how good this fish can be after just eating animals on the land, it said. Aresh said, Yeah, it can-. Realization hit him like a speeding rhinoceros. Wait, you can understand what Im saying! exclaimed Aresh. And you can understand me! exclaimed the tiger as well. After a few minutes of explaining whats going on, they got to the simple talking terms.

My name is Shere. Ive lived in this Forest all my life. Its pretty peaceful. I do have to thank you again for saving my life. That other tiger looked like he was going to kill me, said Aresh. He probably would. Anyway, thank you for the fish. Its nice to try something new. Come back anytime! Theres more than enough food for me, said Aresh. Thanks. Well, see ya! And with that, Shere disappeared back into the forest. The days fell into a routine for Aresh and Shere. It only changed one day these strange men came near Areshs hut. They didnt look good in Areshs eyes. They wore tannish clothing with hats and had rifles strung over their backs. Excuse me, but have you seen any tigers around here? said one of the strange men. Aresh was growing weary of these men. He knew that if they were holding guns and looking for tigers, they were up to no good. He decided to lie. No, I havent seen any tigers around this area. But you all look like you can use a rest. Would you like some food? asked Aresh. Sir, we could use some food and rest, said another man who stood a bit more behind. Soon, Aresh had cooked up some of the fish and the strange men were sitting down, eating. Aresh had mapped out the time. It was near the time when Shere would come over to get his daily share of fish. He just had to stall them so Shere could run away. Say, this is quite good. Do you ever considering moving to a more urban area and opening a restaurant? said one of the strange men. No. I like being out here away from the city. Its more quiet and peaceful, answered Aresh. So why are you guys looking for tigers?

Well, from where we are, tiger skin and meat are very expensive. In fact, it's as valuable as solid gold! We got a job to bring back a few dead tigers then well get paid big time! said the leader of the group. It was just as Aresh had feared. These people were poachers and they could kill the tigers in the area. Anger boiled through Aresh at the sheer thought of them killing the tigers in the forest. Yeah, our contractor said theyll pay us- wait, I heard something outside, said another man. Dont worry. Ill check out, said Aresh. He quickly ran outside to see Shere waiting for. Hey, not to sound greedy, but wheres the fish? asked Shere. You have to get out of here Shere! There are men here who are killing tigers! said Aresh in a quiet, urgent voice. Hey, is everything ok out there? someone called from the inside. Run! said Aresh. Shere took off running. One of the men ran outside, aimed his gun and fired. Aresh winced at the booming noise and the mark it left on a nearby tree. He also feared for Sheres safety as well as the rest of the animals coming. Hmm, well there does seem to be tigers over here. Though I think it is now a bit too dark to go hunting. I think we shall return tomorrow, said the man who fired the gun. Thank you for the food Mr. Aresh. Well be back in a few days with more men. As they left, Aresh already began thinking. He thought it would be easy to stop them with the amount of people that came but now that he heard there were more, he started to become a bit unsure that he could stop them. All he knew was that his time was limited. He had to start working. The next day, he set out the fish for Shere, grabbed his tools and walked to the path that lead up to his home. He took all the spare rope as well as a hatchet and shovel. Aresh wouldn't be able take them head on

for they had the power of a rhinoceros. However, Aresh had the one thing that would increase the odds into his favor: an iron will. As he walked over to key parts of the roads that couldn't be avoided, he began to work. The rope he brought wouldn't be enough to build everything, but there were plenty of things he could use to substitute. Forgive me trees, but I need your strong bodies to help me stop these poachers. Aresh may not have been Muslim, but he still had respect for all living things. He said those words every time he had to cut down any trees. He chopped, tied and dragged items in the tropical, hot weather. For three days, he worked as hard as an ox pulling a plow through dry dirt. It was time. Aresh had been dreading this day. But from high up in a tree, he spotted five metal machines that he heard were called "Jeeps." Time to set my plan into motion. I hope this works. Aresh had taken some ideas from things he saw. He hung a rope from where he was to his destination. It was something called a "zip line." Now he understood. He felt the wind rush around his body as he zipped down and landed in a leaf bed he made. So that part worked. Now the hard part. He ran to the right part. He peeked from a bush and watched the jeeps pass by. Suddenly, a jeep turned and dipped into the ground. Shouts of men were heard as Aresh watched. The first trap: a hidden pit, an old trick used by many people. He watched as the men who were in the fallen jeep scrambled out of it before the Jeep sunk a bit more and rolled down the hill and into the water. All the men looked shaken up by the trap, but they proceeded. No matter. You will never reach the forest. Aresh rushed through the shrubbery to get to the next trap. For this trap to work, Aresh had to time it perfectly. He had already tested this trap so he knew what would happen. The jeeps drove smoothly until they got to a certain spot. Aresh chopped the vine and the tree fell, slowly but it was accelerating. Just as it seemed it would miss, the tree trunk struck the jeep, causing it to bounce up and some men to go flying. The traps were working. Even if the traps worked well, it wasn't enough. The poachers still persisted; no matter how many times their lives were risked. All of the traps had been used and they were still coming. There was only one

option left, but it was extremely dangerous. As the poachers walked through the forest, Aresh watched like a hawk from the trees. With his fishing rod, he casted his line out and hooked it on one of the men's rifles and yanked the weapon from his hands. "Wait, what just happened?" asked the man who had his weapon taken. Perfect. Aresh continued to take their weapons while they could only panic at the mysterious events. Eventually, when they all lost their weapons, there was some rustling in the surrounding bushes. All around, tigers jumped and surrounded the poachers. Everybody ran out to the open to escape the tigers. Aresh finally relaxed. After everything that happened, the tigers were safe, for now. As he walked back to his house, all the tigers walked with him and thanked him. One question always came up. "Why did you help all of us?" asked Shere once he got back home. "Just repaying the favor," replied Aresh as he slouched down on his bed to rest. "Just to assure you, they will come back at some time. However, I will always be there to defend all of you," said Aresh. "There is no need to do it alone anymore," replied Shere. "You have already repaid your favor. From now on, all of us shall help defend with you. You only needed to defend alone because you had a favor to repay. But now, you have our full support." "So the next time they come, we'll be ready."