by oneyeguy In Laos two brothers not older than in their late teens decided to go on a hunting trip one day. Armed with a Soviet made high power rifle, they left their village one early morning and crossed three hills over onto a heavily forested valley that was supposedly rich with wildlife and game. Right away the older brother, who was the more experienced hunter of the two noticed something was strangely wrong. There was not a single bird flying or chirping as they approached the valley. The wind was blustering that particular day. A very faint smell of rotting flesh was ever so slightly present with each whiff of breath he took. Nevertheless, the excitement of the hunt and the sun hanging high in the sky surpassed any wariness that he had. The more careless younger brother, too eager had started entering the forest already with the older brother right behind. They enthusiastically scanned for any movement that would give them a purpose to use the rifle. After every few dozen yards the older brother would take his Hmong knife out and mark the side of a tree. Soon they realized that they were deep in the jungle, surrounded by a primeval forest that partially blocked out the sun in most parts. The smell of rotten flesh reeked and hung heavy around that area. This scared the brothers collectively. That is when the older brother noticed tracks in the dirt beneath their feet. He carefully removed the foliage around the track and his eyes bulged. He felt his heart skip a beat and he swallowed a dry gulp. They were standing on top of fresh tiger tracks. A tiger had passed the exact spot they were standing on merely minutes ago. They looked at each other briefly, but not one word was exchanged as the two were too petrified to say anything. Quickly they tried to make their way back out the forest. From a near distance the low growl of a tiger broke the eerie silence around them. The two brothers instinctively squat low next to a tree to get out of its field of vision. The older brother scanned around their proximity hastily. The tiger sensed their presence but had not discovered their exact location yet. But it was actively sniffing around trying to pinpoint where the two brothers were. They could hear the rustling of leaves being parted by something big heading their way. The older brother acted fast, he swiftly grabbed the younger brother and forcefully pushed him up the tree. As soon as the younger brother secured himself up in the tree the older brother handed the rifle up. Not a moment too soon as the tiger leaped up and mauled the older brother as soon as the younger brother grasped the rifle. The younger brother was shocked and scared almost dropping the rifle in a frantic ascend up higher in the tree. The tiger, with a deathly grip on the older brothers neck. It was squeezing the life out of the older brother. Then, the older brother finally stopped moving as the tiger let go and started licking its prey. The younger brother traumatized by the ordeal, stood as silent as he could, too scared to move and too scared to even cry. It must have been luck that the tiger did not see the younger brother up the tree, or maybe it was too busy feeding on the older brother that it did not care at the moment. The younger brother stood for what felt like eternity devastated by the lost of his brother. Finally he raised the rifle up to his shoulder. He puts the iron sight squarely on the head of the tiger and squeezed the trigger. A loud boom echoed through out the valley as the 7.62x54mm steel jacketed round exploded out from the rifle bore at supersonic speed towards the tiger. A loud bellow came from the tiger as it jumped up at least 10 ft. in the air and landed on its side breathing heavily. Weather it was inexperience or from being in shock. The shot had missed the tiger in the head and landed somewhere lower in the body area. Still the tiger laid motionless and had not moved at all. Not knowing for sure the younger brother slid the breach bolt back as the spent cartridge flung out and another slid in its place. This time he braced the rifle next to the tree and put the iron sight squarely on the head of the tiger and squeezed the trigger. The second shot hit its mark as the head of the tiger jerked hard to one side and landed at an odd angle on the ground again as dirt and debris ricochet behind the tigers head. Slowly the younger brother gathered enough courage and descended down the tree keeping an eye steed fast on the tiger. He cautiously moved toward his former older brother and openly wept at his lifeless half eaten body. As anger and rage overtook fear and emotion he put another three rounds point blank into the tiger emptying the rifle. He knelt down and silently said a prayer to his brothers lifeless body promising to return with help to remove him from this cursed valley. He followed his older brothers markings back out of the jungle and ran as fast as he could back home. The next morning a large group of men including the younger brother and their father arrived in the valley to retrieve the older brothers body. The older brothers lifeless body still laid where it had been partially consumed and not far laid the tiger also. Before leaving the valley the father decided to skin the tiger and packed the hide away to take home. When they arrived back at the village they unraveled the tiger hide for the villagers to see. After close examination there was only a single bullet hole on the belly area by the hip of the tiger hide. The younger brother was confused and shaking his head, he assured his father that he had successfully hit the tiger with all five rounds. Finally a shaman was asked to come examine the hide and he had this to say. The other four shots did hit the tiger, but the tigers poj nxtoog was there to protect the tigers body. The poj nxtoog hadnt noticed the younger brother up in the tree initially. It was only able to partially deflect the very first shot from hitting the head of the tiger and the bullet had penetrated the lower part of the tigers body instead . If the father had not skinned the tiger, it likely would have eventually recovered and gotten back up. They buried the older brother and no one dared to go to that valley again.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:50:53 +0000
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