The spacecraft began its descent and all of us watched, transfixed. The air was thick with apprehension. I hoped fervently that my parents would be there. With a jolt, I realised that the Siberian tiger was gazing at me steadily with his sea-blue eyes. "Come here," he growled, not unpleasantly. It never occurred to me disobey. I walked meekly towards him.
"There is one more human here. I'm aware of that," he said. He brought his large, magnificent head close to mine. I could see the snow white hairs on his lush fur. The black stripes were hypnotizing. I nodded. "Remember that forms change, what appears to be your kin could just as well do you harm," he paused. "Evil, unfortunately, has many a form." And with that, he looked at the spacecraft and spoke no more.
Mayuri stood by the auroch, a strange smile playing upon her lips.
The spacecraft was getting closer and closer. I could see the faint outlines of faces pressed against the small glass windows. For a moment, I felt a sudden stab of sadness. One more space had been invaded by humans. The spacecraft reached the ground with a soft thud. I held my breath and waited. A minute passed. And then another. The people inside, it seemed, were biding their time. I decided to intervene. I walked towards the spacecraft boldly and hollered, "It's all right, step outside! I'm Shiva and I'm human!" This brave announcement was met by complete silence. The Chinese elephant let out a soft giggle.
Ignoring him, I went to one of the windows and peered inside. A bunch of scared faces of varied shapes and colours stared back at me. They were crouching on the fl oor and looked so hunted that I couldn't help but marvel on the role reversal.
Then, a scrawny man with hair piled above his head like a mosquito coil got up from the fl oor cautiously and came towards the window. He mouthed the word ‘Hello' and I responded by waving my hand cheerily. Somehow, just the sight of another human brought my spirits surging back. He then motioned that he was coming towards the door. I nodded and positioned myself in front of it.
The man opened the door a crack and said, "Hey! Hey, are we dead?" I laughed and said, "Don't know for sure. Maybe yes, maybe no!
He gave me a watery smile in return and I felt bad for him. After all, it must have been a tremendous shock for them to arrive at such a strange land. I held out my hand and he grabbed it, still remaining behind the door.
