Caved in

“Here you are,” Faizi murmured, his fingers delicately wrapping the torn scrap of saree around my injured toe, fashioning it into a makeshift shoe. As the rush of adrenaline began to ebb away, the reality of our situation settled in. We were both thoroughly soaked, the cold water clinging to us, sending continuous shivers down our spines . The hunger that I had managed to suppress since morning was no longer content to stay in the background, roaring back to life with ferocious intensity as the evening’s excitement dwindled. Added to that was the searing pain that was emanating from the injury on my legs and the exhaustion of all the effort that was put in while trying to rescue the kids. Dizziness began creeping upon my senses. I badly needed something to eat.

“Deepika…? Are you allright ?” Faizi asked holding me by the shoulder and looking at me in concern.

I nodded. “I will be allright. Just exhausted and starving.”

“We should get moving. It’s almost night now. I will help you walk.”

Just then something caught my eyes in the distance and I peered closely. “Is that a papaya tree?” I asked hopefully.

Faizi followed my gaze, squinting towards the tree. “Yes, it is. And it has plenty of papayas too. Want me to get one for you?”

I nodded eagerly. “Please? And don’t just get one. Grab as many as you can. I feel like I could eat the whole tree right now..” I was not entirely joking as that was exactly how I was feeling at the moment.

He grinned handsomely and got back on to his feet. “Alright. Stay here, don’t move. I’ll quickly go and come back with some freshly plucked papayas.”

“Can’t move even if I wanted to,” I replied with a grimace, gesturing to my injured leg.

“Oh right! Alright then. Be right back.” With that, he turned away and began jogging towards the papaya tree that was standing a few yards away. I watched his retreating figure dreamily, admiring how effortlessly he skipped over the rocks. Glancing down at my foot, I saw the makeshift shoe he had crafted from the torn saree. It still pained a bit, but the sight brought a smile to my face. Faizi had shown me more care in these past few hours than Sanjay had in three years of marriage. If only I had made smarter decisions in life…

But as Faizi neared the papaya tree, he suddenly froze, squinting into the dense woods beside him. His body tensed, his posture shifting as if he had just spotted something alarming. Slowly, he began to back away, his eyes never leaving the shadowy depths of the forest. My heart skipped a beat. What was happening?

Then, the air was shattered by the deafening trumpet of an elephant from the distance. In an instant, Faizi spun around and sprinted towards me at full speed, panic written all across his face. And behind him, came a ginormous elephant charging through the woods, its thundering footsteps causing tremors in the ground.

“RUN DEEPIKAAAA !! RUN !!!” he screeched as tore towards me.

RUN? RUN ??? How on world was I supposed to do that with the state of my toe? Still, gripped by sheer panic I stood up and automatically began limping away, biting through the stabbing pain that was shooting up my injured toe every time I put weight on it, knowing fully well that with my current velocity even a tortoise would be able to outrun me.

“DEEPIKAAAA !!” Faizi’s scream came again, this time much closer from behind and so was the thundering footsteps of the elephant. He was upon me just as I turned around and without missing a step he picked me up, threw me unceremoniously on to his shoulder and continued to run. Damn!! Am I that weightless or is he just that damn strong?

The thought barely had time to settle before Faizi changed directions and ran straight into the jungle, probably hoping that the woods would slow the rampaging elephant chasing us. I looked back at the furious elephant in sheer terror while bouncing on his shoulder as he ran as fast as he could carrying my weight. For a fleeting moment I wondered whether I should take the noble way out and ask him to leave me behind and save his own life. My ass was getting continuously whopped by branches as Faizi kept on charging through the dense foliage as fast as he could.

He kept veering around trees, zigzagging through the dense forest, forcing the elephant to slow down and adjust its path. What on earth had we done to anger it this much? The ground beneath us suddenly changed, becoming rough and rocky, but the beast was still relentlessly hot on our trail.

Then out of nowhere, I felt Faizi’s grip tighten on my hips, and before I could even register what was happening, I was airborne. Had he finally realized I was just dead weight and decided to sacrifice me to save himself? The thought barely crossed my mind when I realized I was plunging into some dark, gaping hole.

“AAAAAARHHHH!” I screamed as I crashed down, landing hard on my ass against an unforgiving rocky surface. The impact sent a sharp pain shooting through me, and before I could even catch my breath, my head smacked into another rock. The disorienting pain blurred everything around me, but just as I was trying to make sense of what was happening, another weight suddenly came crashing down on top of me, flattening me even further against the cold, hard ground.

“Oh, Deepika… I am sooo sorry… so sorry!” Faizi’s frantic voice came from above me, and it hit me—quite literally—that the heavy weight that had just landed on top of me was none other than Faizi himself.

He fumbled around in the darkness, probably trying to find my face, but instead, his hands clumsily landed on my breasts. Realizing what he was touching, he quickly slid his hands upward until he finally found my face. The elephant’s loud screech echoed ominously, just a few steps away. Any second now, it would be upon us, and I knew we were both going to die—I just hoped it would be quick.

“PLEASE, SAY SOMETHING!!” Faizi’s panicked voice pierced through the darkness as he tapped my cheeks frantically. Something felt off. Clearly we weren’t moving anymore. So why weren’t we dead yet? Slowly, I forced my eyes open and could barely make out the silhouette of Faizi’s head.

“Faizi…” I croaked, my voice barely more than a whisper. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, thank God!!” Faizi sobbed in relief, pulling me into a tight embrace. Despite the pain radiating through every inch of my body, the warmth of his hug felt… safe, comforting. I instinctively curled into his protective arms, finding a small bit of solace in the midst of all the chaos.

“We’re inside a cave or cavern—whatever this is. The elephant can’t reach us here. We’re safe, for now,” Faizi explained, finally clearing up the confusion in my mind. So that was it. He must have seen this cavern while running, realized the entrance was just big enough for us to slip through but too small for the elephant, and made the split-second decision to take shelter here.

I quickly glanced over his shoulder and spotted the hole we had come through above us. My heart raced as I saw dust and debris falling from the entrance—the elephant was still trying to force its way in. Terror gripped me, and I clung to Faizi even tighter, desperate to find safety in his embrace.

We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, holding each other tightly, not knowing what would happen next. Slowly, the sounds outside began to fade—the stomping and trumpeting grew more distant until all that remained was the echo of Faizi’s ragged breathing and the relentless pounding of his heartbeat against my ear.

“Do you think its gone now?” I asked him in a low voice. In the enclosed space even that small sound seemed magnified.

“It does seem like the elephant has stopped trying to get to us in here. However I am not so sure it has left the vicinity.”

Hearing Faizi’s voice again suddenly triggered a chain of realizations I haven’t quite been registering in my mind amidst all the terror and pain. Like the fact that I was currently just in a skimpy sleeveless blouse and petticoat, both soaked from the stream earlier. And I was lying against Faizi’s bare chest. I could feel the firm texture of his chiseled chest against my cheek, and his musky, sweat-mixed scent was filling my senses. One of his hands was wrapped securely around my lower back, his palm resting over my bare waist, while the other hand was gently caressing my hair over the spot where I could feel a bump from hitting my head earlier.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, trying to push aside the inappropriate thoughts swirling in my mind and focus on our situation.

Faizi was silent for a full minute before he finally answered, his voice thoughtful. “I think the safest thing we can do is stay here for the night.”

“The entire night?” I squeaked out in renewed fear.

Yes,” Faizi replied calmly. “Look, I zig-zagged a lot while trying to dodge that elephant, so I’m not entirely sure which way we came in. It would be really hard to find our way back without much light outside. Plus, it’s dangerous—there would be all sorts of wild animals out in the jungle now, and that elephant could still be nearby, waiting for us. And let’s not forget, you can’t walk properly with that injured foot. So, all things considered, I think it’s best if we wait out the night here, where it’s safer, and try to find our way back once it’s morning.”

Hmm. What he said made perfect sense. But despite the fear and pain, that annoying, needy, and slightly horny part of me couldn’t help but find a bit of excitement in the situation. I mean, spending the entire night alone with him – inside this cave – in the middle of a jungle – far from the real world and my shitty life… it was hard not to feel something.