Seeonee 2 - Epilogue
#16 of Seeonee 2
Epilogue
Life with the pack had been good. Mowgli had gone back to Balaghat to study and become a forest ranger. He turned out to excel in networking and lobbying. Within a few years, he had set up a network of rangers to work as wildlife preservationists, to prevent poaching, and to educate people. Mowgli and I were quite loved among the community in Balaghatt, because of the part we played with getting rid of Shere-Khan, so it wasn't very hard to secure a permit for a plan we had been talking about for a while now, during his numerous visits to the pack. We were still young and vital. But with the future in mind, we decided to build a house at the location of the old campsite. Because the trail which ended up in the road leading to Balaghat started there, the river right next to it, and the pack's grounds at a reasonable distance, it was a perfect location. The house turned out lovely. It had a big balcony overlooking the river, and a huge backyard with underground dens, a few sheds, and a small lake. We had installed solar panels and a water-powered generator to supply us with electricity. Gradually, I started moving over my belongings from my den to the house.
When Sura became alpha again, he formed a "Council of Elders" to lead the pack, consisting of him, me, Akru, Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo and Luri. On one day, Mowgli and me stood on Council Rock to address everyone. The pack had grown considerably throughout the years, as had its territory, which now stretched out from just beyond the tree-line near Balaghat, to Tabaqui's tomb, and all the way back to Council-Rock. Wolves from neigbouring forests had joined and mated up, but also other animals. Monkeys from the Bandar Log who got fed up with life there had found a welcoming home here, and a group of elephants had befriended the pack as well. Everyone was very sad to hear about our decision to move away from the pack's grounds, and into our new house, which we had appropriately named 'The Campsite'. Luri and Vermillion, who had grown fond of each other and had mated up, were both getting old, and after a bit of contemplation, they agreed to our proposal to come live with us at The Campsite. We made it absolutely clear to everyone that our house was in the pack's territory, and thus was part of it. Everyone was more than welcome to come and stay for as long as they pleased.
After a good few happy years together, the inevitable sad goodbyes came. Bagheera and Vermillion were laid to rest in Tabaqui's tomb, since their dens used to be there. After Vermillion passed away, Luri choose to stay with me and Mowgli in the house. We both tended to her with all our love and devotion, like she had done for us all those years, making her comfortable in her ripe old age. But time spares nobody. On one fateful morning, it was her time, and the white she-wolf didn't wake up any more. I rang Mowgli up, who was in Balaghat giving a seminar. He immediately dropped everything and drove back over. We carried her remains to the old den, and lay her to rest next to Alexander. Baloo, who had moved to live with us after Bagheera had passed, was the last to go. Mowgli and me brought in a small crane, and built him a massive tomb with big boulders, just outside of our yard. Then Sura, Akru, Lala... Like Luri had told me, I learned to love others, as the generations came and went, making the losses still devastating, but manageable.
The daughter of the doctor, back then, the small girl who was attacked by Shere-Khan, and who Bagheera and me ran into on our way to find anti-biotics to cure Sura, had become good friends of me and Mowgli. She loved to come over, spend time with the pack, and help us out as we grew older. She agreed to become our caretaker, and move in to an annex we had built. Mowgli and me set up a will, leaving her the house and the responsibility for the wildlife foundation we had set up, keeping the Seeonee forest safe from any future human developments, securing the pack's continuity. At the bottom of the will, there were two lines dictating our last wishes to be buried in the old den, next to the remains of our adoptive father and mother.