The forest, usually a place of playful chatters and swift movement, had become a prison of silent agony. A young monkey, named Bori, lay panting, his side pressed against the cold, unyielding metal of a cruel trap. He had been searching for fallen fruits when the jagged jaws of a forgotten snare had snapped shut, catching his hand and leg in a vice-like grip.
The initial, searing pain had given way to a deep, throbbing ache. But the most telling signs of his desperate struggle were on his hands. His small, delicate fingers were swollen and crisscrossed with dark, purple bruises. He had fought for his freedom with all his might, pulling and twisting against the metal teeth, only succeeding in grinding the bones and tearing the tender skin. The bruises were a map of his panic, a testament to the hours he had spent in a futile battle against the trap. Dried blood matted the fur around his wrists.
He was so much hurt. Every tiny movement sent fresh jolts of pain through his trapped limbs. His energy was gone, spent in his frantic struggles and his now-weakened cries. He would occasionally let out a low, guttural whimper, a sound that spoke more of exhaustion and despair than of immediate fear. His eyes, wide with pain, scanned the canopy above, hoping for a familiar face, for the troop that had moved on without him.
As the sun began to set, the chill of the forest floor seeped into his body. He shivered, his bruised hands trembling. Just as he started to close his eyes, surrendering to his fate, a soft sound reached him. It was the cautious footsteps of a human, a forest ranger on patrol. The man knelt, his expression shifting from curiosity to profound pity.
“Shhh, little one,” he murmured, his voice a gentle balm. “The fight is over.”
With practiced, careful hands, and using a tool to pry the jaws apart, the ranger worked the trap open. The pressure released, and Bori’s bruised, battered hands were finally free. He was too weak and too much hurt to move. As the ranger wrapped him in a soft cloth and lifted him to safety, Bori’s whimpers finally quieted. The pain was not gone, but the crushing fear was. For the first time in many hours, the much-hurt monkey felt hands that brought solace, not suffering.
