The sun is out and the sky is clear and there are two young men who are making the most of it. It's a perfect day for hiking and that's exactly what these two brothers are doing. These brothers, Pati and Jata, love to hike. They enjoy breathing the clean air and smelling the trees and flowers of the surrounding nature. And this time they are in the mountains and prepared for a full day of hiking. These particular mountains can be dangerous for a careless hiker, especially because of the sheer cliffs and loose rocks. But this is the brothers' favorite place to hike and they have been here many times before.
"Hey Pati, how high up do you think we can hike this time?"
Pati sighs before replying. "We aren't competing so why does it matter how far we get? We keep going further each time we come anyway."
"Mm, yes but we could make the hike more interesting by making it a challenge." Jata responds with a daring tone.
"Oh alright, your on. We'll see how far we can get. Just be careful, alright Jata?" Pati give his brother a pointed stare.
"Yes I know brother. This isn't my first hike." Then Jata sets off following the path at a greater pace than before.
Pati follows his younger brother up the path, hoping he won't get careless in his excitement. But Pati worries for a good reason.
A little more time passes with the two brothers huffing along when the path turns from dirt to rocks. The brothers slow their pace. They know to be careful here. However, as Pati watches, Jata steps right on a loose rock. The rock starts to shift. Pati rushes forward, his heart in his throat. His hand reaches out for his brother. He grips hard onto Jata's shirt and pulls. Jata falls away from the cliff side. But Pati is falling towards it. Jata has no breath to scream as he watches his only brother disappear down the cliff side.
He scrambles to the edge of the cliff and looks down. Pati is sprawled on a ledge almost 20 feet below the edge. Jata hopes with all his heart that Pati had not landed on his head. "Pati!" he screams, "Pati say something!" Jata holds his breath, waiting. He hears a groan, and that is music to his ears. "Hold on, I'll secure a rope to come down and help you! I'll be right there!"
Jata works quickly and efficiently to anchor the rope then grabs his pack and carefully climbs down to his brother. When he gets there he finds that Pati has a badly broken leg. Thankfully, the leg is the worst injury and there is no sign of head trauma. Jata splints the leg and wraps it tightly to limit movement and prevent further injury. Both brothers have been very quiet during this but Jata breaks the silence. "I'm so sorry-"
Pati interrupts his brother. "Don't. I'm just glad you're safe, you idiot. And I have no energy to be mad at you right now anyway." Pati then gives a cheeky grin making Jata laugh in relief. Pati is not able to walk and Jata needs to leave to get help, but these brothers know that in the end they will be back hiking up the mountain again. And they will come again and again with no fear because they have full trust in each other.
Dangerous Mountain Path
Author's Note: This story was inspired by the story in the Ramayana of the vulture brothers, Jatayu and Sampati. In the original story the two brothers are flying high in the sky but they get too close to the sun. Jatayu, the younger brother, feints and falls to the ground. Sampati spreads his wings to shield his brother from the sun; however, the sun burns Sampati's wings and he falls and loses the ability to fly because his wings are burnt. I wanted to show how brothers will jump into danger for one another like the original story demonstrates. I decided to write these brothers as human hikers instead of vultures and of course that completely changes the specific events that happen although the main idea is still there. I also changed their names slightly, Jata is
Jatayu and Pati is Sam
pati.
Bibliography: Ramayana, Public Domain Edition by M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.
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