Leopards!! In Sri Lanka??? On Horton Plains????? Nah!

When we came to the forest area though I think Hyacinth rather lost her nerve. Her husband had walked on out of sight and Janani and I were lagging behind chatting away even stopping now and again to admire our surroundings. She had noticed that we had not passed another single soul and that we were now surrounded on either side by thick forest. The sky was overcast and everything looked dark and gloomy the jungle seemed to encroach onto the tiny path making us four humans feel so unsafe. Wanting us to hurry through the forest she used the word ‘leopard’ to Janani and that was the end of the cool control. Janani’s eyes opened wide, her mouth opened even wider and she burst into loud and vociferous tears. Her mom had to practically drag her long stumbling over the rocky uneven forest path. Janani ceased to look for firm footing and instead of skipping lightly became a heavy burden to be dragged along howling at the top of her lungs. Her fond daddy heard her and came back, picked her up in his arms. But the rocky uneven road which was a swirling gushing rapid was too much for him. Down he fell to his knees and she fell on top of him. Meanwhile Hyacinth and I had our arms wrapped tight around each others’ waists while we felt our way through the water.