There's more to this world than just people, you know.

- Hobbes

“Calvin & Hobbes”

„The second person I wanted to visit was Mowgli“, Mr Tuniak told me. „Juan had given me his address, when I was on Leviathan... well, strictly speaking he gave me coordinates, where I could find him.“

„Why coordinates?“, I asked.

„Because Mowgli had moved to India, but not into any of its cities“, Mr Tuniak explained. “He had bought a piece of real estate right next to the ocean, where...” He did not finish the sentence and I could see a smile forming on his face. “You know what? It would be easier if I showed it to you. Care for a short trip?”

So we took the time machine and went to India. As we landed there on a beach and exited, I could see the sun out above the sea, nearly touching the horizon.

“Is that a sunrise or a sunset?”, I wanted to know.

“Sunrise”, Mr Tuniak said. “We travelled a few hours into the past, otherwise it would already be evening here.”

There was a stone quay, built using only big stones, and from it a paved path led into the forest, which marked the end of the beach. As we walked towards the trees, I had to think about the fact that at the same time I was lying in my bed in Europe and sleeping soundly. A strange thought, but one Mr Tuniak had probably gotten used to a long time ago.

As we set our feet on the path, two animals suddenly came out of the undergrowth. I froze in the middle of my step and my heart started to beat faster and faster. Two big cats were looking at me. I wasn't sure if they were lions or tigers, but at that moment I didn't really care about such details. My hands got wet with sweat and my legs began to shake. The cats were not wearing any chains and I could not see any other obstacle between them and us. Nothing would stop them, if they decided to attack.

Mr Tuniak continued walking.

Alexander landed the time machine on a beach. As he exited, the screams of sea gulls greeted him. He saw the little wooden quay, Juan had described to him, and the dirt track that led into the forest. With started walking towards it with quick steps.

He hadn't come far, when a big cat was blocking his way. Alexander stopped immediately. The big animal was a cat of prey, that much was certain, but he couldn't tell if it was a lion or a tiger. Her fur had stripes like that of a tiger, but on her head was a thin mane, like of a lion. The cat returned his look and for a moment neither of them moved. Then Alexander turned around and ran as fast as he could back to the time machine. He never looked back, so he didn't know if the cat was following him or not.

Back in the time machine (and safe behind its closed door), he switched on the cameras and screens to watch what the cat would do next. The animal slowly ambled to the quay and looked out at the sea, as if it was waiting for a ship to arrive. When it didn't come, the cat focused its attention on the time machine. It had never seen anything like that big grey cuboid before. She came closer and sniffed at its corners and at the ground around it. Then it lay down right in front of it.

“You can't be serious”, Alexander murmured. He went to the main computer and activated the time machine. He wanted to jump one hour into the future, hoping that the animal had left the beach by then. But before he could execute that plan, he hesitated. How could he be sure that the cat wouldn't wait for him in the forest and surprise him there? But he didn't want to land the time machine any closer to Mowgli's house, because other people could be there and might see his arrival.

He decided to wait.

Half an hour passed by, before someone came walking down the dirt path. It was Mowgli himself. When he saw the time machine and the big cat lying in front of it, he started to laugh.

“Don't worry, they are not dangerous”, Mr Tuniak told to me. He put forth his hands and the two big cats licked at them, as if they were normal house cats. Then they walked over to me and the look they gave me somehow reminded me a of a small child who has just met new visitor and was told that the visitor had a present for it.

“You can pet them, if you want to”, Mr Tuniak said.

“What kind of animals are they?”, I asked. I slowly extended my hands as well and tried to touch the cats, but when one of them raised her head and tried to sniff on them, I drew them back immediately.

“They are ligers”, Mr Tuniak explained. “Their father was a lion and their mother a tiger. And you really don't have to be afraid. Those two are vegetarians.”

We walked through the forest, accompanied by the two cats. One of them stayed in front of us, the other behind us, as if they were two guides who had to make sure that we wouldn't get lost.

The forest was similar to the one on the island Leviathan. It wasn't very thick and its main purpose was to block the view from the sea to the land. Once passed it, we came to a large grassland, populated by so many different animals that I can't even remember half of them. In its middle was a big house and placed at irregular intervals smaller buildings surrounded it. Most of them were small huts or cages that one thing in common: Their doors were open.

Mowgli and Alexander left the beach, while the liger stayed with the time machine as if it was a watch dog. Behind the forest, there was a huge construction site, where countless small huts and one big house were being built.

“What are you building here?”, Alexander asked surprised.

“I'm not quite sure yet”, Mowgli admitted. “I told my bank that it would be a safari park, otherwise they wouldn't have lent me all the money I need. But I'm not sure if I really want strangers walking around between the animals. Maybe just small, selected groups. I don't know yet.”

A chimpanzee came running towards them. In his hands he was holding a banana peel, which he showed to Mowgli.

“What does he want?”, Alexander asked.

“He's called Charlie”, Mowgli replied. “And he is showing me that he has eaten his banana and now wants his sweets. Come, let's go inside.” He took the banana peel from the ape and together they walked to the only finished hut in sight. On one of the walls of the hut, several symbols were painted, none of which Alexander could recognise. Charlie pointed to one of the symbols and then at Alexander. He repeated this several times.

“He wants to know who you are”, Mowgli explained. “A friend.” The ape pointed to another symbol. “Yes, you got it”, Mowgli said. He went into the hut and returned, carrying several biscuits in his hands, which he gave to Charlie. The ape ate two of them, gave a third one back to Mowgli and offered the fourth to Alexander.

“That's how he show that he wants to be your friend too”, Mowgli said. “I'm afraid you have to take it, if you don't want to insult him.”

We passed a wooden table, on which four hammers were placed. There were thin, metal chains that connected the hammers to the table to make sure, that no one could remove them.

“Take one of the hammers and see what happens”, Mr Tuniak told me.

I did, as he told me and waited. For five seconds, nothing happened, but then a crow landed on the table. In its beak it was carrying a nut, which it placed on the surface of the table. It waited a moment and then rolled the nut closer to me and looked at me expectantly.

“Does it want me to...?”, I started to ask, when a second crow landed right next to the first one. It put a nut down in front of me too. But it seemed to has less patience, because immediately afterwards it began to cark. “Do they want me to smash the nuts?”, I asked and Mr Tuniak nodded. So I did smash them and the two crows picked out those pieces they wanted to eat. A third crow landed, again putting a nut on the table.

“Smash that one quickly as well and then put the hammer back”, Mr Tuniak advised me. “Otherwise more birds will come and we will never be able to leave.”

They walked along the borders of the estate. Alexander could only guess at its size, but it had to be enormous. Mowgli had to have accumulated a small fortune to be able to buy it and finance all the construction work.

“Is there a fence behind this hedge?”, Alexander wanted to know. “Or how do you stop the animals from leaving?”

“I like to think that they don't want to leave anyway”, Mowgli answered with a smile. “But otherwise... no, there is just this hedge.”

“Only these bushes?”, Alexander asked and pointed at the plants that were several metres high.

“You can try to pass through them.”

Alexander accepted the challenge, but after a few tries he had to admit defeat. The brushes of the hedge were grown so closely to each other and their branches were interwoven so tightly, that it was impossible to pass through.

“I had the idea for this kind of... fence, when I read about the Great Hedge of India”, Mowgli told him. “It's also why I call it jokingly the Small Hedge of India.” They turned their backs to the hedge and returned to the small hut.

In front of the main entrance of the big building – I guess, villa would be a more appropriate description – a woman was kneeing on the ground and creating a complex pattern with white powder. It looked to me like a cross between the plan for a labyrinth and a mandala, but later I was informed that it was actually a Kolam and the white powder was rice powder. We waited silently for her to finish. I saw two chimpanzees coming towards us, but as they saw what the woman was doing they waited with us.

“Hello, Kunjana”, Mr Tuniak said, as the woman was finished and stood up. Kunjana was Mowgli's wife and after being introduced to her and after the two apes had gotten what they came for (two pieces of long rope and I don't know what they needed it for), we entered the house.

We came to a big hall, where several waiters were preparing a rather large buffet. All the dishes were protected by glass lids.

“I hope you don't mind, but I haven't eaten anything yet”, Kunjana said. She took a plate and put fruit and bread pieces on it. Mr Tuniak and I did the same, not because we were hungry, but because it was the polite thing to do. “The first group today won't arrive for another thirty minutes, so we have some time”, Kunjana said.

“So the park is still going well?”, Mr Tuniak asked. Kunjana nodded and he continued: “That's great to hear. We came her to visit Mowgli. Does he have a lot to do today?”

“I don't know”, Kunjana said. “He went to the city yesterday... about the plans for... Did he tell you about his plans for the bay?”

“Yes, he did”, Mr Tuniak answered and explained to me: “He wants to built a... well, an open aquarium there, basically.”

I wanted to take one of the grapes that were on my plate, when a parrot was landing on the table next to it. “Hello, how do you do?”, the bird asked.

I was so surprised by the question, that I didn't answer or move. The parrot took the opportunity – I'm pretty sure he had expected my moment of surprise – and picked up the bunch of grapes. Then he flew into the air and landed on top of a cupboard.

“He, Maina, what do you say?”, Kunjana asked laughing.

The parrot stayed at the cupboard, looked first at her, then turned to me and cried: “Thank you!” Then he began eating the grapes.

“We can't stop her from stealing, but at least she is thanking her victims afterwards”, Kunjana said. “But back to Mowgli. He and Neela went to the city and I'm not sure, when they will return. Could be evening, could be tomorrow. You can of course wait, if you want to.”

We decided to do exactly that. Time passed quickly among all the different animals and as evening came, Mowgli and his daughter hadn't returned yet.

“I guess, we will have to come back next week”, Mr Tuniak said.

NEXT WEEK

Sports is the toy department of human life.