Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly challenge presented by Susan Spaulding, who has taken over this great weekly prompt from my old friend Al Forbes.
This week’s delightful photo comes courtesy of Lakshmi Bhat.
The general idea is to write a short story (200 word max) inspired by what you see in the picture (below).
Click on this link to enter your tale, and see what others have written.

© Lakshmi Bhat

Click here to hear the author read the tale:

Hunting

I have to guide the hunting party.
It is being organised by Sir William Harrington-Smythe, of course.
He is the most important man in the region, owner of the largest company that is destroying our land.
He says the hunt is for the protection of his employees, and the villagers, but I think he just likes to kill things.
He, or rather his company, has already killed almost everything that grew on the lower slopes of the mountains.
There now remains only a high, narrow band of trees, and above them just gorse and rocks.
The disappearance of their natural habitat is clearly why the animals are scavenging around the villages.
The company people, of course, are safe within their gated communities.
Since there is almost no forest, there is no real need for a guide.
This is just a pretence on Sir William’s part, that he is the intrepid leader of a dangerous expedition.
Nevertheless I will guide them, carefully.
I will let them see wild boar and, perhaps, a wolf.
We will stay well away from the home range of the big cats.
There are billions of children in the world, and so few Bengal Tigers.