As he weighed his options, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Paul fished it out, his hands trembling. It was Dr. Ndaba. Relief flooded him, but it was mixed with hesitation. He needed to return to the original location, but how could he leave the poor struggling baby?
Paul’s gaze shifted between the trapped baby elephant and the mother. Her massive frame trembled with exhaustion, yet her eyes burned with a ferocious intensity. She let out a low, trumpeting sound that stopped Paul in his tracks, a warning that she wasn’t ready to let him go.
The female elephant moved closer to the edge of the waterhole, her massive trunk brushing against Paul’s arm. Her touch, though gentle, carried a clear message: don’t abandon us. Paul’s chest tightened. The weight of her trust was overwhelming, and he felt caught in an emotional standoff.
“I can’t go down there alone,” Paul murmured, his voice breaking as he knelt before the elephant. “But I swear I’m not leaving you. I’ll come back with help.” His words felt hollow in the face of her desperation, her pained breathing filling the silent rainforest.