The Birth

Life begins in blood.

The jungle did not mourn.

It consumed.

As Priscilla screamed her last breath into the wilderness, the earth answered—not with mercy, but with continuation.

Two lives emerged from death.

Only one was taken.

The other— was claimed by something older than man.

The tribal people had pulled her out of the river, the tigress that had attacked Priscilla in the boat had saved her from drowning by clenching on to her belly. Four strong tribal men had swum into the water and had rescued the bleeding pregnant woman and the beast. Until then, both woman and tigress were drifting fast through the river where the currents had picked up beyond the downstream fork.

The anxious chief and his wife watched from the riverbank as their people carried the unconscious fair woman ashore. The tigress collapsed momentarily at the feet of the chief ’s wife and then got up and roared loudly.

Prisicilla immediately regained consciousness and went into labor. The tigress roared again and from behind, in the dense jungles, other tigers roared.

“She is dying!” said the chief ’s wife.

“You have brought this disaster upon us!” the chief looked sternly towards her “I am going to take the woman back now!”

“No! She will die if we don’t help her give birth!” the tribal chief ’s wife said aggressively to him.

Priscilla started screaming in agony and calling out for Judas.