Spotty can't find the cubses !!!

Spotty woke up, and was surprised to find the neighbourhood was very quiet. He peeped out of his window but could see no cubs. Their cave appeared dark. He focussed his new binoculars and looked again, but the cave seemed empty. He could make out a little sign posted outside in Om's handwriting but it was a bit smudgy (like always, when will Om learn to keep his elbows off the paper until the ink dries!).

He came out and looked at the sign. It said very simply "Bakina Vile". He came racing back to Stripes and shook him awake. Stripes said "Oh did i not tell you --" and then torned over and fell asleep again. Spotty tried shaking Stripes but Stripes was farst asleep and would not budge. Biting, pulling etc had no effeck.

On a sudden hunch, Spotty raced down the the mansion. What an awful sight awaited him. There was garbage thrown out of the windows. The beautiful manicured lawn was strewn with wrappers and rotting leftovers, flies swarming over the waste. He held his breath and looked from behind some foliage.

His eyes fell upon a sign on which was scribbled "Keep awt". Then another one which said "Trespassers will be bewitched". Ha, he thought, the troublesome sadhus are the trespassers. Let's see what fate Arunachala metes out to them. He could hear loud snoring. Two different kinds of snores.

He decided to change into a bird and spy through the windows, but which bird. A hummingbird ? No, the humming could awaken the swamis. An eagle ? No, the large wings flapping could alert them. A peacock ? Don't be silly, he told himself, the whole hill would wake up! All the birds he could think of made shrill sounds, like the warblers on the hill, and he didn't want the bird to inadvertently warble or cry out. So he said "Om" three times and "I wish to be a silent bird".

In a moment he found himself standing on the ground, and realized he was a white stork! And he felt awfully hot here, perhaps being used to cooler climates. Then he rememborized Bhagavan and the sparrow stories, and having no other ideas changed himself into a sparrow. Off he went, peeping thru the windows. But there were no cubs inside. The mansion was a worse mess than the outside lawn. The kitchen looked as though there had been a fire in there. The swamis were sprawled on the floor with bottles of awful smelling stuff in their hands.
He sneezed!

One swami stirred but then went back to sleep. He glided through the other rooms but they were all empty. He came out feeling a bit tired of flying. Then he became Spotty again and raced back to the cave.

Again he asked Stripes and Stripes said "oh, Mum Lioness asked to tell you that they -" and he fell asleep again. "They what ?" shouted Spotty. "They have gone --". It was pointless.

Dejected, he went over to the other side of the hill looking for the young swami. Somehow he felt he would feel better seeing the young swami. He looked into the swami's eyeses and somehow he knew that the swami understood. After a few moments, the swami torned to someone and said, "See, he is missing his friends and is looking all over for them. He is asking for help". The swami torned to Spotty and said, "Don't worry, the cubses have gone camping and will be back tomorrow".

Spotty bent his head, and then came back to the cave happily (but not before devouring a few fresh iddlies that Palaniswamy gave him). Stripes was stirring a bit.
Spotty pulled his tail and asked him, "What does camping mean ?"
"Oo, camping is when you leave the safety of the forest and trees and animals, and go into town for a while. Where you relax by being in the midst of brick and concrete houses, surrounded by humans -"
"Sounds awful", interrupted Spotty.
" - and stay away from animals. There are dangerous cars racing by, you can get hurt any moment. And then you have to watch television cos there's nothing else to do. Frankly, its terrorfying, you need a lot of courage for that sort of thing, it very, very noisy out there ... Only the adventurous and daring go camping. Oh, i did tell you, did i not, that the cubs have gone camping?"
"Yes, like fifty times", replied Spotty sarcastically.

Then Spotty shuddered, "I hope the cubses don't get bitten by any humans while camping, or frightened by the cars and loud noises and tellyvijun."
"By the way, I wonder what our troublesome sadhus are doing." said Stripes suppressing a yawn.
"I wonder, too." replied Spotty as he started making some lassi for them both.