It had started snowing again &Tashi started to lose feeling on his broken leg. The rescue operation hadn’t come yet. What if the ops weren’t even informed yet? What if his fellow-climbers hadn’t reached camp yet? What if they got hurt as well? Tashi held the prayer beads on his neck & chanted, ‘Om Mani Padme om’, again & again. It was white all around & Tashi was worried. A brown bear may still be easy to spot but a snow leopard would be almost impossible. Not that he would be able to run away from either. He closed his eyes to rest his over-active mind a bit. ‘Om mani padme om’. He will get through this. Buddha will guide him. He suddenly felt a brush on his twisted leg & tightened his eyes. It must be a bear. If he kept his eyes closed & played dead, maybe it would help?
‘Om mani padme om…Om mani padme om’.
He heard a grunt & suddenly he was lifted & taken. His heart beat through the ribs hurting his ears. A wave of nausea swept over him as he partially opened his eyes to a slit. What he saw would be etched in his brain like hot metal on skin.
A huge white bear was carrying him effortlessly across the land. It was snowing heavily now but he could see the…he was confused. Was it an animal?
It was furry like a bear but tall. Oh so tall! He looked like his 5 year old cousin in the creature’s arms. Why did the creature look like a giant hairy man? Was he imagining things? He must be delirious
‘धेरै दुखाइ?
Was he dreaming? Did it just speak? The voice was clear, deep &…refined? He opened his eyes fully & was met with deep brown eyes looking down at him. He barely managed to shake his head to say there was no pain. The ‘person’ continued to carry him like a child & walked long strides. They could see their camp. The creature lay him gently outside a tent, placed a finger on its lips to sign him to be silent, turned & left. Tashi called out & his friend came out to find him on the floor. ‘What happened Tashi?’
Tashi found he couldn’t state his story without giving the གཡའ་དྲེད away. He simply
mentioned being hurt. He enquired about his team & asked if they had gone back for help.
‘We're surprised to see you,Tashi. We heard of a landslide but no one came back.'