Chapter 16 — After the Sundarbans

Epilogue: The Last RecordingCLIP_0051. Final file on recovered camera. Timestamp: November 18th, 2023. 05:58 AM.Duration: 43 seconds. No audio.The camera is stationary. It is resting on a root system above the waterline, tilted at approximately thirty degrees, pointed at the Raimangal River in early morning light.The river is present in the left half of the frame. The prop roots of the mangroves occupy the right half. The light is the pre-dawn grey-blue of a delta morning, the kind of light that is neither dark nor day.For the first thirty-one seconds: the river moving, the roots still, the light slowly intensifying.At 0:32: a hand enters the frame from the right edge.It is a human hand. Male, the physical specifics consistent with the hands visible throughout the earlier footage. It reaches toward the camera — not to pick it up, not to stop it. To secure the waterproof case beside it, which is visible in the lower right of the frame, to close the clasp.The hand completes the action. The case is closed.At 0:38: the hand withdraws. It is visible at the right edge for two additional seconds.At 0:40: it is gone.The camera records the river for three more seconds.At 0:43: the file ends.* * *The forensic analysts who reviewed the footage noted that the hand, at the wrist, visible for five seconds at the right edge of the frame, shows markings.Not injuries. Not bruising. Not the kind of mark that comes from trauma.The markings are arranged in a pattern. Precise, symmetrical.The pattern is teeth.Pressed in from the surface, outward-facing.As if something wanted to be seen.As if something was leaving a record.* * *The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve contains approximately 2,585 square kilometers of core protected forest.Approximately 40 percent of this area has never been surveyed at ground level.The Sundarbans is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet.It is also one of the most dangerous.Twelve people are reported missing in the Sundarbans every year.On average, six are found.The other six are listed, eventually, as 'taken by the forest.'The Forest Department does not specify what this means.The people who live there know.— THE END —