My father worked on the railroad for many years, from a very young age he followed in his father's footsteps and became the conductor of the trains that traveled throughout the region of the great mountains in the south of the country, crossing tunnels and bridges over high cliffs that made many people dizzy, seeing that under them there were only meters and meters of air space until they reached the rocky ground. Those wild mountains preserved a wonderful fauna and flora, where the puma was the king of the mountain, until man came to damage this balance. My father understood this very well when the night surprised him on the way.
He and his companion José Eduardo were talking without taking their eyes off the road, the night was clear because the moon was illuminating the sky and multiple stars made us think of the immensity of the universe. It was very cold, they were in the middle of winter. The mountain peaks were snowy and frost covered the branches of the trees. On the radio they heard a warning of thunderstorms and low temperatures in the early morning, where it would be below zero, so precautions had to be taken.
The small locomotive was traveling at an average speed of 80 km/hour on the rails, which forked in some sections. Upon reaching the snowy pass, so called because of its proximity to the highest peak in the region always covered with snow, there was an obstruction on the tracks, and the locomotive was able to brake just in time to arrive very close to the rocks that had fallen from the mountain a short distance from the tunnel.
My father and his friend Jose Eduardo, got off the locomotive and realized that those rocks were very heavy and they were not going to be able to fix them. While they were communicating by radio, the storm had begun and the blizzard was strong and we could hardly see through the windows.
"We are in a dangerous place here, because the ground seems to have weakened and more rocks may fall," said José Eduardo. "Did you manage to communicate by radio?"
"Yes, but they tell me that at this moment there are several tracks blocked and the storm does not allow the emergency teams to get out, so we should wait inside the train".
As the hours passed, the storm subsided and the sky cleared. The moon was once again illuminating the night. José Eduardo had fallen asleep and through the window my dad had a vision of a beautiful animal, a puma, standing on the rocks, staring at him.
For a moment he had a premonition and quickly woke up his friend. "Quickly we have to get out of here". At that moment, a loud sound of falling rocks told them that they could not waste time. They grabbed the rescue backpack and ran out of the train into the forest. The rocks had fallen on the locomotive, burying it completely. My father and José Eduardo were still staring in disbelief at the disaster.
"We are going to look for shelter, it is getting very cold and there are many hours before dawn", my father said to his friend.
"Where can we go? The forest does not offer us any shelter and it is dangerous, we could get lost, the tunnel is closed, we are left with the mountains".
"I think we should walk there, in this place there are many caves, we can wait in one of them".
And with that hope they began to walk, the cold was numbing their hands even though they had their gloves, breathing was becoming more difficult. Several minutes passed without finding a place to hide and they began to see some feline tracks in the snow. My dad remembered the puma he had seen on the rocks and made the comment to his friend.
"I don't think it's a puma, I've read that they haven't seen one of those animals in this region for years, it's believed to be extinct".
"But I am sure I saw one and what about these tracks, they are not exactly those of a rabbit, nor of a deer. Something tells me that we should follow them, I think he is helping us".
"Are you crazy!, if they belong to a puma. It is a wild animal. I don't want to face it, it will see us as its food, and in winter they get very little game".
"So you'd rather freeze to death on this mountain? Come on, don't be a coward".
My father and José Eduardo followed the tracks, but then they got lost, they could not see them. They were already desperate from the cold and sat down to try to start a fire. They did and the heat and exhaustion made them doze off. In his sleep, my dad saw the puma with its yellow eyes fixed on him. He woke up startled, the fire had gone out and José Eduardo was still sleeping, he had to wake him up. Nearby they heard the purring of a big cat and got up to continue walking. The sound had brought them to the entrance of the cave.
Inside the cave the warmth of the campfire kept them warm enough to last the remaining hours of the day. In their bag they had food and warm drink and were able to survive until they were rescued.
My father saw the puma again for the last time when he was returning from the mountain...there on a hill, looking at it with his wonderful eyes.
Now I am the one who searches for him and tries to protect him and the others of his species, from the aggression of man. I work as a park ranger in the Snowy region and this is my way of thanking him for having saved my father's life and of repaying as much as I can for the harm that some humans have done to them.
