Almost

 You only had to look at he to see it looked different. Did you ever see an elephant not gray, but one with a variety of bright colors?  When he was born and lying on the ground curled up to his mother, he looked like a beach ball. When the other elephants in the village saw him, they were not even sure he was an elephant and whether they should be allowed to stay in the village. Grumpface, one of the older elephants argued he should go, lest they be laughed at by the other jungle animals.  Gertrude the baby’s mother and Herman its father, said it should not make any difference what he it looked like. They said they loved him and he would grow up to be a good elephant. 

    There were arguments back and forth about what to do. Finally, Old Albert, the Chief of the village, decided the question should be put to a vote. The baby could stay only if more elephants said yes than those who said no. The elephants were lined up and a stone placed in front of each of them. Those who wanted the baby to stay had to push with their trunk the stone forward and those who wanted the baby to leave, did not push a stone. After the stones that were pushed forward and those that had not, were counted, it was determined there was by one vote, a favoring to stay. Gertrude and Herman were so happy they promised the baby would make everyone proud. They decided to name the baby “Almost”, because he almost did not receive enough votes to stay.

     As a young elephant it was not easy for Almost. It is well known young elephants are mischievous and not always nice to each other. Sometimes they make fun of each other and particularly as to Almost who looked so different. If Almost was mischievous like the others, he could not run and hide in the bushes, because he could easily be seen. He could not even tell a fib it was a different elephant that was naughty, hoping it would be difficult to pick him out from the others. So, while Almost was permitted to stay in the village, he was always the butt of jokes and was never taken seriously.

     Far away on the other side of the jungle, there was an elephant village, and these elephants were nasty, mean and lazy. When food was scarce, they would go to other villages and threatened the elephants that lived there unless they gave up their food. They were known as the Meanies. Since Almost’s village was far away, the Meanies did not bother them. One year however the weather was so bad crops failed and food was scarce.  After taking what they could from villages close by, the Meanies decided to cross over to the other side of the jungle to Almost’s village. When Old Albert heard the Meanies were approaching its village, he said they would have to give up all their food, otherwise the Meanies would harm them. Since Almost was never taken seriously, he was never permitted to attend the village meetings and did not know what was happening. When the Meanies arrived at the village Almost had been wandering in the bushes and decided to return and when he got there, he came face to face with the Meanies. At that very moment, the Sun which had been behind a black cloud, suddenly came out with very bright sunshine. The Sun’s rays landed on Almost bouncing off him and creating a blaze of colors so bright it looked like a Fourth of July fireworks, blinding the Meanies. They could not tell it was a small colored elephant, and instead thought it was a secret weapon that would destroy them. Fearing for their lives, they quickly ran off, never to return.

     When Old Albert and the other village elephants saw what happened, they let out a shout of approval and lifted Almost on to their shoulders and declared him a hero. From that day on, Almost was treated like all the other elephants and was a respected member of the village. To celebrate the day Almost saved the villagers from the Meanies, every year there was a big party with lots of food and dancing and on that day in honor of Almost, all the elephants painted their bodies with all kinds of colors. A flag with all kinds of colors was raised in the center of the village and had on it in large bold letters the following words:

 

Author’s Note:

This story was written by me as a birthday gift for my granddaughter Lena on her fourth birthday.

 

Ben H