I Am An Elephant

• Tara Russo, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

I woke up, looked in the mirror and saw an elephant. Wait, an elephant?!?! I jumped out of bed. THUD! In the mirror, the elephant jumps out of bed too. I look down at my legs. EEEKK! They’re bulky and grey. Horror creeps over me. I am the elephant!!!! “Mum, dad!” I try to call out, but I can only trumpet. Just then, I notice a note on my window:

Emily,
You are an elephant. You must follow clues to turn back into yourself. First clue: Go somewhere with books. Find King of the Jungle.
From, Anonymous...

Who wrote this and why? Well, I will complete this. The first part of the clue was easy - the library. I barged through the door. I stepped outside and thudded to the home of books. I stepped inside and was surprised to see the stern librarian look so frightened. Now where could this King be? That reminds me of a book I read called King of an Island… That’s it! The King isn’t a king, it’s a story! I searched the shelves until I found King of the Jungle! Opening the book, a note fell. It read:

Your second clue is: In the field, the lions feel so dandy. Look in the biggest lion.

I sat, thinking. I sighed. I thought some more. Dandy lions? Huh! Hang on, what was that? Dandy lions? Dandelions! The dandelion field! I clomped to the only dandelion field in town: Dandelion Farm. I looked in a flower. Nothing. No luck in the second or third flower either. Then I remembered the note: Look in the biggest lion. I looked across the field and saw it: a gigantic dandelion. I peered in and… BINGO! A note that read:

The last clue is: Where bats hang and is known to be crumbly. Go inside.

Obviously I must look in a cave. Which cave? A crumbly cave? Oh! Crumble Cave! I ran to Crumble Cave, but once I got there I didn’t want to go in. A silence hung over it and it was black, very black. But I had to. So, gathering all my courage, I started walking. Soon I was in the cave.

I came face to face with a witch. An evil looking witch with an emerald necklace. Then, I was human again! I tried to make a run for it. But I couldn’t move! The witch grinned, and put her head close mine. “Emily,” she snarled, her voice icy. “You’re human again, but you’re my slave! Do as I say or else...” Full of rage I ripped off the witch’s necklace and shattered it on the ground. Then, POOF! The witch was an old woman I recognised as… “GRANDMA?!?!” I cried, “We thought you were dead!” “I was given that necklace with a curse on it,” explained Grandma, “That’s how I turned into a witch.” Well, how were we going to explain all this to mum and dad…?