Elemphia

• Jocelyn Tjan, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

Screams pierced the air, creating silence. The fight ceased, the Elemphia retreated.


Dawn’s mum fidgeted uneasily. “Your dad isn’t dead,” she mumbled.
“Why didn’t you look for him?” Dawn croaked as she imagined her dad alone, sleeping on streets, shivering and hungry. She shoved the thoughts out of her mind and refocused.
“He was Elemphia.” She confessed. That was not a valid excuse.
“You let me believe him dead because he was Elemphia? What kind of a mother are you?!” she bellowed.
Dawn fled from the house in tears. As she ran, a crazy thought flew to her mind; Elemphia had powers, but did part-Elemphia? She raised her hands and pushed them. Nothing. Wait, not nothing. A bench flew out of the ground and sped towards the playground. Power consumed her mind. She aimed her hands at the ground and pushed. The floor beneath her opened and she fell into nothingness.
She sat up, squinting at the odd sight. Mint-green elephants with stethoscopes sat at a computer. Her eyes were drawn to the ‘elephant’ by the door. Necklaces of gold and silver adorned her ‘chest’ and her head housed an enormous crown.
“Queen Snowstorm of Elemphia. I’d say you were lucky to survive that fall” Queen Snowstorm said in a kind, fancy voice. She stood up and beckoned Dawn to follow. A private chamber awaited. Unexpectedly, a chair fell from the ceiling. Dawn sat, feeling Snowstorm’s eyes scan her.
“I’ve been watching you, Dawn. It’s your destiny to take down The Sorcerer of Evil. You have the rare power air. Please stop him. It’s him, or you.” She explained
Time was eager for Dawn to finish The Sorcerer off. She felt exhaustion beyond compare. Skull Tower awaited her. Little did she know he had guards tailing her, reporting her every move to him. The floor felt cool as she walked towards the throne at the end of the room. A flash of light pushed Dawn; The Sorcerer had appeared.
“You’ve come.” he said. He muttered under his breath and a sword appeared in his outstretched hand. She thought he turned to look at her, but it was hard to tell, with his helmet on. He swung his sword wildly and the fight began. She pushed her arms at him, knocking his helmet off his head. It seemed to fall off in slow-motion, revealing his curly dark brown hair, dark eyes, and small nose, just like Dawn’s facial features.
“Dad?” she whispered. “How…” she stuttered. For a nano second, his eyes looked like they knew how to love, before returning to the usual glare.
“You cannot kill your own dad.” He said.
“No. But they can.” Dawn replied. The doors burst open and Elemphia soldiers entered. One pointed a foot at The Sorcerer and a cloud of dust arose.
“The Tower! It’s gonna blow!” one cried. Coughing and spluttering the team ran out of the tower. They heard a loud ‘bang’ in the distance. Finally, the world was at peace.