ELEPHANT ESCAPES

• Otto De Stefani, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2021

Bang a dart comes flying towards me, I wake up in an enclosure in the African Savanna. Next to me in the cage I can see a zebra, giraffe, lion,hippopotamus and buffalo.There are metal bars around my cage. I have a band tight on my ankle. Two men walk past and throw in some grass. I munch on the grass as I am hungry. Then the sun goes behind the clouds,it starts to get dark. I shiver not because I am cold but I am scared. I find a spot near my new friends and lie down and go to sleep. I wake up in the morning and I ask the other animals if they want to escape. We hear the click of the key as the hunters open the gate. Like a herd of goats running from a wolf we rush out of captivity and find ourselves in the African Savanna.

After a while of walking we found a massive water hole. There are many animals here. We take a big sip and the water tastes good.Suddenly we see the dust dancing in the wind a jeep is coming.The animals disperse the zebras run west, the giraffe try to hide behind trees but they tower over them.The hippopotamus jumps in the water with a big splash. I wave to my friends with my trunk and signal that the hunters are coming. How did they find us so quickly? I look down at my ankle and I see a band that must have a tracker.

I need to hide but where? The big boulders just past the trees. I dash to the boulders and I can hear the jeeps getting closer. It’s no good. I'm too big. I race to the next one. It’s a bit bigger, I dive and lay down flat in the dusty dirt. I’m shaking with fear. The hunters are shouting, they sound so close. I roll myself into a ball, tuck my trunk under and hold my breath pretending to be a large rock. One of the hunters is standing right next to me, I have my eyes shut tight but I can hear his footsteps and smell his sweat. In my mind I start praying. How has he not seen me? I hear the terrifying sound of a loading gun. Oh no. There is silence, I can feel my heart beating faster. Bang!

I feel a sharp pain in my side. It stings. I open my eyes to see where I have been shot. I realise the hunter is facing the other way. I see a large group of people running towards me.The hunters start to run towards the jeeps. They jump in and start the roaring engines speeding off with wheels spinning and dirt rocks and Dust flying everywhere.

I tried to move and feel another sting in my leg how can that be. I look down and see that I'm laying in a nest of unhappy Bullet ants.I haven't been shot just bitten by very angry ants.I jump up shaking myself off running and diving into the water hole to get rid of the ants.The water feels cold but soothing.I lay there and look about. I noticed the giraffe lion Zebra and cheetah have all come out of hiding.They are among the people who chased the hunter's away.I slide out of the Waterhole and go over to my friends. The people are from the local Village they care for and look after the Savannah and animals. One of them offers me something to eat. It tastes good. I'm so hungry. Another person takes the tracker of my ankle. I feel free and safe.