The Elephant Keeper

The Elephant Keeper — page 3 — As Aaron approached the gate he was startled by a strange noise Must be an animal he thought but he could tell right away that this wasn’t just a hippo in the nearby Zambezi River Aaron dashed through the lane of palm trees rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks He couldn’t believe his eyes a small elephant was ﬂailing around in the lodge’s swimming pool The elephant held its trunk in the air to avoid drowning and kicked wildly ears ﬂapping like sails on a boat that had sprung a leak Aaron glanced around nervously for the mother elephant Was she nearby Fear knotted in the pit of his stomach Elephants often roamed near his village trampling everything in their path Hadn’t they just recently killed one of the villagers

The Elephant Keeper — page 4 — But there were no other elephants in sight and this one needed help fast Aaron raced to the cottage where the gardener slept Help Hurry he called pounding on the door What should he do He had seen elephant mothers use their trunks to guide and prod their babies Could he somehow guide this one to the edge He ran to the pool shed and ﬂung the door open With shaking hands he rummaged through the equipment grabbing a rope a hose a rake When he got back the gardener still in his pajamas was beside the pool The manager came running from the lodge followed by the cook who had heard all the commotion Sleepy guests appeared at their windows Soon they too converged on the lawn in their pajamas holding cameras

The Elephant Keeper — page 5 — Aaron threw the hose and rake down on the deck and surprising even himself jumped straight into the water The little elephant snorted and splashed frantically But it was getting tired and this allowed Aaron to get close with the rope One of the boys who worked in the kitchen jumped in too Together they were able to get the rope under the elephant’s belly With the cook and gardener pulling from the edge Aaron and the other boy attempted to push the elephant up doing their best to steer clear of its thrashing feet But it was no use

The Elephant Keeper — page 6 — do it Keep trying Don’t let it drown Aaron looked into the elephant’s eyes He saw terror there But he also thought he glimpsed a ﬂicker of hope Hope that it would be saved Aaron took a deep breath The lodge’s guests shouted encouragement You can On the count of three he yelled

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