Mosi and other terrified, angry residents surveyed the damage to their village. The massive elephant stampede had torn apart their homes.
Mosi shook his head in anguish. “Look! Look! Look what they’ve done! All our hard work! Gone!”
“I’ve done everything right and look where it’s gotten me!” He eyed the downed electrical wires wondering what he was supposed to do now. He believed in the balance of man and animal. Mosi always had, but nothing he tried had worked. All the laws of the land went out the window now. He had a family to take care of.
The other villagers started to chime in. An older man near him shouted, “Time to get our crops back!”
“Yeah!!” agreed another, then another woman shouted, “Yes!!”
Mosi could see the villagers would be out for blood soon. It hurt his heart to see them this way, but he had to admit he was at his limit. There was only so much a man could take. He shook his head in disbelief at the remnants of the peaceful village that had always felt so much like home. He picked up his bicycle, and walked away with the bent front wheel squeaking as it turned.
He turned over options in his head, but none of them had a pleasant consequence. Life was filled with difficult choices, but loving his family was the easiest one. He had to put them first.
Penelope shook the images from her mind. She flew back to where her friends were waiting for her report. She landed on the rock next to them. “Danger lurks! Danger. Graugh!”
Soma sniffed irritably. “Tell me something new.”
Thunder lowered his head so his eyes were closer to the parrot’s golden orbs. “What was it, Penelope?”
“Uprights. Don’t scare the elephants.” Penelope made a whirring siren sound. “Ah—ooooo-oooo-oooo.”
Thunder’s ears perked up. “Elephants? They’re alive?! I wanna see!”
Soma cautioned Thunder, “Not so fast.”
“But what if it’s them? My herd! I have to know! My mom…” Thunder bolted ahead of them, not sticking around to see if Soma approved. Penelope and the egrets flew through the air to keep an eye on him.
Soma sauntered after him shaking her head. “Kids! When will they learn?”
Penelope flew overhead. “Let’s go fly. Wheeeeee!!”
Thunder ran as fast as he could. The ground shook beneath his feet. When he got closer to a wire fence, he slammed on the brakes. Peering across the way he saw elephants grazing far off across what looked like acres of farmland. He had never seen elephants so close to where the uprights lived before. His herd had always stayed close to the watering hole near the rainforest.
He did not understand what he was seeing. “Huh? Home?” In his mind, wherever the herd had been was where he was supposed to be.
Penelope landed on Thunder. Soma stopped a few paces behind Thunder with the egrets hovering above her head.
The egrets caught up and stopped short. No one said a word.
Thunder gathered himself up and leaned forward. “Okay, time to focus. Just like Mom used to say.” He rumbled and stomped his feet the way he had been taught. He did what he could to communicate to the herd. “I hope they hear me! Please hear me! Please! Please!”
When no one responded, Thunder’s ears fell against his head. Sometimes it took time to get a response, but this was longer than usual. What if they could not hear him anymore? He sat down on the ground and smacked the ground with his trunk in disappointment.
Thunder remembered snatches of moments in his head. The friendly herd who had rumbled back and forth with them, splashing in the watering hole with his friends, and most of all the loving hugs from his adoring mom. Would he ever see her again?
In the village marketplace, Drago crept closer to the dark building near the outskirts of town. He turned to make sure no one else was watching him. Knocking quietly, he opened the door which creaked loudly in protest. He looked at the men sitting at the table surrounded by a cloud of smoke.
One of them nodded at him to come closer. “What do you have, Drago?” he asked with a cigar stuck in the corner of his mouth.
“More elephants, boss.” He stepped closer and stood for the boss man to inspect him.
“How many?”
“An entire herd.”
“Eh? Well then. Half now, the other when you bring me what I need.” The boss man handed him a stack of money and Drago quickly retrieved it. “Make sure to bring them back this time, yes?”
Drago gulped loudly. “Yes, boss.” He turned away from the table and closed his eyes imagining all the things he would buy when the elephants were harvested of their ivory. He counted the stack of bills as he exited the building. Checking to make sure no one saw him leave, Drago stashed the money deep into the pockets of his pants.
Turning back to the village marketplace Drago saw Mosi and approached him. “Hey, Mosi. You could get rid of them, you know. Permanently. I can help you, cousin.”
Mosi shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt them, Drago. I just want them to go away!”
Drago chuckled at Mosi, champion of the beasts. “Aahh…but do you know how much money you can make? It’s a lot more now. Tusks and horns can get you a handsome sum! No more worries ever again!”
Mosi had finally had enough. “Tchah! Give me your gun, then!”
“That’s it, cousin! Finally thinking right.” Drago retrieved a rifle from his pickup and handed it to Mosi.
Mosi did a double take. “What? Drago, you got another new truck? How can you afford such a luxury?
Drago snickered. “Ha! Life is sweet now, cousin. You’ll have all the best soon enough, ya?”
Mosi grabbed the rifle from Drago and jumped on his wobbly bicycle. “Don’t wait for me!” Mosi pedaled off down the road as storm clouds formed overhead. Today, he would find a way to solve all his family’s problems.