Poor Elephant
He was as strong and capable as any other elephant of his age.
Well, he would have been as capable-if not for his little ‘problem.’
It all went back to when he was a new-born calf…...
He was taking his very first steps, when out of nowhere, it seemed,
He was viciously attacked by a swarm of hornets. He had stumbled into their nest, unfortunately, and was stung quite painfully -many times- about the eyes and mouth.
Being an elephant kept this relatively fresh in his elephant mind, even though he didn’t really ponder the long-past traumatic event in his elephant conscious awareness, it was there still, deeply buried in his psyche, and a great and horrible fear that he often expressed in blind, raging fury. (We aren’t that different, it seems.)
He was especially hate-filled for hornets, but because he had never had the chance to face his deep rooted fear, it expanded into hatred for any insect that even remotely resembled the Most Dreaded Hornet. This list grew, it seemed, as elephant aged. The more he travelled, the more various species he encountered. He hated ants, especially the flying ones!
Worms, beetles, and most bugs – he was fine with them. But, any hint of a hornet shape would send him into a blind, bellowing, stomping panic.
On this day, he was wandering through the jungle in his cautious, nervous way. His hearing was extremely sensitive and he was listening to the sounds all around him, changing his path as the sounds that disturbed him repelled him and forced him to choose another direction. He was looking up, slowly, even gently stepping (for an elephant, that is) so as not to disturb any hidden crawlers.
He thought he may have heard the sound of hornets and his fear began to rise into panic. It was only a Cicada, but the sound was too similar to the hornet’s attack call that he was terrified and began to lose control, stomping and crushing bushes, knocking over trees with his enormous weight, and generally causing a great commotion in and upon the otherwise quiet and peaceful Jungle Plateau.
The Ants sensed Elephant coming for some time now. They were very aware of threatening vibrations, being so close and bound to the Earth, as they are. The slightest step of a large animal would be noticed by them from many kilometres away. They were prepared for Elephant.
. They had closed down the nest until the danger would be past them. The whole Nest, along with the Queen, of course, were huddled as deeply in the tunnels of their mound as they could get. All entrances and exits were blocked and secured. They would simply wait until Elephant’s loud step faded into the distance.
Yes, they were prepared for Elephant.
What they were not prepared for was the combination of his rage, his terror and his massive weight.
***
Elephant’s huge foot crashed down dead center of the ant’s nest. Most of the unfortunate ants were crushed under Elephant’s massive weight as it collapsed the tunnels completely, flattening everything within them. Worker ants, Soldier ants, even the Queen Her Royal Self, were not spared.
A few ants, Workers and a number of Soldiers managed to escape the carnage. They immediately attempted to defend the nest, as ants will do, just like hornets, termites, apes and humans alike.
They tried to climb Elephant’s legs and mighty trunk, to attack the soft areas that their instincts told them would be most effective. But again, they were not prepared for the Power of Elephant’s Rage and Terror. He lifted his gigantic head, shaking it violently from side to side and bellowed so loudly that the ants were shaken off entirely from the trembling vibrations of Elephant’s body as his mighty wail filled the Valley, far below the Jungle Plateau. He stomped and crushed, stomped and crushed, madly, erratically, spasmodically.
~Soon, no ants were left to defend the nest.
There was only One ant. He was returning with food on his back. He was a Worker ant. Very strong from half a generation of hauling loads of food from far, far away on his back. Sometimes the weight was ten times his own weight! He was very strong, indeed.
The little ant stood transfixed and frozen, his load forgotten, as he stood and watched the carnage before him. He was unable to comprehend the meaning of what he was seeing. But soon, he realised, somehow, in his tiny ant-consciousness, that his Home, where he was hatched and nurtured, where he worked to feed and support and build for most of his life, his friends, family, the Queen, even!
All were gone. To be seen no more in this Green Garden, this High, Mountain Valley, so lush and pure, pristine and perfect. For Ant, it was all gone now…over.
Elephant saw the last ant. He lifted his foot to finish his mission, repelled, yet determined to do away with these loathsome little demons once and for all. Ant cowered into a tiny depression in the flat, granite rock he was on. He was very lucky, this time. Elephant’s foot came thundering down upon the rock, but Ant was spared in a miraculous manner, indeed!
Years of blind raging had scarred and had it’s toll on Poor Elephant’s feet. The bottoms of his feet were scarred and pocked from hard rocks and wear and tear, as the Earth had felt the Wrath of Elephant’s Rage, many times.
This all worked to Ant’s advantage. Elephant’s scarred foot came down squarely on the slight depression in the rock that ant had found to huddle in, with a large scar on Elephant’s foot directly over the depression; Ant was spared an instant trip to extinction.
***
Elephant lifted his foot, triumphantly, proudly, to see and celebrate his Victory over his Enemy. About to trumpet his victory song, the first note of it turned into a worrisome, frightened whisper of a wail, joined to a paralyzing, silent, frozen terror. Elephant, wide-eyed and stiff, watched as Ant ran with all of his powerful, six legs, directly and deliberate, straight up his trunk and jumped desperately, but perfectly as He extended All of his powerful little mandibles- Ant dug into Poor elephant’s left eye, burrowing in as deeply as he could.
Elephant went beyond rage, at that point. Blind, literally, Terror rose within Elephant, accompanying the intense, searing pain the tiny Ant was inflicting upon his eye. Stumbling madly, stomping the Earth mightily, Crushing rock and tree, Elephant reached the edge of the Plateau. Sadly, his panic, pain and distress did not allow him the opportunity to notice exactly where he was stepping and stomping.
His feet felt empty air.
He fell many, many metres, down,
down,
down,
All the way down to the bottom of the Centuries-hardened bottom of the Valley Floor.
Ant, again, miraculously, survived the long fall because he was deeply imbedded in the soft cushion of Elephant’s left eye. Ants are pretty tough little beasties. For their size, they are the strongest creatures that crawl upon the Earth.
***
Ant sent out the Call. Soon, insects and birds, lizards, beetles and bugs, worms, ants, flying ants, flies,
Snails, slugs….
And yes, hornets as well; they came from afar and all around to feast upon the mighty carcass. The repast lasted many generations.
Poor Elephant.
~LightLizard~
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LightLizard
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CureZone