The Blue Moon Elephant

The Blue Moon Elephant

It is a typically bright, sunny and fresh day in Africa, the air is filled with bush sounds, birds chirping, insects buzzing and the odd high pitch squeal of a bird of prey.  The little girl stops to pull up a length of bush grass, she sticks the lovely juicy green end into the corner of her mouth chewing the end, tasting the subtle sweetness.  She is happy today, her Grandmother, Gogo, is preparing a special meal for them all tonight as her uncle Dumisani is visiting from the big city and has brought them meat and mealie meal (sadza) which will be made into a porridge by her Grandmother.  It is an exciting time for them all it has been a long time since he has been back to the village.  He has told them all that he will visit more regularly now that he has found a job.

She has been told by Gogo to go out into the bush and collect firewood and she is skipping along a bush path humming a tune to herself.  Suddenly, she spots the elephant standing in the shade of a large acacia tree.  He is peacefully chewing the crescent shaped grey spongy fruit of the tree, so loved by elephants throughout Africa.  She is fascinated, she knows that it’s a male elephant and can see that he is still young and could be quite feisty and chase her but her feet are rooted to the ground in sheer wonder at his size and majestic beauty.    As she is watching him she notices that the acacia has dropped some of its branches, she smiles to herself, the wood would be perfect, she has been taught by Gogo that the wood of the acacia is strong and is highly prized in the village for firewood.  But she must wait for the elephant to move off before she can collect it.  She picks up some dirt and flings it into the air, watching intently to see in which direction the dirt flies in the wind, making sure that the elephant cannot smell her strange human scent.  She settles down in the shade of an African Wattle tree, its branches shading her from the hot African sun.

After a while the elephant, which moves extremely quietly and ponderously, heads away from the acacia onto other patches of trees and vegetation.  She can hear the low soothing rumbles he makes quite clearly and sits in awe watching this beautiful creature.   

Suddenly, the elephant’s whole demeanor changes.  He is alert.  His ears are flared and erect and his great head is lifted while his trunk sniffs the air in her direction.  She is terrified!  He has sensed her!  What should she do?    Eeek, he is bearing down upon her and she can’t move, she is rooted to the ground in a cold sweat waiting for him to pick her up and throw her to the ground and rip her limbs from one end to the other.  She had heard all about the fearsome way elephants can react when angered, from the elders of the village.  He keeps coming, closer and closer and closer, she can feel the hot air being pushed at her from the sheer force of his speed and weight and waits for the end of her life, when all of a sudden she realised he is going past her and as she turns she cannot believe what she sees!  A lioness heading away from them!  The elephant chasing her!  What!!  She then realises that the lioness has probably been stalking her and that the elephant has saved her from a fate surely worse than death. She turns on her heel and runs and runs and runs and does not stop until she reaches the village. 

At the village her Gogo is angry with her for not bringing back the firewood but after she is told the incredible story she seems to calm down and nods her head sagely and seriously.  She sends out, Enos, her older brother to go to the tree and bring back the firewood for the fire which she needs to start soon and sits down next to the little girl.  Gogo explains to the little girl that the same thing happened to her when she was a child, although in her case it was an encounter with the much feared black mamba snake and she believes that the elephant must have been her “blue moon elephant” who comes along “once in a blue moon” to keep them all safe from predators in the wild and often dangerous African bushveld.

That night great celebrations are held in the village, they eat juicy meat, which has been cooked into a delicious aromatic stew, with chimulia and sadza, it is truly delicious.  The fire is huge and there is lots of dancing.  At the end of the usual dances the dancers do a dance for her depicting her story and ask her to join in as the little girl!  She feels so honoured and special.

After all the celebrations have died down and her Gogo tells her to go off to bed she decides to take a little walk along the same bush path and comes again across her elephant, this time beside a tree near the pan.  At that moment a cloud partly covers the full moon and the light upon the elephant is a magical, mystical, clear and sparkly blue and she quietly mumbles under her breath “the blue moon elephant”.  He turns to her and looks her straight in the eye, lifting his trunk in an almost royal gesture.  She bows her head and gives him a deep curtsy.  Once she returns to her bed and sleep, her dreams are filled with her special friend and her very happy and exciting day.