Sandy the elephant and Zoot the dog were, without doubt,
the best of pals in the whole wide world. They loved to sit by the river and
watch time floating past their little seat.
Sandy was being particularly thoughtful that morning.
“What’s bothering you, buddy?” Asked Zoot the dog.
“Nothing much pal, nothing much. Just sitting here
wondering, that’s all. It ain’t a crime, now is it?” Answered Sandy. “I was
just considering if I could choose anything to be in the world, what it would
be,” said the elephant.
“And what would you want to be?” Asked Zoot.
“I reckon I would like to have been the elephant in the
room. Everyone would know you were there but no one would talk to you or about
you. Seems a nice way to live.”
“I reckon, you’re right,” said the dog.
“Anything you thought about?” Asked Sandy.
Zoot considered this for a moment then said, “I would like
to have been the dog with a bone that everyone seems to get excited about. You
know when they say things like, ‘oh yes, Edward is like a dog with a bone’.
Well, I should like to have been that dog.”
And for a few moments the two of them contemplated what
their alternative lives could be like.
“I guess we’re just being plain stupid,” said Sandy.
“I guess we are,” agreed Zoot “But that’s the great thing
about thinking, you can be or do anything you want. Dogs can be elephants, and
elephants can be dogs and that’s pretty cool.”
“I think that is one of the greatest things about being an
elephant - is the great many things I can think about,” said Sandy.
“And your great memory as well,” added Zoot and both
chuckled at the irony of Sandy forgetting about his great memory.
“I guess when you’re made like an elephant and think like
an elephant and are happy to be an elephant, then there ain’t anything greater
in the world,” said Sandy proudly.
“Unless you weren’t an elephant but you wanted to be one,”
added Zoot. “I still want to fly.”
“Dogs and elephants don’t fly,” said Sandy.
“Well not unless they stick them in an aeroplane,” said
Zoot smugly.
“No, I mean I would really like to fly along with those
birds out there,” said Sandy.
“Why?”
“To see what an elephant looks like from all that way up
there,” he said smiling.
“Dogs ain’t meant to fly just like elephants ain’t meant to
bark,” said Sandy.
“Unless the elephant has got a cold, and then they can
really make a barking noise,” said Zoot.
“What if tied you to a kite and flew you up there?” Asked
Sandy.
“And don’t let go?”
“And I promise not to let go,” replied Sandy.
“Then I think that might work,” said Zoot.
And so the pals promised that on the next windy day, Sandy
would tie Zoot to the biggest kite he could find, and fly him around the beach.
And that is what they did – Zoot flew high above Sandy while
attached to the kite, and said that an elephant just looked like an elephant
even from up there. All the folks who watched said that Zoot had taken to
flying like a dog with a bone. That made him happy.
No one mentioned the elephant on the beach who was holding
the rope and refusing to let go, and that made Sandy happy too. He guessed that
an elephant on the beach was probably just as good as an elephant in a room.
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