From poacher to best friend…
“I am the best swimmer in my class,” I had told my mum yesterday. All the other baby elephants in my class, we were all 4 months old, they were kind of worried about getting into the water. But I loved the water. It was like a second home to me. I wish I could spend all day in the water, but my teacher always tells me to be careful.
“There are many dangerous currents in the water, Ran-Ran. You have to be careful. I know you think you are a good swimmer, but even the best swimmers have to be careful against the Water Gods. You never know when they might get angry.” She flounced away after that shaking her big ears, and stamping her foot on the ground, so that I could fill the vibrations all the way up to my head.
As with everything she said, I heard her, but mostly decided to ignore what she said. I was playing with this branch, pushing it around, and twisting it, and running around with my classmates, when the school bell rang. I decided to take a different route back home. Even though my home is the closest one out of all of us, I liked to explore the little forest that we lived in.
Everyday, I tried to go a different way home.
There were so many adventures to be had in this world, and I didn’t want to miss any of them.
Yesterday, I had seen the most beautiful peacock, who was coloured all white, and who had been dancing for the rains to come. It was a sight to see. I had run home after to tell my mother, but she had already seen that peacock several times, as he was right on her route to her best friend’s house. She didn’t seem impressed by me. But she was surprised that I was taking these random routes to come home. She scolded me for that, and made me promise never to do that again.
“Come straight home. No more detours. Understand? Now, promise me, Ran-Ran.” I nodded, but in my mind, I had decided I was going to ignore her as I ignored my teacher’s warnings.
Today, I was going around the big lake that was near our house, so that it would take me maybe twenty minutes to get home, rather than five. I was really excited. I had heard that there were some flamingoes on the opposite shore where I never got to go. I hoped this time around I would get to see some.
The day was warm, but perfect. There was a breeze blowing, and luckily, I had found a few berries on the way, which I munched on as I walked on my adventure. A few minutes into my journey, I noticed I was walking past a river. This was one of the main rivers that emptied into the lake, and it was quite turbulent. I had wanted to swim in this river, but I had always been warned against it. Elephants much bigger than me had been swept away by the torrents in this river.
To be honest, I was a bit afraid to go into this river.
I wanted to be brave, but I had one of my uncles, who was literally the biggest elephant out there, had been killed when he had fallen into the river one stormy night. That was terrifying to me. I didn’t want to die by drowning.
I kept on walking, keeping a safe distance from the edge of the river. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that there were some flamingoes on the banks of the river, but a little further ahead. I really wanted to see them up close. A few more minutes wouldn’t make a difference, I thought to myself.
I walked on.
That’s when I heard someone shouting for help.
I am only four months old, but even at four months, I know when someone’s in distress. I ran faster than normal to the banks of the river from where I was hearing those noises.
It was a human! I realized. What is a human doing here? And in the river?
He was being carried away by the river, and apparently, he was afraid. He was shouting for help in his peculiar language. I knew it was for help, because the shout of help sounds exactly the same in its essence in every language, no matter what it was.
I looked at the river. It looked pretty powerful. I was afraid. I didn’t know if I would make it out alive if I jumped into the river to save this man. He seemed to be losing strength quickly and dipping in and out of the water. I knew he didn’t have much time. If I didn’t try to save him now, if I waited for an adult to come along, or someone else, he could possibly die.
I deliberated for another moment in my head.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let this man die. Even if I died, I told myself, at least I would know I tried to help a fellow creature.
I threw down the branch I was carrying in my trunk, took a deep breath in, and then jumped into the river.
Ow, it was cold in here. I didn’t realize how icy cold this water was. Thank goodness for my thick skin. My mother always said, “You have such thick skin, Ran-Ran, even if you fell into icy water, you would never have a problem.” I believed her, not realizing until much later in life that she meant that I was thick-skinned mentally and not physically. Thank god for that miscommunication.
I swam as fast as I could towards the man. The current was trying to pull me in a different direction, but I used all the strength I had to swim towards the man. He saw me swimming towards him, and he looked scared, but he had no strength to fight me. I got to him a few seconds later, and then I started using my body to nudge and guide him towards the banks of the river.
I knew if I got him to the banks of the river, he would be able to grab hold of the numerous branches there, and pull himself to safety. I swam harder now. It was crucial for me to get him to safety, before I got too tired to swim anymore.
I could already feel myself getting tired from the push of the current.
As I got him to the banks of the river, I felt an especially strong tug from the river current, and I was afraid that I wasn’t going to make it myself.
Oh well, at least this man would be safe. I saw that he held onto a branch and had managed to drag himself onto the shore with great difficulty. Poor man was exhausted and he barely breathed as he laid there on top.
Then, it was time for me to rest for a bit. I let the current drag me for a few seconds, recovering my strength.
I heard some voices then. My mother and father were standing on the shore looking down at me. One of the strongest and biggest swimmer in our tribe, Joomla, jumped into the river, after me. My mother was upset, I could tell. She was trumpeting at me to stay strong. “Don’t worry, sweetie, Uncle Joomla, will be there soon. Just stay strong, my love.”
Hearing her voice gave me this extra strength. It came out of nowhere. I started swimming towards Uncle Joomla. He told me to grab a hold of his tail, and so I did.
Little by little, he used all of his strength to drag us away from the strong current and to a little bay area, where the pool of water was tepid, and calm. I stood there for a few moments, catching my breath, and wondering how I would explain all of this to my mother.
I had to think of an excuse fast. I got onto dry land, and I saw her standing there, waiting for me.
“Ran-Ran, my dear child.” She ran to me, and hugged me tight. My father as well. They both seemed relieved.
“Mommy, I’m sorry. You see, there was this man…”
“Oh, Ran-Ran. We saw the whole thing. You saved that man. You were such a brave little guy. I’m so proud of you.”
She hugged me even tighter, so much so that I couldn’t breathe again. But this was a nice kind of breathlessness. I was so relieved. I wasn’t going to be scolded for this adventure. I walked back with them to the village.
The man had disappeared. He had gotten up and walked off, before anyone of us could get to him. I hoped that he was alright.
A few days later, news came into the village and into our clan.
The man I had saved had been a poacher. Actually, he was one of the main poachers that we were having issues with. So many male elephants were being killed off for their tusks, and left for dead. I shuddered at the thought of it. But because I had saved him, he had personally come to the leader of our clan, and apologized in their peculiar language.
He had bowed down his head, kneeled on the ground, and said, “I’m so sorry for all the lives I have taken from your tribe. From now on, your clan is under my protection. I will ensure no harm comes to you.”
From poacher to my best friend. He came to play with my friends and I every day. I didn’t know what gave me the courage that day to save this man, but I am so glad that I did.
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