Friday Fables

The Fable of the Elephantby Barry J. Northern A young elephant trailed behind the herd, trying not to be noticed. She wanted to play with the young ones, as she always had done, but Mother had told her that this year she was old enough to help with mothering duties. The first of the new calves had been born the previous night. It had been a wonderful time, all the women of the herd celebrated, but Kijana now feared she would soon be set to some task or other.The fear of impending duty grew within her until she could no longer bear it. "Mother!" she called out. "I'm just off to the water-hole. I won't be long."Mother turned around, her trunk swaying, ears flapping. "All right, dear."Kijana had expected an argument. It seemed there were some advantages to being a little older, she thought, and stomped off to the water-hole alone. She was still young enough to feel nervous about leaving the herd behind, but felt emboldened when a pair of impala skittered away from her shadow.Now it was Kijana's plan to escape th