Fred Elephant and His Trunk
(As the lights pan back
towards the stage, applause erupts and Mickey Mouse runs out.)
Mickey: Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Mickey Mouse Show! I am
Mickey Mouse and soon we will be welcoming onto the stage our last
guest.
(Just then, the ground begins to shake and the audience starts to hear
yelling and moaning coming from backstage.)
Calvin, Russell, and Leon: Come on! He won't hurt you! He's just a
mouse!
(Calvin Camel, Russell Rhinoceros and Leon Leopard appear on stage
pushing a huge elephant from behind!)
Mickey Mouse: (moving out of the way) Ladies and gentlemen, this is
Fred Elephant. I'm not quite sure why he isn't wanting to join us.
Calvin: (straining against the weight of the huge animal) He's afraid
of you! I never truly believed that elephants were really terrified of
mice until now. This is insane!
Mickey Mouse: Fred, please don't be afraid of me. You are so much
bigger than me. How about this, I'll stay on one side of the stage and
you can stay on the other side while we talk to each other. Would that
work?
Fred: (tears streaming down his face) That might work. But don't make
any sudden movements.
Mickey: (to the other animals) Thanks, guys. You can go on backstage. I
think we'll be okay. (The animals head back to graze at the refreshment
table.) Fred, the reason you are here today is to tell us your story.
From what I understand, you haven't always been this way, have you?
Fred: I have always been afraid of mice. They are always sneaking
around stealing pieces of food. They are so small and fast, always
running around between my feet. It freaks me out.
Mickey: No, that's not what I'm talking about. Didn't your nose used to
be short?
Fred: (turning a little red and becoming somewhat shy) Why, yes it did.
And it is a trunk, not a nose. Because of my little experience, not
only am I afraid of mice, I am afraid of crocodiles as well. When I was
younger, I was constantly asking my family questions and they would
never answer; they would just spank me. So I decided to travel and find
out the answers for myself. I came upon several different animals and
asked them the same questions. But they were just like my family. They
just spanked me. My poor bottom was starting to get sore. After a
while, I came upon some water and leaned down to take a drink. I
noticed a crocodile coming towards me. I wasn't afraid of him then so I
asked him my question. He told me to come closer so he could whisper
the answer to me. But then when I did, he grabbed my nose!
Mickey: Wow! That sounds painful. No wonder you're afraid of crocodiles
now. What did you do to get away?
Fred: I kept trying to pull away from him. But he was so strong and it
hurt really bad. I began to notice that as I pulled, my trunk began to
stretch. It got longer and longer until the crocodile finally lost his
grip and gave up. At first, my trunk was very sore and I figured it
would just shrink back to its original size, but it never did. It was
like reconstructive facial surgery without the anesthesia! Eventually,
I headed home. Nobody ever spanked me anymore. I could spank them from
yards away! I can pick things up from the ground and reach things that
are high up in the tree! I can even scratch my own back!
Mickey: So you're happy with your new facial feature?
Fred: It's okay, I guess. It's frustrating at times. People are always
needing my help to reach things. They never leave me alone. It was
pretty difficult to get used to at first. But the pros outweigh the
cons. (He looks a little thoughtful.) You know something? You're not so
bad. I'm not so scared you anymore. I'm still scared of other mice, but
you're okay. I'm sorry there was so much trouble getting me out onto
the stage.
Mickey: Well, thanks! It was no big deal. I'm glad the other guys were
willing to help us out. I'm really happy for you. At this time, we're
going to welcome everyone back onto the stage at the same time. I hope
my stage is strong enough.
(Calvin, Russell, and Leon shuffle back onto the stage as boards under
their feet moan and groan under the weight.)
Mickey: First of all, I would like to say thanks to all of you for
coming onto my show this evening to share your stories. We can learn a
lot from you guys. Sometimes bad things happen, but a lot of times,
good things can come out of the bad things and you learn to overcome. I
wish all of you luck with your future and I hope you will keep us
updated on your progress. (To the audience) And thank you for joining
us today as well. Before we end tonight's show, I will leave you with
one last bit of advice. Do NOT spay and neuter your pets. In my
experience as a mouse, it just makes them angrier and more hostile.
Good night, everyone!
(Applause explodes as Mickey and the other animals leave the stage.)
Author's note: I think this
story was my favorite out of all the stories in Rudyard Kipling's Just
So Stories. It was really neat to be able to picture a cute little
elephant wondering around and bugging everyone by asking annoying
questions. In the original, he was specifically wanting to know what
the crocodile eats for dinner. He comes across a wise bird who points
him in the right direction. When he gets to the river where the
crocodile is said to be, he steps on a log which turns out to be the
crocodile. I decided to leave these little details out of my story
because I felt that the added details would weigh the plot down. I
wanted to keep things light and easy to follow. With all of my stories,
I have kept the main story line as the original story, but a lot of
times I chose to add some of my own details to enhance the humor. I
tried to keep the humor in this story while adding a little more warm,
fuzzy feelings. This is the last story. I found this one to be quite a
bit more difficult to write than the previous ones. I hope I didn't
disappoint anyone.
Image: Baby elephant. Web source: Bella's
Elephants.
Introduction
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Cover Page
Bibliography:
Book Title: Just So Stories
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Year
Published: 1902
Web Source:
Boop