A Very Unusual House Warming Party
Mr Elephant’s long lashes filled with tears. His heart lay in tatters and the endless falling snow and blizzards were making him wonder what was the point in going on. He longed for blue skies, warm sunshine, lush green trees and someone to play with.
One day he tiptoed upon a charming little tree house in a vast clearing. Unfortunately, even though he liked tiptoeing about, he knew he was too clumsy and cumbersome to live in such a sweet little abode. His trunk could just about fit in the window and extend to the other side but his body would crush it to pieces. He philosophised about the unfairness of this with several stamps of his rather large feet. His gaze trailed up, and he realised that a bunch of cheeky mice were playing on the roof. This made him even more angry. He pressed his trunk against the house and in a fury he pushed hard. The tree bent and strained against his enormous bulk and the house groaned and shook.
The mice scurried about squeaking in high-pitched protestations trying their best to find a safe place to escape from the fury of the elephant.
Mr Elephant paused for a moment to observe these tiny creatures who were as white as the falling snow. He curled his trunk in thought. Was he being as nasty as those humans who had killed his herd? Perhaps, he should be the one to fear these mice? After all, his mum always told him that elephants are frightened of mice, but he believed this to be nonsense. How could he, one of the largest creatures to walk this earth, fear these tiny, rodents? Surely, it must be the other way round?
But, did he need to scare these silly things?
He blinked his eyelashes as large snowballs fell on top of the mice.
‘Stop that Mr Elephant! You big bully. Your eyelashes are sending loose snowballs in our direction and your bulk is threatening to topple over our new home. Can’t you see we are about to have a house-warming party?’ said one tiny, but confident mouse.
‘I don’t care! You… You, didn’t invite me to your party and I so love to play! You – unfriendly mouse.’
‘I’m not. Mice are very friendly. If you take a moment to stop being so uppity with your trunk in the air, tiptoeing like a ballerina, you will see that I speak the truth. We’d like to invite you in, but we can’t. You won’t fit. You’re – too big.’
‘Hey, that’s not true. I can fit. My trunk is a master of contortion. It can fit through the window, or pop in via the front door.’
‘Oh! I never thought of that. That’s brilliant Mr Elephant,’ said the mouse. ‘I suppose it would be rude of us not to invite you. You are our nearest neighbour, and a talented contortionist.’
‘Oh, thank you! I would love to come. What a treat! I have been so lonely and lost since my family died.’
The mice gasped in unison. ‘Your family died?’
‘Hunters killed them for their tusks,’ said the elephant in a sad whisper.
‘That is dreadful. Humans are wicked. We wish to make your day a little happier by making you our guest of honour,’ said the confident mouse.
‘Thank you mouse, that means so much to me. I will never have a tree house but it would be lovely for my trunk to come for a house-warming visit.’
All the mice giggled. ‘Come in, come in, Mr Trunk.’ they chorused, standing on their hind legs.
Mr Elephant’s trunk didn’t hesitate. His trunk was a huge hit at the party. The mice had endless fun sliding down what amounted to an endless slide. It was the best party game they had ever had. And Mr Elephant enjoyed spending time with his new, tiny family and he appreciated a chance to pretend that he owned his very own tree house nestled amongst the snowy clouds far away from cruelty.
© M J Mallon
To join in Diana’s speculative prompt: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2019/02/01/februarys-speculative-fiction-prompt/
I hope you enjoyed!
Bye for now,
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M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 