Aliens, Critters, and Dinosaurs

The Elephant Tusk Umbrella

The Elephant Tusk Umbrella

"Well that was unexpected," Old Henry said. Then he wheezed and coughed in his paisley kerchief, making such noise we two couldn't speak.

We stood in the rain under his yellow umbrella, and of course, we couldn't leave, not while Henry was coughing and Mom was holding his yellow, elephant umbrella.

"Mom," I whispered, but she shook her head. Then she pulled me even closer.

I was seven, almost eight, embarrassed to be seen cuddling my mother, but I knew better than to pull away, so I sighed hard and waited and listened to the bang of the thunder.

Old Henry wheezed then spit at the ground. Of course, I had to look. But whatever came up, it was washed away. The rain was coming down in rivers.

"Mighty unexpected," Old Henry repeated, and my mother and I grew puzzled.

But he was wheezing and coughing oh so fiercely, so I studied the handle, the elephant tusk of his enormous yellow umbrella.

"What is wrong?" again my mother demanded.

I twisted to look at the old man's face. Lines like railroad tracks crossed and collided, but he looked the same, except his eyes, his eyes were wide with surprise.

I swiveled round to follow his sight. With a gasp, I saw it, too. An elephant stood, right there in the town, an elephant on Main Street!

I blinked my eyes. Why was he there?

"You see him, don't you, Joey?" The old man's voice had grown an octave, happier than I'd ever heard it.

I looked again, but there was no elephant, only waterfalls of rain. I rubbed my eyes and peeked again. Then I saw it in a bathtub floating down Main Street.

I shook my head. "Mr. Henry. It's just not possible, I'm sure."

Before I could say another word, my mother was pushing us both. She wanted to get us out of the cold. She wanted us to go in the store.

Old Henry was gentle, but he shook her off and stomped his feet in the puddles. "Martha, don't you dare go bossing us so. Just you just turn around and look."

But my mom when she puts her foot down never slides it to the side. She grabbed Old Henry and started tugging. She tugged us toward that store.

But then in a moment of frenzy, she let go of my right arm. I turned about and sure as ducks have tails, there was an elephant on Main Street. It was sitting in a dust brown canoe, and in its trunk was a paddle for steering.

I should not have looked for the water then took me, sliding me down Main Street. I floated and bobbed. I couldn't stop 'til I knocked at the elephant's boat.

Of course, he was friendly. He pulled me inside and then let me sit down beside him. The two of us paddled that dust-brown canoe, heading down Main Street.

But back on the sidewalk, my mother and Henry still wiggled and waggled the tusky umbrella both debating which way they should go.

"Mom," I yelled out. "There's really an elephant," and finally she turned round to see.

"Oh, no!" she cried out, and she left Henry's side. "My son, my son, he will drown!"

"Drown? Not he," laughed my mother's good friend. "Why he's safe in that boat with an elephant friend. There's no way he's going to drown."

My mother let go of the yellow umbrella. She let go of poor Henry Jay. She slid off the sidewalk and dove in the water.

I cried out, "Oh, no! My mother can't swim." And it was quite true for soon she was going under.

Now this could have been a very sad tale. My mom could likely have drowned, but Old Henry, dear Old Henry wouldn't let my mother go down. He dove in himself and saw to my mother, deciding to teach her to swim.

She tried hard to learn, and he tried hard to teach as they headed down Main Street. But I could see they just weren't going to make it. I stood up and yelled my in alarm. "I have to save them. I have to dive in," I cried out to my friend, the elephant.

He trumpeted long, so loudly he trumpeted. Not once or twice, I'm afraid. He blasted and blasted. He called all his friends. Then a whole group of elephants was canoing down Main Street, all paddling towards my mother.

Five dozen boats and the trunks to go with them, they all reached out for my mom. Then they pulled in Old Henry and placed them in boats and all of us headed down Main Street.

We floated a bit and watched for a rainbow, then stopped at the ice cream store. Tying the boats to the pole of a barber, we entered and ordered up sweets.

They all wanted strawberry, but I had vanilla with chocolate and cherries and nuts. Oh, how we filled that shop, yes we did, eating our ice cream treats.

Then it was time for the elephants to go. So we waved and watched them row home. And then Old Henry and Mom and I, much too full to get up, sat talking of elephants and twirling about the tusk on the handle of Henry's yellow umbrella.




(886 words)