Man and the beast

The story of a man who saved an elephant with an unexpected ending!

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Louisiana State University .

 

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

 

The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

 

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

 

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

 

Probably wasn't the same f*****g elephant.

Reviews

[C]

I don't have to repeat that I love your style of writing, but why did you kill him? Its such a nice story, I feel sad because of the end! It was probably your intention to make a reader feel strong feelings while reading this. Only a true writer can do that. Do you think that animal in wilderness can make friends with human? I mean, can they understand each other?

[Rév O'Conner]

It was written for those who always share stupid stories on fb saying it's heart warming

[larry d]

Sorry forgot to enter my score

[larry d]

worked for a company installing fake rock at San Diego Zoo in the Elephant enclosure and 1 of the guys always threww rocks at the elephants that would stare at us then 3 years later we were working in San Francisco Zoo and an elephant approached us and from the adjacent enclosure started pummeling us with rocks. Guess they don't forget. Liked the story but I think you could have gotten us more involved if it had been a pair of buddies that went through the experience and bounced how it affected them both and then later running into each other at another zoo they relived the experience. Loved the last sentence...it could have been the friend's thought as he shook his head and pulled out his cell phone to call security.

[ganga ramesh]

it's is good...but i don't get the actual thing...it is all abrupt and quite paced up..but a good attempt...i would have appreciated it if it were a little longer and more descriptive...anyways, good :)

[Amaya Sullivan]

It seemed like you were anxious to get to the twist. I would have love to have been more attached to Peter. Why did he decide to go to Kenya after college? Was it in relation to his degree?

When Peter met the elephant in Kenya, was he scared? You mentioned he was somewhat nervous, but it would have been nice if there was more information on how he approached the elephant or more of a struggle between the two. For instances the mindset of Peter was to help the elephant, but was also terrified of him. The elephant is in pain and feel threaten by Peter who is trying to help.

I'm not sure if this was your aim when writing this story, but this story could be expanded like a lot like The Lost Marble.

[Rév O'Conner]

I jot this one down after reading all those bullshit touching stories on facebook

[Amaya Sullivan]

I see, and it is very comical ending...

[Rév O'Conner]

Thanks