2018 Kipling Award Finalist:: Taija Clark, Dummerston Elementary School, Molly Stoner, Teacher

Why Elephants are Afraid of Mice

 One hot summer day in the far south of the savannah, lived an elephant who was very very, wittiky and didn't like to do anything she was told , if her mother ever told her to take a bath she would say, “you can’t tell me what to do, I am the most free spirited elephant in the savannah and that's just the way I like it.” Any time she was told to clean up her leaves she left as a mess she said the same thing, “you can’t tell me what to do, I am the most free spirited elephant in the savannah and that's just the way I like it.”

Then one day her mother was done with her extrently wittiky-ness and made up a tale of a huge lion like mouse who would come for you if it ever herd you be wittiky to anyone at all and would bring you back to its lear in the deep west of savannah. Once she was told of this tale she was always doing what she was told but little did she know a breeder from England had just brought his mice to the savannah and breeded them but one day the breeder was oh so very uncareful and left his door open so the mice got out. When he got back from his adventure he was so frustrated that he yelled sooooooooooo loud that everyone in the savannah could here it. That had startled the animals and they were all going hysterical. The giraffes shrunk , the zebras were spotted all over , and the grass was green. This made the elephant think... “ this is the lion like mouses doing I shall now stay in my dark cave until he is gone.”

Months later the mice breeded and there were mice all over the savannah. And when the elephant woke up the next morning there was a little family of mice hiding in the corner. Then later her mother had gotten greedy and started giving the elephant lots of chores and right about then was when the elephant was put up with this nonsense and started being wittiky again and she didn’t even remember the big lion like mouse so once her mother told her to do a million things that was when the elephant replied by repeating “ you can’t tell me what to do, I am the most free spirited elephant in the savannah and that's just the way I like it”. Just then the mice came out and the only one who saw it was the mother and then lie right on her face was a grin that had never been seen before by the elephant .

Minutes later the mice had started doing their morning gymnastics and all stacked up on each other and walked toward the elephant then the elephant turned around and saw them then she ran and she screamed and she ran all the way to were the breeder was not to mention he was still mad and he had only gathered some mice and when she saw them she ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and never came back.

And that is why elephants are afraid of mice.