The Patient Elephant

Down by the wide, slow river lived an elephant named Meera. Every morning, she walked to the water with her best friend, Tara, a small grey elephant with bright, curious eyes.

One morning, Tara did not come.

Meera looked up the dusty path. She looked down the path. There was only the soft wind and the gentle sound of the river.

"Maybe she is on her way," Meera said to herself. So she waited.

The sun climbed higher. A kingfisher flashed blue over the water. A family of ducks paddled past, four little ducklings in a neat row. Meera watched them and smiled.

She dipped her trunk into the cool river and sprayed her back. Ahh. She listened to the frogs singing in the reeds. She watched the clouds drift by like slow white boats.

"Why don't you go and look for her?" chattered a monkey from the tree.

"Tara knows this is our place," said Meera. "If I leave, she may come and find nobody here. I will wait."

The afternoon turned golden. The shadows grew long. Still Meera waited, calm and steady, like the old banyan tree beside her.

Then, from far away, she heard a happy trumpet.

Tara came running down the path, her big ears flapping. Behind her walked her mother, and beside her mother wobbled a tiny new baby elephant, soft and sweet.

"My little brother was born today!" Tara cried. "I wanted you to be the very first to meet him."

Meera's heart filled with warmth. Her quiet waiting had brought her the loveliest surprise of all.