The Puppy And The Elephant Calf

Bhola had found a dog pup near the edge of his village one day. It had probably strayed away from his litter and then couldn't reunite with his mother. Bhola brought it home and fed it with milk. Then he showed it proudly to his friends. Every day, Bhola would feed it well and take it out for a walk. He named it Milo because he had found it accidentally. Now after four-five months, Milo had become a healthy pup, playful and obedient to his master. Bhola and Milo were now inseparable.

Then one night a horde of elephants came near the village. They were in a big group and they were about ten in number. The rice fields they trampled and didn't bother how much damage they had done. The farmers were in a dilemma about how to chase them away. Some suggested burning crackers and frightening them away. But the elders advised against it. They thought that the elephants instead of getting frightened may turn towards the villagers and attack them then it would be a huge calamity. For two full days and nights, they stayed near the village. Then they silently moved away all in one group. But they left behind one little elephant calf. This elephant kid had taken refuge at the back of Bhola's house. Bhola woke up one morning and found the elephant kid and Milo the dog pup playing unmindful of their surroundings.

Then the village elders saw the sight of elephants and dogs playing like two friends. No one had any idea of what to do with that elephant calf. The forest department said that definitely, the elephant posse that had passed the village would return to collect their baby.

Just one night after the elephant calf had come an incident shook the village out of its slumber. In the middle of the night, all the villagers were woken up by the barking of Milo and the trumpet sound of the baby elephant. The elephant calf had recently learned to squeal as its trumpet was still not as an adult. The village had an unwelcome guest. A leopard had silently sneaked in and was trying to drag a newly born goat kid. Milo had first got the scent and started barking and hearing him bark, the Elephant calf had started trumpeting. This was the first time the elephant calf had made this sound. Very soon the elephant posse hearing the kid's high pitch squeal had converged on the village from nowhere. They had been searching for their new member for a few days but as it had not learned to make sound it couldn't be traced. Now when the baby could announce his presence his team members came to its rescue. In between this chaos, the leopard had left alone the goat kid and slowly and stealthily slid out of the village into the forest to the utmost relief of the villagers. The baby elephant seeing its family elders sauntered away towards the group and joined them. The elephant pride being reunited again with all their members took an about-turn and walked away towards the forest leaving the village in peace. Then Milo walked in between Bhola's legs feeling satisfied as if completing an assignment.