Once upon a time on a sunny day in late autumn, many people gathered in the town square of a peaceful little town named Martinville. A beautiful water fountain stood in the middle of the square. Many different types of shops surrounded the square, including a watchmaker, a deli and bakery, a coffee shop, a barbershop, a bookstore, and even a pawnshop. To the east of the fountain a street was blocked off for a weekly farmers’ market where merchants sold all types of produce, flowers, meat, and homemade bread. The town’s children typically were drawn to the end of the street, where there was an air-blown castle and slides. Lots of townsfolk gathered at this market once a week to purchase produce and get together with friends and other families.
It was a very typical scene for any Sunday afternoon.
Suddenly, there was a loud, thundering bellow: “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!” People turned to look. Some children ran toward the direction of the noise. “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!” another identical bellow followed. The sound was shocking and unrecognizable.
Standing by a fruit stand in the middle of the panic was a slim, older man wearing a hat. Next to him sat a greyhound. The man hurriedly handed over several bills to the merchant, grabbed a number of apples, and placed them in two large cloth bags.
A crowd had already begun to gather in front of the fountain. They turned their heads, pointed their fingers, and chatted with one another in disbelief. Wading in the fountain was a huge elephant, wearing a red cape on her back and metal chains around her neck! The elephant was growing very agitated with this increasing crowd of onlookers surrounding her. As more and more townsfolk gathered, the commotion grew louder and louder. Children pointed and shouted, parents babbled and loudly criticized, babies cried; all were excited by what they were witnessing. The crowd moved in and completely surrounded the fountain and the elephant.
Then the sound of sirens appeared from a short distance. Moments later, the crowd parted to make way for the police. Hustling in through the gap were several uniformed officers, each carrying a rifle. They quickly formed a line between the townsfolk and the beast.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!” The elephant stood up on her rear legs and angrily swung her long, powerful trunk. The chains on her neck clinked and clanked, frightening the onlookers even more.
The crowd gasped and stepped backward. A man squeezed thru the crush of people with his camera and began taking photographs. A sheriff stepped out from the crowd and spoke through a megaphone, directing people to leave. His instructions seemed to only have the opposite effect, as more and more people gathered and gawked.
