by Rhia Roberts
With sweat running down his face, the boy worked hard to complete this painful and kind deed. It wasn’t until the last crocodile was freed that something happened; this is the end, thought Jake.
Chapter 9
Trapped
Although Jake didn’t know it, Elena and the other animals watched him the whole time he was at the poachers’ camp. They saw him tied up and thrown onto the ground. They saw him almost cry.
“That’s enough,” the elephant mother had said. “Let’s go save him.”
But Elena had stopped her and the other animals by saying, “No, we must wait to see what he does next.”
“What do you mean?” asked the giraffe mother. Like the elephant, she really wanted to save her friend; and she wanted to save him NOW.
Elena smiled at the kind animals.
“We won’t let anything happen to him,” the chimp told them, “but if we are to beat the poachers and send them away forever, we need help from the crocodiles, lions, hyenas, and vultures too. They will only join in with us if Jake shows kindness to one of them. We must wait to see if Jake has enough kindness left in his heart to help the crocodiles.”
And so, the animals watched and waited. Then, as soon as Jake untied the last crocodile’s legs and mouth, Elena yelled, “NOW!” The earth shook as the animals stampeded toward Jake. It really sounded like the end of the world! As Elena scampered to untie her friend, the elephants trumpeted as they marched through the camp, the rhinos snorted as they trampled everything in sight, the zebras and wildebeest brayed as they head-butted the poachers toward the lake. It sounded like a very bad (and loud) band played all across Africa.
“Get away,” grumbled one poacher as a zebra head-butted him.
“You’re standing on my toe!” yelled another as a warthog trampled his feet.
“RUN” shouted the leader. “Leave everything and get away. We can come back later to fetch our guns. Run now to get away from these wild animals.”
Jake and Elena laughed as they watched. The poachers weren’t as brave without their guns!
“But they still might get away,” Jake commented. “And we need to teach them a lesson.”
“No,” replied Elena, “they won’t get away. Look.”
She pointed behind the poachers and Jake saw that the lions, crocodiles, and hyenas had formed a line. Vultures circled overhead. “Those poachers aren’t going anywhere, they’re…”
“…trapped!” Jake exclaimed. He roared with laughter. The poachers, who were used to trapping animals, were now trapped like animals themselves. This was perfect…and Jake knew exactly what to do next.
Holding his head high, the brave boy walked toward the poachers. Then he stood in the middle of the animal circle and looked around at all his friends. Everyone was there. He saw Elena look at him with pride. He saw the grateful faces of the giraffes, elephants, and crocodiles. And he saw the smiling, happy faces of the zebras, ostriches, hyenas, warthogs, rhinos, vultures, wildebeest, okapis, and lions. The circle was complete. All the animals were working together; predators and prey stood side by side to get rid of the poachers.
Jake held his hands up to quiet the crowd. Then he faced the poachers.
“I want you to remember this feeling,” he told them. “This is how the animals feel when they are trapped by you.”
The animals muttered and nodded in agreement. Then Jake shushed the crowd again and continued.
“This is your lucky day,” he said, looking at the nasty men, “because we are going to save you and let you live.”
The poachers looked around at each other and were a bit confused. They’d been sure that they wouldn’t get out alive. After all, poaching was all they’d ever done. They hadn’t shown any kindness to anyone or anything in their whole lives, so why would the animals show kindness to them now? What was going on?
“We are going to save you,” Jake repeated, “for two reasons. First, we want you to know that when the animals come together, you don’t stand a chance.”
The animals nodded in agreement.
“Second,” Jake continued, “we want you to take a message to all the other poachers in Africa. Tell them to leave us alone or we will come together again to fight them. Look around you. Predator and prey stand united against YOU. So learn this lesson well and leave us alone.”
A huge cheer erupted. “Leave us alone! Leave us alone!” the animals chanted. Jake waited for the noise to die down then faced the poachers for the last time. He looked at the leader right in the eye.
“Find all the poachers there are and tell them that they MUST stop,” he said with a strong, calm voice. “Tell everyone to learn from your mistakes,” Jake finished, “because the next time, we may not be as kind!”
Then, without a whisper of a sound, the animal circle opened. And the last Jake, Elena, and the animals ever saw of the poachers was their backs as they ran away!
Chapter 10
Home Again
The whole place erupted in happy shouting and some weird kind of animal dancing! The lions danced with the zebras, the crocodiles danced with the wildebeest. At least for this moment in time, there were no predators and prey, there were only friends celebrating together. They had won and the balance of nature had been restored. Things could now return to normal.
Jake and Elena sat together and watched the party. Jake hugged the chimp, “Thank you,” he said, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know this wouldn’t have happened without you.”
“Ah…and it wouldn’t have happened without you and your kindness either,” Elena answered.
Jake felt as though he would burst with pride and happiness. But there was one thing missing.
“Does Nia know what happened?” he asked the chimp.
“Not yet,” Elena replied, “but she will as soon as we get back to the village. We need to leave soon because the sun is getting low in the sky.”
“But we won’t get back before dark,” commented Jake.
“Yes you will,” said the mother giraffe, edging her way over to Jake. “One express-giraffe at your service,” she giggled.
It was difficult to say goodbye to his new friends, but after much hugging Jake was ready to go. He and Elena climbed onto the giraffe’s back and held on tightly to her mane. Then with one last cheer, the animals waved them off.
“Don’t be sad,” the animals told him as the giraffe started running toward the village, “we’ll see you again soon.”
Jake wanted to ask Elena what that meant but he had to focus all his attention to clinging onto the giraffe; it wasn’t the easiest ride he’d ever had! But the African plains passed in a blur of smells and colors and, quicker than lightening, they were back at the village.
After dropping off the giraffe’s back and saying his goodbyes, Jake dragged himself into the village where Nia was waiting for him
“You did it!” said the excited girl as she flung her arms around Jake’s neck. “You were brave and kind and you saved us all from the poachers!”
“Who told you?” asked Jake, confused.
Nia hugged her little chimp and laughed. “You can’t keep much secret around here,” she chuckled pointing at eagles circling around in the sky above.
Jake sighed. “I wish you could have been with me for the whole thing,” he confessed.
Nia looked deeply into his eyes. “I was with you,” she said quietly, “in here.” She put her hand over her heart. “I will always be with you,” she continued, “and the animals will always be with you. We believe that when you do something kind for someone, they become part of you. And one day, we will repay you for your kindness.”
“But you don’t need to repay me,” Jake said.
“Maybe,” Nia shrugged, “but we will…because that’s our way.”
The two children sat on an old tree stump and chatted like long-lost friends for what seemed like hours. But, in a while, Jake knew it was time to get home. He loved Africa and he loved his new friends but he
had to get back to his parents. Sadly, he told Nia that it was time for him to go.
“I know” smiled Nia. “But don’t worry about your parents. They haven’t missed you because you’ve been gone less than an hour.”
“But…” Jake began to ask a question but changed his mind.
This place is magic, he reminded himself, so why should I be shocked that time isn’t what it seems?
“I’m really going to miss you, Nia,” Jake confessed, becoming aware that Grandpa was beating the drum once more. Again, Nia smiled.
“You’ll be seeing me a lot sooner than you think,” she replied.
Jake closed his eyes and listened to the beat of the drum. It seemed to be saying, “Jake! Jake! Jake!” Jake smiled then opened his eyes to look at Nia. But she wasn’t there; Jake was home already! There was no village or Nia or Elena or Grandpa. And it wasn’t the drums that were saying, “Jake! Jake! Jake!” It was his dad calling him from downstairs.
“I’ll be down in a moment,” Jake called to his parents but he didn’t move. Was I dreaming, he wondered. Did I really go to Africa? Did I really meet Nia and have the best adventure in the whole wide world? Or did I dream it all because of the painting of that old man. It can’t have been real, can it?
“I must have fallen asleep,” Jake told himself as he walked out of his bedroom.
He was about to close his door when a painted acacia tree caught his eye. He looked closer and saw Nia peeking from behind the tree. And she was holding the hand of a little chimp. Jake smiled and winked at his friends. “You ARE real! I’ll see you again soon,” he said happily as he closed his door.
And on the wall in the corner, Grandpa smiled his secret smile. You’ll be going back to Africa 11 times, Jake, he thought. Each of the animals will teach you something that will prepare you for life.
Jake’s journey into becoming a young man had only just begun.
Books in the series
The Journey Begins
The Okapi’s Tale
The Lion’s Tale
The Giraffe’s Tale
The Ostrich’s Tale
The Warthog’s Tale
The Rhino’s Tale
The Zebra’s Tale
The Crocodile’s Tale
The Elephant’s Tale
The Vulture’s Tale
The Journey’s End
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