Flea settles by Swifty’s head, Nibs in his mouth. Charlie films as the Sanctuary’s team start taking care of the calf before the van is even started. I don’t ask James if Swifty will live. He doesn’t know. But beyond the gates is a mother who lost her baby. And there are other female elephants and calves waiting to welcome Swifty into her new family. She will never be afraid, hurt or lonely again. There will still be fences. Life isn’t a fairy tale. But there are all different kinds of happily-ever-after.
The invisible line that connects the calf’s heart to mine tugs hard. I welcome the pain. Swifty will take a piece of me with her, wherever she goes. I believe that neither of us will ever forget.
* * * * *
acknowledgments
It took a lot of people to bring When Elephants Fly to life. The first thank-you is always for my husband, Henry. He believes when I don’t. He’s my first and last reader, my partner in everything, absolute love and the best human being I know.
Thank you to my agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan of Levine Greenberg Rostan, and her associate agent, Sarah Bedingfield. They answered my query, read Lily’s story and gave it wings. Steph, you are super smart, kind, supportive and you make dreams come true. How cool is that? I’m very lucky and incredibly grateful.
Thanks also to LGR’s foreign rights director, Beth Fisher; business manager, Melissa Rowland; and contract attorney, Kristen Wolf.
To Natashya Wilson, editorial director at Harlequin TEEN, thank you for loving Lily’s story and working so hard to make When Elephants Fly the best book possible! Every time you said you cried while reading, I was elated. Sorry! But knowing how Lily’s journey affected you made me certain you were the right choice to publish her story.
Thank you to the whole Harlequin TEEN team! Copyediting, proofreading and production team: Heather Martin, Ingrid Dolan, Tamara Shifman, Kristin Errico, Nicole Rokicki and Peter Cronsberry. Art director, Gigi Lau. Publicity director, Shara Alexander. Publicity manager, Laura Gianino, and Publicists, Crystal Patriarche, Savannah Harrelson, and their team at Booksparks. Library marketing, Linette Kim. The Toronto marketing team: Amy Jones, Bryn Collier, Evan Brown, Krista Mitchell, Olivia Gissing and Aurora Ruiz. Natashya’s terrific assistant, Gabrielle Vicedomini. My sincere thanks as well to the tremendous Sales team: Jennifer Sheridan and Jessie Elliott for the early support and enthusiasm, Andrea Pappenheimer, Kerry Moynagh, Kathy Faber, Jennifer Wygand, Heather Doss, Heather Foy and everyone else who worked so hard to put this book into the hands of readers.
Writing a book requires readers willing to slog through early drafts and criticize them without crushing an author’s spirit. For When Elephants Fly, it also required sharing really personal stories, discussing legal and medical ins and outs and being a supportive friend willing to listen as I rambled on about story; plot; concerns about portraying mental health conditions with respect while still allowing Lily to be a teen with her own point of view and voice; and my fears about the future of elephants.
Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone!
My thanks to Judy Frey and Michelle Goguen for their friendship, honesty and keen reading eyes through each draft. Sue Bishop (my sister) and Jane and Art Richardson (my folks), thank you for reading, always listening and being in my corner. I’m so very lucky to have you. Trent Burgess, Karen Ford, Colleen Jones, Eric Bernstein, Daryl and Doug, and Carol Holdsworth, thanks for your spot-on feedback and support. Kristie Mitchell, thank you for our talks and being there when I needed you. Shannen Fogarty, thanks for that awesome trip to the zoo, your wicked sense of humor and for being Boone’s second mom (joy!). Erin Burnham, thank you for being so supportive of my writing over the years and your medical expertise. Nancy Potter, thanks for the legal input. Rebecca Kenney and Tamson Weston, thank you for the early reads and ideas. Boone Fischer, thank you for the wiggles and unconditional love. And Ridgeway Cook, enormous thanks—you know why.
Mitch Finnegan, veterinarian at the Portland Zoo, you have an incredible, difficult and amazing job taking care of every animal at the zoo. It doesn’t seem possible that all that knowledge can fit in one person’s brain! The tour and education was an eye-opener, and your medical know-how kept Swift Jones hydrated on her road trip, perhaps saving her life.
It’s so important to me that Lily’s story, while fictional, be accurate and plausible from a psychiatric perspective. Dr. Rick Cohen, thank you for your time, insights and suggestions. I imagine your patients are very lucky to have you!
To the friends and family who have faced difficulties, struggled, sometimes failed, but never stopped trying, as well as everyone who shared their stories of mental health conditions, whether in books, films, videos, lectures or in person, my thanks are not enough. You bare your souls so that we can understand your battles. You are brave, intelligent, perceptive and deserve a life filled with love, laughter and wonder.
Please don’t give up. There is always hope.
author’s note
Everyone views mental health conditions differently. Some from the outside in, and others from the inside out. Regardless, there is no “normal” or “wrong” way to be. What matters is treating each other, despite our differences, with compassion and acceptance, and realizing that the words we use are powerful. This story illustrates that toss-away comments, words not even meant to hurt, can damage and shape self-perception.
Lily’s family history and struggles can’t possibly reflect all the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia. Her voice is just that, her voice, and her perceptions are solely her own. She’s trying her best to shine a light, and I am, too. My hope is that Lily’s journey does justice to the courage it takes to face mental health conditions. If her bravery helps someone dig deeper, fight harder, appreciate relationships, discover empathy and find magic in the moment, then When Elephants Fly has exceeded my dreams.
When Elephants Fly was inspired, in part, by family and friends who struggled to embrace life despite genetic histories of mental health challenges. Their stories made me think about how both physical and mental health conditions can shadow lives, impact families, pass down generations and affect myriad decisions from careers to friendships, relationships, marriage and whether to have children.
A story about one young woman struggling to survive an invisible threat gave me the chance to write a universal story. Everyone has to figure out how to have a fulfilling life despite fears, roadblocks, prejudice, or emotional or physical health. If we’re lucky, those obstacles don’t derail our lives. If we’re not, then each day is a fight to be who we want to be. That battle requires love, support and empathy. For Lily, it also required finding something to fight for that was larger and more important than her own life.
Another inspiration for When Elephants Fly, and specifically for Swifty, was a real news story. In 2012, the Seattle Times published an article about an Asian elephant born at Portland’s zoo. The zoo owned the calf’s mother, Rose-Tu, but her father, Tusko, was owned and on loan to the zoo by Have Trunk Will Travel, a privately funded company that provides elephants for rides, special events, movies and commercials. Under the zoo’s breeding loan agreement, Have Trunk Will Travel owned the second, fourth and sixth calves sired at the Portland Zoo by Tusko. This meant that the female calf (named Lily in a public vote) could be taken away from her mother and the zoo.
When the Seattle Times article was published, the public reaction was fierce. People were outraged that mother and baby might be separated, and also feared for Lily’s welfare as part of a working group of elephants. The controversy ended when the zoo raised funds to purchase both Tusko and Lily.
When I dug deeper into Rose-Tu’s story, I learned that Lily wasn’t her first calf. She gave birth to Samudra, a male calf, in 2008. After the birth, zoo officials said Rose-Tu attacked her newborn. No one knew the reason for the attack. Some said it was because of the abuse Rose-Tu had previously suffered at the hands of a handler. O
thers blamed a birth in captivity that resulted in fear and confusion.
Rose-Tu and Samudra were separated and later successfully reunited. But the initial rejection made me wonder what would’ve happened if Samudra had been owned by an entertainment company and they’d claimed him. Would the zoo have fought to keep him? Would Samudra have survived being separated from his mother?
For Lily’s journey, I had to find someone who desperately needed her help. Someone she could love enough to risk her careful existence in order to find purpose. After reading Rose-Tu’s story, and relating to how much the public cared about her calf, I created Swifty as Lily’s reason to fight. Empathy was key. So I had Lily witness Raki violently attack her baby. Almost being killed by her mother was something Lily could relate to, and it resulted in a bond that would eventually shake Lily from her careful existence and show her that regardless of how much time she might have, what she did with that time meant the most.
Was Lily right to forgo her careful life and risk her mental health? That’s for each reader to decide. Regardless, I’m not advocating getting your medical information from the internet like Lily did in her younger years (though that’s what a lot of us do!), stealing a baby elephant or risking your freedom or mental health. I can’t say what drugs anyone facing a diagnosis like schizophrenia should take, or how to manage their lives. That’s for the individual, their family and doctor to decide. I do, however, advocate that no matter your circumstances, you get involved in issues that are important to you. It’s what makes life fulfilling.
Writing stories that change people’s perceptions about mental health matters to me. Saving elephants matters, too. In my early twenties I worked as a writer for a large circus. The human performers were incredible athletes who passed their skills through generations. But seeing wild animals in captivity, chained in windowless arenas, transported long distances in questionable conditions, broke my heart. I quit that job after a year, and promised myself that somehow I’d find a way to make up for being a part of that circus.
The idea that elephants might become extinct in the wild in my lifetime is unacceptable. They are brilliant, loving creatures that deserve their freedom. The fact that they’re caged in unacceptable conditions and forced to do unnatural stunts in traveling shows, hunted for sport or killed for the illegal ivory trade is abhorrent. Please do visit the websites in the Resources section if you want to make a difference and help save elephants from extinction!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read When Elephants Fly. My wish for every single one of you: live in the moment when you can. Find something or someone to love. Fight for what’s important. Change the world one elephant calf at a time.
resources
There’s no one answer for mental health concerns. Treatment is as personalized as the experiences of those with challenges. If you think you might have an issue, please talk to your family, a teacher, good friends, a coach, spiritual advisor or a mentor. You do not have to face your problems alone. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. It makes you smart and helps you control your destiny.
Below are a few websites that may prove helpful:
National Alliance on Mental Illness: nami.org
Mental Health America: mentalhealthamerica.net
The Trevor Project: thetrevorproject.org
The JED Foundation: jedfoundation.org
National Institute of Mental Health: nimh.nih.gov
Psych Central: psychcentral.com
psychcentral.com/quizzes/schizophrenia.htm
People who fight every day to save elephants from extinction have a heartrending task. Each elephant orphaned by poachers that they rescue, circus they shut down, country they convince to adopt a ban on ivory sales, brings the world one step closer to saving the beautiful, intelligent, devoted and deserving elephant from extinction.
If you want to learn more and help in the battle to save elephants from extinction and inhumane conditions, please visit the sites below. If you’re inspired to join in the fight, all these sites have donation pages.
Space for Giants protects Africa’s elephants from immediate threats like poaching while working to secure their habitats forever in landscapes facing increasing pressures. Their vision is to develop new conservation models to enable people to support and sustain populations of large wild animals and the natural landscapes they depend on.
spaceforgiants.org
spaceforgiants.org/our-work/wildlife-protection
March for Giants—a Space for Giants campaign. One elephant is killed every twenty-five minutes in Africa. In the last decade, a third of all elephants have been wiped out. Join #MarchforGiants for $8 and you can protect an elephant in the wild for one month. Your personalized digital elephant will join the “herd” and travel across social media platforms worldwide making “live” appearances on digital billboards and relaying location information back to its sponsor so you can track its progress.
www.marchforgiants.org
Every August 12 the annual World Elephant Day campaign brings the world together to help elephants. The mission of WED and its World Elephant Society organization is to raise awareness and ignite action to save African and Asian elephants from extinction by educating the global public about the plight of elephants and the conservation solutions required to protect them.
worldelephantday.org
Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya is home to the first community-owned elephant orphanage in East Africa. The sanctuary is designed to rescue orphaned, injured and abandoned elephant calves with the goal of releasing them back into the wild. Reteti also empowers young Samburu women to be the first-ever women elephant keepers in all of Africa. Reteti is redefining wildlife management into a community effort that benefits both elephants and people.
www.retetielephants.org
blog.conservation.org/2017/11/to-save-elephants-it-takes-a-village
Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is at the forefront of efforts to rescue and provide appropriate, human sanctuary for animals that have been the victims of the exotic and performing animal trades.
www.pawsweb.org
www.pawsweb.org/meet_the_animals.html
The Wildlife Conservation Society uses science to understand the natural world and engage and inspire communities, supporters and decision-makers to take action to protect wildlife and their environment. Their goal is to conserve the world’s largest wild places, home to more than 50 percent of the planet’s biodiversity.
www.wcs.org
www.wcs.org/our-work/species/asian-elephants
Big Life Foundation employs hundreds of Maasai rangers to protect two million acres of wilderness in East Africa. Their mission is to prevent the poaching of elephants and all wildlife by partnering with communities to protect nature for the benefit of all.
biglife.org/about-big-life
biglife.org/donate/other-ways-to-give
ISBN-13: 9781488095269
When Elephants Fly
Copyright © 2018 by Nancy Richardson Fischer
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to include
the following previously published material:
Excerpts from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Copyright © 1943 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,
renewed 1971 by Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, English translation copyright © 2000 by Richard Howard. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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ereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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