Gertrude

There once was a young elephant named Gertrude.

Gertrude was not the happiest elephant.
She was not the smartest elephant.
Nor was she the biggest elephant.

In fact...
Gertrude was the smallest.
Even the younger elephants that were bigger than Gertrude.

Everyone made fun of her, and yelled at her to speed up or slow down, or stay out from between their feet.

Gertrude just wanted was to be seen.
She wanted to be able to carry the big tree trunks like her father.
She wanted to be able reach her mothers tail and walk in line with everyone else.

But she was too little.

There were days when Gertrude went off by herself and tried as hard as she could to grow bigger.  She ate all of her greens (and then some) because Mother always told her it would make her big and strong --

But all it ever gave her was a tummy ache.  

She would stand up on her back feet and SRTeeeeeeeeeeeTCH to try and make herself bigger -- But all that did was make her trunk hurt.

She asked her Grandfather what he thought -- He just patted her on the head.
She asked her Grandmother what she thought. She said "Nonsense. You just haven't grown into your feet yet. She asked her Father what he thought -- He kissed the top of her head and laughed.

And her mother -- Her mother said, "You're perfect just the way you are."

Gertrude signed. "But I'm not perfect. I'm too small."

"Well..." her mother thought. "Maybe you're just right, and all of us are too big!"  She smiled and patted Gertrude on the head.

Gertrude thought for a while. She thought about how elephants are supposed to be big, and how a tiny elephant would always be a tiny elephant. Then suddenly -- She had it!

Maybe her mother was right! If she was too small because she was with elephants, then maybe she should find someplace to be where everyone was more her size!

So after her trumpeting class the next day, Gertrude took her lunch and set off into the jungle. She walked across the hot sands and looked around for someone to say hello to.

Finally, she same upon a tree full of weaverbirds. She looked up and said "Hello." One of the birds peeked out of the hole in his nest. Now, it was pretty obvious to Gertrude that she was bigger then the birds, so she asked, "Do you know where I can find anyone my size?"

The bird looked at her strangely and pointed his beak toward the watering hole before ducking back into his nest.

Gertrude trumpeted a "Thank you" and headed on her way.

When she reached the watering hole, there were all sorts of animals there. She made her way over to the edge of the water and looked out at the hippos.  One of them had part of his head poking out of the water.  "Hello," said Gertrude. "Are you a little hippo?"

"I guess so." The hippo replied, letting his head come a little further out of the water. He moved slowly out of the water and revealed more of his head and shoulders.  He was still much larger than Gertrude.

She sighed. "I was just wondering." She trumpeted a farewell, and moved on around the watering hole.

She saw birds and alligators, lions and zebras. Everyone came here, but no one was her size.

Gertrude sulked the whole way home.

When she arrived, it was almost dinnertime. Her mother scolded her for wandering off and asked, "Where have you been, Gertrude?"

She tooted at her mother in an unhappy way. "I wanted to find a friend that was my size. I'm too small to play with the other elephants, and too big to play with anyone else."

Her mother cuddled her in her trunk. "Nobody is happy with everything about themselves." She said.

"You're still a little elephant, and sometimes you have to wait until you grow up for things to happen the way you want."

Gertrude sulked.  "But I want to be big too."

Her mother thought and thought. Then she had an idea!  "Come with me, Gertrude." She said, and led Gertrude out to see one of the other elephant mothers.

When they arrived, Gertrude heard the sound of a little elephant trumpeting. She looked at her mother wondering what it was. Gertrude’s mother pushed back the palm fronds and showed Gertrude where they were.

"One of the other mothers had a new baby." Gertrude's mother explained. "She was looking for someone to help take care of the baby."

Gertrude peered into the dim light and saw a tiny trunk wrapped around a gourd rattle, shaking it in the air.

"I was asked to help, but I think I might be too big for the job." Her mother smiled and nodded to the baby's mother. "You may be just the right size to help with the little things."

Gertrude went over to the baby. It was smaller than her, but still an elephant. Compared to her mother's trunk, she could see how a big elephant would have a hard time picking up the baby's toys, and food, or even cuddling him.

Gertrude smiled. "He's just my size." She said softly as she nuzzled the baby elephant's head.

"And it's a very important job," the baby's mother said. "I'm very happy that your mother brought you to see us. You'll be a big help."

Gertrude was very proud. She finally had a big job to do, even though she thought she was so little. And from that day on it was Gertrude’s job to help the elephant mother's take care of their babies because Gertrude was just the right size! ^.^