(Illustration by Josie Baughan)

      Once upon a time, not long ago but quite far away, there lived a cheerful little elephant named Emma who loved to dance. She liked to whirl around until she was dizzy and kick her legs up high in the air.
 
“Time you were helping me more around the house,” her mother scolded. “Instead of always out high-stepping it somewhere.”
 
But Emma just laughed and skipped off on her merry way. She was going to visit her friend Maggs the Monkey, her partner for the big dance competition on Saturday.
 
“Our timing is still off in a few places,” she complained, after they’d been practising their steps for what seemed like ages. “We’re going to have to be perfect if we want to win.”
 
And they wanted to win, more than anything else in the whole big jungle of a world, for this was a much coveted prize that came with a year’s tuition at a school of dance.
 
“Just think, Maggs,” Emma said wistfully. “We could be dancing on television at this time next year.”
 
“If we win,” he replied with a grimace and flashed his teeth and gums. “But we have some stiff competition there, Emma.”
 
On the evening of the competition, they both took extra care with their appearance. Emma wore a pink satin dress and lots of bangles and necklaces that jangled whenever she moved. While Maggs looked very handsome in a black evening suit with a red bow tie.
 
“I’m nervous,” Emma admitted, sipping from a bucket of soda with her trunk. “So much is riding on this night––our whole future no less.”
 
It was indeed a star-studded evening with the music booming out from the dance floor and everyone laughing and having fun.
 
“We’re up next,” Maggs whispered, as the lion couple who were last year’s winners, and who were being applauded loudly, began to wind down their number.
 
“They’re the favourites,” hissed Emma. And she knew it was going to be hard to beat them.
 
But they would never get the chance to find out. For as Emma and Maggs stepped onto the dance floor, the judges––a trio of ostriches wearing spectacles––disqualified them. Which means that they wouldn’t allow them to take part in the competition.
 
        “You’re too heavy,” explained the head judge to Emma. “You might go right through the dance floor.” And sure enough, even as he spoke the floor began to shift and rumble beneath her great weight.
 
“Oh no, this isn’t fair,” Emma cried, and the crowd agreed.
 
“We want to see them dance,” they insisted. “Get a stronger floor.”
 
But the judges shook their heads. “We can’t afford to put in a new floor,” they declared. “However, there might be another way…”
 
         So it was that Emma and Maggs danced their number outside. On a solid paved courtyard strung with lanterns.
 
        “We’re going to dance our hearts out,” Emma enthused, and that’s exactly what they did.
 
        Surrounded by a cheering crowd, under a star bright sky, they twisted and jived and boogied their way to the very top prize.
 


 

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Raffles G   |86.138.28.xxx |2009-11-29 06:18:01 What a sweet story. Emma sounds a delightful little elephant, and I can imagine children trying to copy her dancing! I found it amusing that she managed to get the miserable ostrich judgest to change their minds..

Amethyst   |74.128.178.xxx |2009-12-16 02:19:44 It's a very cute story! Very nicely written and flows perfectly.

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