Puzzle 206

The problem with elephants in the night is that they become invisible. Even if you shine a light on them, you don’t really see them. Possibly it’s because at night you need to get relatively close to things before you can see them, and the very size of an elephant up close offers no recognisable view of the whole animal. All you see is darkness.

As a rule I tried to avoid driving at night, but one Friday evening after attending a school function with the girls, I had no choice but to drive home in the dark. About halfway home, the massive bulk of an elephant bull loomed up rather too late in the beam of the headlights. He had his head in the bushes alongside the road and his behind on the track directly in front of us. I slammed on the brakes, pulling up right under the elephant’s rump. His hind legs buckled at the knees (as usually happens when an elephant is startled) and his enormous posterior began descending onto the bonnet. Waiting for the colossal crunch, I closed my eyes, but luckily the elephant changed his mind about sitting down and charged off, screaming with consternation as he crashed destructively through the bush. The landscape shuddered. My daughters giggled. I was in shock and my teeth chattered the rest of the way home.

~ The Wilderness Family