So after much ado, Chikoo was admitted to school along with Willoo. Squee flatly refused to attend anything even resembling a class, and Pingoo, Tortie, and Hoofoo opted out of it. Lolo began to study at the house itself, with Pingoo joining her from time to time. She was as diligent about it as Chikoo was about going to school and the two would often talk about what they had learnt each evening. It so happened that the teacher at Chikoo’s school was a learned, old elephant, whom the little chick absolutely hero-worshipped.
He would sit in the front bench of every class and absorb everything the elephant said. Coming home, Chikoo studied an hour each evening, looking at various pictures and remembering everything that he studied. Everyone was amazed at the little chick’s devotion to learning.
Lolo who liked her studies, was a little normal girl though and there were days, when she just loved to play and explore the woods nearby rather than spend time cooped up in a class all by herself. To be honest, she missed her teachers and her classmates, and found it lonely to study from the books that Hoofoo got her, lovely though they were.
One such Monday, when Chikoo and Willoo (he had woken up with difficulty in time to go) were at school, and all the other animals were about their tasks, Lolo suddenly felt she could not spend a moment more staring at her Math textbook. She threw it down, got up, and peeked into the kitchen, where Tortie was busy cooking lunch. “I am going out for a while” she said and the tortoise turned her wide, compassionate eyes on the little girl and nodded. Tortie never scolded anyone and understood what Lolo felt at being away from her home and normal school better than most others.
Lolo walked out of the house and down the garden path, till she reached the forest and continued her way into it. She kept walking, sometimes picking berries here and there, and felt her heart fill as she remembered her mother. She was just wiping away a few tears that spilled onto her cheek, when she heard a very odd noise.
By then, Lolo had come near a place where several plantain trees were growing thick and close. The noise sounded like a trumpet blowing but lower. Lolo stopped short and listened for it again. All Hoofoo’s warnings about strange, unfriendly beings came flooding into her mind, and she hoped she had not been hasty in coming out all alone.
The trumpet like sound did not come again, but as she looked about, she saw a faint rustling amongst the plantain trees, some distance away. Something or someone was pulling at the huge leaves and throwing them here and there. Lolo’s eyes grew wide, because it required some strength to do this. As she debated whether she should stay or run, what seemed like a tornado came propelling towards her, stopping just short of the little girl standing there in shock. A large trunk and two bright eyes looked at Lolo, equally surprised at finding her there, as was Lolo at the sight of what else but a baby elephant of all things!
The little elephant still had a plantain leaf in her trunk and both the girl and the little destroyer seemed frozen in spot. Then Lolo got her wits back and extended a small and tentative hand, that was shaking a little as well, because she had no idea what the baby elephant would do.
The baby elephant looked at the hand and then back at Lolo. Then abruptly she threw off the leaf and as Lolo feared that it would charge at her, the little one surprised her by gently wrapping her trunk around Lolo’s wrist. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Lolo stepped forward and patted the baby elephant who immediately trumpeted loudly and cuddled against her.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” asked Lolo, wondering where the elephant had come from. There was no legible reply from the baby elephant apart from another trumpeting sound and she began to follow Lolo who was looking in between the plantain trees to see if she could see any other elephant nearby. Lolo realized that this was one animal who could not or did not want to talk in human language.
She was now in a dilemma. Should she try to take the elephant back to the Animal Kingdom, or should she just leave her new friend here? As she was debating this in her mind, she heard a faint “Lolo” call. It was Hoofoo who had come home and been told that Lolo had gone out alone. Being very protective of her, he had decided he would look for her and bring her back.
“I am here” she called out and looked at the baby elephant, who was now munching on some plantains from a nearby tree and looking content. About a couple of minutes later, Hoofoo reached the place where she was, and Lolo told him all about her encounter with the baby elephant. Hoofoo nodded and tried to get the baby elephant to talk, who just snorted and turned his head away. He seemed to understand everything they said, but refused to say anything.
“Humbaa!” said Hoofoo in solidarity with the animal language and then turning to Lolo said, “It is not safe to leave him here. Let us take him with us!”
“Not safe for him or not safe for the trees” laughed Lolo pointed at the broken leaves and branches that our little destroyer had managed to strew all around the place.
Hoofoo smiled and sent up a prayer that this newest addition would not bring down the Animal Kingdom all around its huge ears and they started to lead it back home.
“Let’s call him Kolu” said Lolo skipping here and there on her way back. She had forgotten her woes for the time being, and was happy at having found another baby animal who seemed to need them.
Kolu was happily going with the two of them, because Hoofoo had wisely broken off a whole bunch of plantains and was feeding them to him one by one. “Can we call you Kolu?” asked Hoofoo.
Kolu nodded and continued munching. So that was settled and once they reached home, the rest of the animals exclaimed and made a huge fuss of both Lolo returning safely and Kolu, who seemed exotic to them, because he did not talk like the others did.
Kolu accepted all the attention as if it was his due, and if he got something to eat from time to time, he had no problems with anything else. He was quite the happy go lucky baby elephant anyone had ever seen. Even Squee calling him a huge stupid lump did not get a raise out of him.
Lolo smacked Squee for this unkind remark and the two of them had a little scrimmage which was sorted soon enough, because Squee could never bear for Lolo to be mad at him. Five minutes later, he was up on Lolo’s shoulder nibbling on some nuts and her ear from time to time and looking suspiciously at the baby elephant to make sure that it did not become Lolo’s favorite.
Kolu stomped his way around the house and settled on a large ottoman for his bed where he lay down and soon began to snore.
He was the largest animal to live in the Animal Kingdom, but also the most kind one. Kolu never learnt to talk in human language, but he could understand every word and he would respond using sign language or gestures. Everyone there loved him to bits and he returned all the love by doing any heavy lifting in the house. Squee and he managed to rub along together, though neither one like the other one too much. He adored Lolo and was fond of Hoofoo who would always have a treat ready for him. Tortie’s kitchen tasks doubled because Kolu had to be fed and fed a great amount of food but Tortie never begrudged this fact.
Kolu, the little destroyer, blended into the Animal Kingdom, as if he had always been there…
Note: The image has been sourced from Google Images.