Because they’re afraid of mice.
The Bard Dad
Ellie the Elephant
In the heart of the big, green jungle, Ellie the elephant was feeling a little bored. All her friends were busy – the monkeys were swinging, the parrots were chattering, and even the lazy sloths were slowly moving through the trees.
“Hmmm,” Ellie mumbled to herself, “I wish there was something fun to do.”
Just then, her friend Monty the monkey came swinging by. “Ellie!” he called out. “Wanna race? I bet I can reach the tallest tree before you!”
Ellie giggled. Monkeys were always up for games. But as she started to run, she saw something shiny on the ground. “What’s that?” she wondered.
It looked like a big rock with smooth, flat sides. There was even a strange skinny tail attached to it. Ellie had never seen anything quite like it. Very carefully, she reached out her trunk and gave it a poke. The shiny rock twitched!
Ellie jumped back with a squeal. “Goodness, it’s alive!”
Just then, something even stranger happened. A tiny, gray creature scurried out from under the shiny rock and ran across Ellie’s enormous foot.
“Eeek!” squealed Ellie. That little creature looked just like an extra-big mouse! Elephants may be large and brave, but they really, really don’t like mice. Ellie stormed off, trumpeting with surprise.
Monty, confused, came swinging down from a branch. He looked at the shiny rock and poked it too. “Hmm,” he said, “Looks fun.” And he started tapping on the flat sides.
That’s when Ellie realized – they were playing with a computer! It made sense now: the shiny rock was the screen, and the skinny tail…well, that must be something computer-related. Elephants never used computers, that’s why they didn’t know much about them.
“Monty,” Ellie warned, “You’d better be careful. You never know what might pop out of those things!” Ellie shuddered, remembering the terrifying giant mouse.
From that day on, Ellie made sure to tell all her elephant friends to stay away from strange, shiny rocks with tails. After all, you never know when a super-sized mouse might make an appearance!
