Humor, and also an Elephant.
I woke up on my birthday morning to find an elephant. No, I’m serious; there was an elephant in the room. His gray body cast a deep shadow on the yellow of my walls and the small elephant picture on my wall. The big blue bow tied around his waist contrasted well with my red curtains. Someone must have gotten it for me as a gift. At least this mysterious gifter had the presence of mind to buy a baby elephant. A full grown adult would have dwarfed the room, making my already undersized bedroom feel small and cramped. Even this baby was making me claustrophobic. He would definitely have to live outside.
“Who bought me the elephant?” I yelled upstairs as I was getting dressed; the elephant was watching me awkwardly. Like he would rather be anywhere else than watching a teenage girl get dressed. “Yeah, well I know a lot of guys who would kill for a chance at sitting where you are right now; a couple girls too.” I smirked at him. He just huffed and looked away.
“Guys?! Who bought me the elephant?” I opened my door but no one answered my calls. It was absolutely silent up there.
I ran from my room, carefully leading Leroy (what I had decided the elephant would be called) out of my door. He only had about half an inch of room on either side of him through the door, but he made it alright and sort of nodded at me as if saying thanks. He must have been claustrophobic in there too.
END OF PART ONE. PART TWO FOLLOWS.
Once Leroy and I were out of my room, I noticed how dark it was. I peeked back into my room and saw that it was pitch black inside when I turned out the light. My clock glowed eerily in the darkness: 8:30am. Why was it so dark? In April, the sun rises much earlier than I do, lighting up my room through the blinds. And usually even at night the street lights gave some sort of glow.
The house was so dark; I had to turn on every light as I climbed the stairs. Even the giant bay window in our dining room wasn’t letting any light in. I opened the blinds and it was black. I’m not sure how else to describe it. Black and nothing.
“Okay, this is getting scary.” I looked over at Leroy. His ears were flat against his head. He looked hungry, “guys, if you’re going to give me an elephant you have to tell me how to look after it!” I tried yelling. No one responded to my call.
I opened the window in the kitchen and reached out into the dark. I stuck my arm out as far as it would go and felt my fingertips touch something hard. My fingers made a tapping sound on the object, like I was tapping on a piece of thick paper. I ran around the house and opened every window, and at the very edge of my reach I could tap on something, and every time I heard the same noise. Leroy was following as fast as his little fat body could let him as I jogged through the house, frantic.
“Come on guys! What’s going on?!” I screamed to the empty house; my voice echoed off the walls.
I jumped when I heard the music start, “MOMMY!” No one answered my shrieking and I soon recognized the song as the doorbell.
The peephole in the door showed me nothing, just the same black emptiness that filled every window. I opened the door and the black fell away.
“April fools!” A familiar voice shouted as a black box was pulled away from my door.
I looked out and saw that every window on my house had a big black box around it, “you guys are cruel.”
“And happy birthday,” My mom said, smiling like a maniac, “do you like the elephant?”