Ellie and the River Turtle

Ellie was the youngest elephant in the herd, and she had never been all the way into the river.

She had put her feet in at the very edge, where the water was warm and shallow and she could see her toes. But every time she tried to go deeper, she stopped. The river was so wide and so noisy and so impossible to see to the bottom of.

On a hot afternoon, all the other elephants were wading in deep and splashing each other with great lazy sprays of water, and Ellie was standing on the bank with just her toes in the mud.

Then a small green turtle came out of the reeds and stopped beside her. His name was Oliver.

"Are you coming in?" asked Oliver.

"I'm not sure," said Ellie.

"I'm going in," said Oliver.

He stepped off the bank without pausing and walked straight forward until the water came up to his chin. He stood there, perfectly calm, looking back at Ellie.

"The bottom is just mud," he said. "Soft, squelchy mud. I can feel it between my toes."

Ellie looked at Oliver — who was very small — standing in the river — which was very big — looking completely comfortable.

She took one step.

The water came up to her ankle. It was warm.

She took another step. And another. The mud was soft under her feet, exactly as Oliver had said.

She was in up to her knees.

She was in up to her belly.

The water was cool and the river smelled of green things and reeds, and somewhere nearby her family was splashing and laughing in the enormous happy way that elephants do.

"It's wonderful," said Ellie.

"Yes," said Oliver. "I come every day."

They floated side by side in the cool green water — one enormous creature and one very small one — and it was the best afternoon Ellie had ever had.