The Elephant Gate

Yawning, Kevin padded into his bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Today would be his first day at school at the palace. He wondered about the teacher and whether she would notice his accent. Because he knew he didn't talk like everyone else here, but he wanted to fit in. For a moment, he thought about his school back home.

He felt a pang as he wondered if he would ever see his friends and teachers again. Did his mom and dad miss him? Did they know where he disappeared to, or wondered where he was? Until he could figure out how to return, he would learn everything he could here. They had trucks and hot tubs and electricity, but no telephones. His wooden toothbrush worked, but it wasn't anything like his plastic Spider-man one at home. So maybe he was on a different planet or something.

Once he was in his clothes, he headed downstairs for breakfast. The captain was already there, so he made a quick bow before settling in his seat. The housekeeper brought in the usual breakfast, and he remembered to thank her. When they were finished, the two of them walked to the truck.

"I will drive you today, but tomorrow, you will be picked up by someone from the palace," Captain Thadchai said, "I have to work with the troops then."

* * *

Surikitiyia was waiting for them as they pulled around the circular driveway in front of the house. Kevin clambered out; the captain gave a quick bow to the little girl and drove away. She grabbed Kevin's hand and towed him into the house.

"Come on, K'vin! Khun Joy is already here." In short order, they were in the classroom. A slight, dark-skinned woman was there, sorting through papers at the wooden desk in the corner. Her dark brown hair was bound up in a bun, and there were wire glasses perched on her nose. She looked up and smiled when the children appeared.

"Hello! This must be Kevin. How are you doing today?" She seemed friendly and approachable; Kevin remembered his manners and gave her a bow.

"I am fine, Teacher Joy."

The woman gestured to a small wooden chair in front of the desk. "Let's have a conversation, so we can determine where you are in your studies. Khun Thadchai has already explained your circ.u.mstances." At his puzzled look, she continued, "That you are from another country but planning to stay here a while."

After what seemed a long time, she was satisfied. "You have excellent math skills, so you can join in with Noy Surikitiyia immediately. Your speech we can also work on, although you are perfectly understandable. The biggest problem is your history and social studies; we will have to focus you on the history of Pratheptikundee and the surrounding countries. I'm afraid there will be a lot of reading in this subject."

"That's okay, Teacher Joy. I'm a fast learner."

She smiled. "Okay, we will start with math and science today, and I will give a few books to read at home. Khun Suri, come over here and let's start."

* * *

The morning passed quickly, and Kevin was surprised when the teacher stopped for lunch. It was very different being in a class of only two; at home, there were about 25 students in his math class. Teacher Joy didn't use a chalkboard, but sat across the table and talked about the lessons in the book. He thought this was a better way to learn. Did royal children at home like in England learn this way?

They ate at a poolside table, and chatted about the plants in the garden. This led to a stroll through the garden where Kevin was tutored in the types of various tropical plants and trees. They ended up at the gazebo where he first arrived.

When they got there, he gingerly sat down on the bench, wondering if it was going to whisk him back to his own place. He relaxed when nothing happened. Suri brought back several different flowers.

The first was a ring of bright orange claw-shaped flowers on a gray woody stick. "That's called the Flame Of The Forest," the teacher said, "And the other is a Shooting Star." This flower had a myriad of light pink flowers on long red stems. Kevin thought it looked more like a firework than anything. There were so many different colors and shapes to the plants around him, and he was reminded yet again that this wasn't his real place.

The sun was halfway to the horizon when they trooped back to the palace and up to the classroom. The instructor pulled several books from the shelf and handed them to Kevin. "Read through these at your own pace, and we will discuss it a little each day." He held them to his c.h.e.s.t, happy that he might discover where he was in relation to America.

When Captain Thadchai picked him up at the palace, he had good news. "The naming ceremony for our little elephant will be tomorrow afternoon. Of course, you will still have school in the morning, but I will pick you up after lunch and take you to the elephant pavilion."

"What about the training you were going to do?" Kevin asked. The captain smiled.

"It's good that you remembered. It has been pushed back a day, to accommodate this event. You have the name all prepared?" Kevin bit his lip for a moment.

"Does it have to be written? Because I know how to pronounce it, but it's different here."

"Okay. After dinner, we'll sit down and determine how it should be written out in our language."

Kevin felt funny at the "our", but already it seemed more natural to think about his current circ.u.mstances as permanent. After visiting the wooden house today, it was getting less likely that he would be able to go home.