The Elephant Gate

It was dark when they finally arrived back at the townhouse. "Would you care to come in for a nightcap?" He asked. Rose smiled and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"I'd better not. I still have to put in some work tonight, and I have a 9 am meeting with my agent. Some other time." With an unhurried movement she kissed him. "Take care, Kevin Hunter."

He held her hand against his face for a moment before smiling. "You too, Suri."

When he unlocked his front door, he turned and waved at her. She blinked her headlights before backing down the driveway.

When he got inside, he was too keyed up to sleep. Instead, he poured a glass of wine and went to the loft study.

Why was he drawn up here? He looked over at his desk, but there was nothing in his head to write down. He wandered around, looking at his collection of elephants, and the objects and books on the shelves. His eye fell on his childhood friend.

He set the half-empty glass down and picked up the stuffed animal, searching its eyes for some answer. "What is it that you want to tell me?" he mused.

With a tiny tearing sound, the object inside the elephant slipped out of a seam and landed on the thick carpet. Setting the animal aside, he bent down and picked up the object.

It was slightly horn-shaped and made of some cream-colored material. He rubbed his finger against it; he knew this object, and yet was unable to identify it.

He walked over to the desk and woke up the computer. Using the webcam, he snapped a picture and sent an email with the attachment to one of the researchers at the publishing house. Maybe they could determine what it was. Once sent, he carried it down to his bedroom and left it on one of the nightstands. After showering, he slipped under the covers but spent some time looking at it before sleep overcame him.

* * *

The next morning he was going through his emails. Near the end was a response from his email the night before. The intern must have been up early! He eagerly clicked it open.

"Mr Hunter: I'm not 100% sure, but it appears to be a tooth or tusk, some type of ivory. You might want to check with Professor Morton. He's with the National Zoo and has knowledge of most of the larger animals. I've included his contact information in the bottom of his message. Good luck!"

He waited until 10 am before making the phone calls. After going through a few layers of assistants, he was able to speak with the professor directly. Without going into the details, he described the tooth, and the man agreed to meet at the Zoo at noon.

Kevin puttered until he couldn't wait any longer, and headed to his garage. In short order, he was a the zoo. He was over an hour early, so he decided to wander around the exhibits. Coming through the Connecticut Avenue entrance, he almost immediately was in the Asian exhibit.

On the few times he had been the the zoo, this was his favorite trail to walk. He wandered around past the sloth bears and the clouded leopards. He walked past the pandas and the other indoor exhibits, prefering to stay in the bracing air. Every one in a while, he would reach into his pocket, and touch his curious object.

Lost in thought, he followed the path to the right. A loud trumpet noise knocked him out of his reverie. He looked up and realized he was on the Elephant Trail. A female was walking the Elephant Trek portion of the exhibit, but had stopped to stare at him.

He again felt that tickle in his mind, but it was so much more clear that when he was with the horses.

[[Why does that human have a tusk of our young? I can see it in his mind.]]

Kevin was astonished. The voice sounded strange, and not human. He wasn't even sure he was hearing words. What was trying to communicate with him? His eyes went back to the elephant, who had walked the Trek until it had reached the closest point to his location.

"Are...are you talking to me?" he called out. There was still meters of space between where he was standing, and that elephant, and he thought she couldn't hear him. She lifted her trunk and called again.

[[I can hear you. I have never spoken with a human this way.]]

He backed away from the fence and turned to hurry away, all but running down the path and around the Elephant Center. The elephant thundered down her own path until she reached the main outdoor paddock. By this time several other elephants had stepped out. As a group they wheeled and faced the corner of the building, agitatingly swaying from side to side. The handlers came out of an entrance, surprised by the herd's behavior.

There were now several voices ricocheting through his head, almost sounding like his mother's Florida friends at the restaurant.

[[Who is it? Did the human talk to you, Shanthi? Yes the human spoke and understood. Can the human really hear us? Did he?]]

He covered his ears but the voices continued. Finally, in desperation, he yelled "Stop!". The voices instantly stilled. He cautiously pulled his hands away and looked up. There, in the dusty yard, three elephants stared at him, perfectly still except for their ears.

By now the handlers had approached the huge animals, but they took no notice of them.

Kevin was a little calmer by now. In fact, in the faint recesses of his mind, he remembered doing this before. Somehow talking to elephants, but he could not bring up a location, only some hazy images of a baby elephant. He shook those memories away for now, wanting to focus on what was going on here.

[[Uh, Shanthi. Are you the elephant on the trail?]]

The largest elephant took a step forward from the other two and lifted her trunk.

[I am, human. How is it that we can speak?]

[[My name is Kevin, and I don't know. I have never done this before. ]]

[My son Kandula told me he thought he heard a human talk to him. I did not know if he spoke truth.]

Kevin didn't know what to do, rooted to the spot by the eyes of these big gray animals. His watch chimed noon. He licked his lips nervously, then communicated again.

[[I must leave now, but I will come back and talk again soon.]]

The elephants called out once and then dispersed, allowing the handlers to move them back towards the Elephant Center. Shanthi stood there the longest before she, too, turned around to lumber away.