ElephantProof3

I Sat Beside
An Elephant

Written by
Keith Lawrence Roman

Illustrations by Summer Joy Clancy

I Sat Beside An Elephant
Morningside Books Hardcover Edition
Copyright © 2011 Keith Lawrence Roman

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States of America by

Morningside Books, Orlando, Florida
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations,
places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living

or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition is cataloged as:
ISBN 978-0-9827288-5-7
MorningsideBooks.net

Printed in the United States of America

I Sat Beside
An Elephant

Every weekday I wake up,
get dressed to go to school,

I pack a lunch of P and J,
my notebooks, and a rule.

Looking up the street
I see,

The bus stop stark
and bare.

But by the time I
reach the bench...

There's always
someone there.



I sat beside an elephant, while waiting for the bus.
The wind was blowing briskly across his mighty tusks.
His breath was strong and powerful,
a sweet familiar smell.
It was the kind of odor one recognizes well.
He offered me a peanut
"No thanks," to him I said.
"I wouldn't want to go to school,

with peanuts on my breath."



I sat beside an elephant, who sat beside a bee.
The bee was buzzing loudly, so loud I was displeased.
I noticed then the bumble bee was wearing a small vest.
And pinned to the lapel of it, some flowers on his chest.

"Could you buzz more quietly, this book I have to read."
"Care to sniff my flowers," the bee then said to me.
"I can't, I've got to study, plus flowers make me

sneeze."



"Suit yourself," the bee replied, "I only meant to share,

The fragrance of the flowers that fill the morning air."

"Look," I said, "Don't bother me. Stop being such a pest.

When I get to school today I have to take a test.

"The test is long and very hard, and I don’t want to

flunk." The elephant was balancing a

peanut on his trunk.

I couldn't help but be amazed

while trying not to look.

"Could you two please both behave.

I've got to read this book."



I sat beside an elephant, who sat beside a bee,

Who sat beside a Zebra and five small chimpanzees.

"Oh come on!" I said to them.

"Now when did you arrive?"

"Didn't you invite us, when you closed your eyes?"

They were right, I knew it. I'd rested for a bit.

Somehow when my eyes were shut

they'd all slipped in

to sit!

This was really much too much.
I closed my book and stared.
I'll never concentrate on school
with peanuts in the air.
Or chimps that chatter,
bees that buzz, and
zebras with their stripes,

All gathered at the
bus stop,

now dancing with
delight.

Looking up the road I saw, the bus was finally coming.
I gathered up my books and gave the bunch of them a
drumming.

"Quiet down," I told them all, "The driver doesn’t know,
That you and I meet every day, where you put on a show."





"Hide yourselves behind the bench.
Climb into a tree.

"No one else will understand…
the things I sometimes see."

I looked back to the elephant,

but he wasn't there.

I couldn't hear the bumble

bee buzzing on the air.

There weren't any

chimpanzees or zebras

to be found.

The bus stop now was empty,
of sights and smells and sounds.

"Fine," I thought, "It's just as well. I've got to get
to class.

"If I can study on the bus, perhaps the test I'll pass.

"I'll take my seat and get to work, this time my mind
won’t drift.

"I'll keep my eyes down on my book and never let
them lift."

I really did my best that day.
I tried to pay attention.
But there is just this one thing more,
I feel that I should mention.

Standing there beside the road,
with the bus arriving,

When the bus door opened wide...

The Elephant was driving!