Elle’s Dream by Anjali Nair

When Tootle Town sipped morning tea,
The baby elephant spoke in glee:
“I shall go and visit the moon,
And be back by this afternoon!”
The entire town did guffaw and giggle
But baby Elle just shouted with a wiggle,
“Over the horizon a bridge there must be,
From where I’ll jump to the moon, you’ll see!”
Strawberries in bag and a big yellow cap,
Set out our little Elle, without a map
She climbed two mountains, rolled on grass,
To find the horizon so she could pass.
But days became months and even more
Our Elle saw cities and even a shore!
Though colourful cultures much amazed,
The unreachable horizon left her fazed.
She walked, jumped, rowed and sailed,
Tears filled her eyes as she sadly prayed.
Too far the horizon lay as the sun went down
But in front of her now she saw Tootle Town!
By this strange occurrence, Elle was puzzled,
So the bubbly panda hugged her and chuckled:
“My baby Elle, this earth is round,
The horizon you seek can never be found!
The dismayed Elle sniffled and missed the moon
But to her rescue came the wise baboon!
“It’s true you erred and true you failed
But you dreamt big, that’ll come to your aid!”
“So what if you didn’t reach the moon,
Everything on the way was still a boon!
You travelled the world, far and wide,
Had good food and adventures wild!”
“You spoke new tongues and made new friends,
Ate muffins with papayas, tried the latest trends!
Delicious are the experiences you’ve got,
And those are worth a rainbow pot!”
“The moon is just a piece of rock
That I wouldn’t trade for a clunky clock!
If you understand what you’ve learnt,
You’ll know this failure’s irrELEPHANT!”
Elle sniffled and gave it a thought
What an insight she had got!
So she pondered as she gulped her tea,
“What next great dream should I see?!”