Wishes of Land Life
Wanda the purple whale wanted to be an elephant. She longed to feel the firm ground beneath her massive feet. She longed to have feet at all. Every day she would leap out of the water and wish: “Could I get a chance to experience life in elephant form?” Her friends the Octopus, mermaid, school of fish, underwater cartoon dragon, and horseshoe crab looked on in amusement.
A Magic Woman Hears the Plea
The hearts of Wanda the Whale’s longing reached the ears of a pink-haired magician named Trina, by way of the Queen of Hearts who hears all longings. Magical Trina approached Wanda (by walking along the water) and cooed: “While it is paramount to love and embrace yourself exactly as you are, there are times when it IS beneficial to experience life in another form. It can give great perspective.”
Trina held her hand upright. Lightning bolts jolted from her palm, juxtaposed against the lime green sky. Then: ZAP!
The Transformation to Elephant
Wanda looked down, and behold — she had become an elephant!!! Unfortunately she was still in the ocean, so she hollered for help. Trina exclaimed, “Oops — forgot about that!” and teleported Wanda to the nearest shore, thumping her upon a sand dune.
LAND! Wanda stomped left and right, kicking up dust (such exciting dry DUST) and putting a flower behind her massive elephant ear. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, and every sensation was a revelation — both familiar and new. Some monkeys saw her and exclaimed, “It’s an elephant!” Wanda puffed up her chest with pride and responded: “That’s me.”
Wanda spent many happy days as an elephant. Some aspects of elephantine life were as great as she expected — some even better. To be honest, though, other aspects of her new form were more frustrating than she’d guessed they would be. Either way, she gained new perspective on life for sure, trying on such a different body and context.
Would YOU Stay Elephant or Return to Whale?
A month later, Trina the Magician returned, her pink and purple hair blowing in the wind. “Now it is time for you to choose,” she told Wanda. “Do you wish to remain an elephant forever, or return back to being a whale?”
What do you think Wanda will choose? What would YOU do, and WHY? Do share!
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The author and artist, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has been a public school educator since 2003, and an experienced Reiki practitioner since 2018. All art on this site is original and hand-drawn by Lillie. She launched DrawingsOf.com Educational Cartoons in 2020, building upon the success of her other sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009), TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010), and ReikiColors.com. Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!
Dave M.
Wednesday 8th of July 2020
Such a fun story! And these might be your most playful drawings yet :)
Lillie Marshall
Wednesday 8th of July 2020
Thank you! It was interesting to hear my son's answer to the question at the end. He said, "I would turn back into a whale because whales have fewer predators." Clearly we've been watching a lot of Planet Earth and Wild Kratz and are concerned about elephant issues.