Bastille Animal Imagines

All About the Ears

Asian elephants and African elephants are actually quite different in size and appearance. If you keep reading, there's a biological comparison between the two species.

Woody's POV

     I swatted the bugs hovering around me as I happily observed the elephant in the enclosure, laughing up a smile when it munched on a juicy watermelon. It tooted from his trunk before cracking open another fruit, eating the melon at the speed of light. The trainer walked through and used her key to unlock the gate to the play zone.

     "This baby boy's so cute!" Kyle squealed, doing a kiddish dance at the sight of the elephant.

     "Mate..." Will muttered. "That's an adult Asian elephant. They're smaller than their African cousins. Are you stupid?"

     "Maybe I am, but are you?" Kyle snickered.

     This boy. I will never, ever understand him.

     "Ky...don't make him...do...that again," Dan begged his best friend. "Please?"

     "Oh fine, it's an Asian elephant, yeehaw..." Kyle muttered and rolled his eyes. "Happy now?" He scowled at our bassist.

     "Sure," he chuckled and leaned against the wooden railing, watching the elephant trot around in the dust.

     "I honestly hate that bastard sometimes," Kyle whispered to Dan.

     So do I.

     We eventually got bored of the single elephant that was now just standing still in the playing zone. Dan spotted another animal enclosure from afar, and ditched us to run towards that one. I decided to follow our frontman, as Will was still in a daze, eyes still on the Asian elephant. Kyle tagged along, and we both caught up with Dan at the next enclosure.

     "I think we lost Will," the singer said.

     Kyle shrugged. "Not necessarily a bad thing."

     Dan laughed slightly. "That is true, mate."

     "Never mind that man," I smiled and shook my head. "You wanna see what's in here?" I pointed to the dusty lands of the enclosure.

     "Looks like...another elephant?" Kyle tilted his head at the elephant sign. "Let's find one of those info cards to see!"

     "Onwards!" Dan cried out childishly, pushing Kyle through the public as they searched for one of those information signs.

     "H...hey! Wait for me!" I shouted, wanting to join the search in the last minute.

     The three of us swerved through the crowd of zoo goers, wanting to see what kind of animal lived in this habitat. I ran to try and keep up with them, being the shortest band member. However, a stiff and wrinkly bar cut me off, and knocked me to the ground. Instead of people hovering over me to ask if I was alright, a massive burst of laughter ensued right after I fell.

"Mate!" Dan ran to my side. "You okay?"

"What the fuck was that bar thing?" I groaned.

"It's not a bar, idiot!" Kyle swooped in and helped me up. "You just collided with the trunk of an African elephant!

"A wha?" I looked up and squinted at the bright sky. "Where?"

"Over there!" Dan beamed.

I turned my head and saw a massive, grey, wrinkly, and playful elephant standing right beside me, literally against the railing. It lifted its trunk and blared a loud call, shaking its head slightly as the sound erupted from its trunk. An ear folded and swatted away some mosquitoes, continuously flapping back and forth casually with the other ear.

"See her ear?" Kyle pointed. "That's how you tell the difference between Asian and African elephants!"

"Wow!" Will shouted at Kyle as he pushed through the crowd of curious and confused observers. "You're not as stupid as I thought!"

"Fuck you!"

"Maybe you should've looked at their sizes too," Will rolled his eyes. "But at least you three have it figured out by now."

"At least you can shut your smartass mouth," Dan scoffed.

"Oh shut up."

The African elephant stomped and shook her head happily, raising her trunk occasionally. Her ears flapped for the sake of ventilation, and I got a sudden crave to reach out and touch them.

"Wood! Don't!" Will hissed. "You can't just touch the-"

"You're fine!" A middle aged worker laughed at us. "Just don't stick your fingers in her ear!"

"Thank you!" Dan smiled and waved.

"Go for it!" Kyle ushered me. "I wanna know how it feels!"

"At least gimme some space!" I laughed.

"Fine!"

I reached up and ran a finger on the wrinkly and thin ear, bringing some comfort to the elephant as she closed her eyes comfortably. The wrinkles created a pathway for my finger to run through, and before I knew it, my hand had ran all the way down the ear, falling off at the bottom tip of her Africa shaped ear.

"You're a real beauty," I quietly mumbled to the majestic mammal.