Free Elephant Talks to God by Dale Estey

burst out of him in a rush.
    â€œNo.” God’s answer was equally abrupt.
    â€œBut I —,” began the elephant.
    â€œIt must be earned,” said God. “In fact, it must be earned without trying.” The cloud started to move. “You can’t have a dynasty.”
    â€œI want to share my joy.”
    â€œAs children …” The cloud halted in its ascent. “As do all children … they have seen me. That is the right of children. And although they call me by many names and see me in many forms, they know there is a friend who is with them.”
    â€œI don’t remember you,” said the elephant.
    â€œNo. You are not to remember.”
    â€œAnd then do you go away?”
    â€œNo,” said God. “They leave me.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œTo live a life,” said God, relenting as he once againapproached the elephant. “As your children will with you.” The cloud chuckled. “As it sounds your girl is already beginning to do.” God laughed outright and startled the elephant. “As you have done so … extravagantly … with your life. I never heard such fervent entreaties as those which came from your own parents.”
    â€œI was a pain,” said the elephant.
    â€œIn the resounding elephantine buttocks,” agreed God.
    â€œThey wanted to stop me,” said the elephant. “They wanted me to be like everyone else.”
    â€œThat isn’t fair,” said God. “Nor is it accurate. I heard from them enough. They desired neither of those things.”
    â€œBut —”
    â€œThey wanted you to be safe,” said God. “They wanted you to be healthy. They wanted you to be happy.”
    â€œMy girl says I want her to be too careful and safe.”
    â€œYes,” said God. “I know.”
    â€œIs she talking to you?” The elephant snorted in surprise, and a foolish grin crossed his face.
    â€œIt’s a good thing,” said the cloud, as it once again started into the sky, “that I am an eternal God existing in infinite time. Your family alone has seen fit to keep me well occupied.”
    â€œWill you answer her?” asked the elephant.
    â€œOf course I’ll answer her, as I answer all who come unto me.” The cloud began to move across the sky. “But in this case, I think I’ll let you do the talking.”

The Ant’s Point of View
    The elephant surveyed the remnants of shattered trees, the gouged earth, and the still turbulent waves.
    â€œYou know,” he said, looking up at the storm cloud hovering overhead, “a herd of us on the rampage have got nothing on you when the mood strikes. You trying to tear down in one night what it took seven days to create?”
    â€œSix days,” noted the cloud. “On the seventh …”
    â€œâ€¦ day you rested,” finished the elephant. “You gotta be patient with us lumbering beasts; after all, you didn’t give us fingers so we could count.”
    â€œBut I did give you memories,” said the cloud.
    â€œI know,” said the elephant. “I haven’t forgotten.”
    â€œAnd this display,” added God, “looks far worse than it is. Natural forces occur to keep my earth in a happy balance. Life is already reviving and reasserting itself.”
    â€œCould you not be a bit more gentle?”
    â€œMy winds must go somewhere,” said God. “As you already mentioned, even elephants go upon the occasional rampage.”
    â€œI’ve never done anything like this,” said the elephant.
    â€œYou’ve not seen yourself from the ant’s point of view,” answered God.

Staring at the Stars
    The elephant was staring at the stars.
    It was well past his usual time for sleeping, but he did not feel tired. He stood away from the other elephants and, with much concentration, picked out the various constellations.
    With each one he recognized, he