Elephant and the box that grinned

When Riman proudly placed his carved elephant in the centre of the classroom display he had no idea what was in store for his school.
Elephant was feeling grumpy.
“I really do not want to be here,” he mumbled. “Why should I have to go to school or be in England at all. Take me back to India where I belong!”
The beautifully decorated box in which he arrived sat beside him..

The box coughed with some dignity. “Ahem! If you don’t wish to be at school, Elephant, we must do all in our power to close the school down. It seems to me we have two choices-Plan A or Plan B.
Plan A-We put up with being at school and try to make the best of it. Plan B-We cause so much trouble that they’ll have to close the school down and we will not have to stay here anymore.”
“I’ll go for plan B.” grumbled Elephant. And all the time the Box grinned.

That’s when the trouble all began. No-one suspected Elephant when the school computers crashed. No-one saw him dip his trunk into the box and sniff up some magic dust and no-one saw him breathe it out all over the classroom. But things were going to get worse!

Miss Merryfeather, the class teacher was the best teacher in the whole school. Everyone knew it. Elephant listened to the children talking.
“It’s Science this afternoon. I think we’re learning about gravity.”
“Should be good. Miss Merryfeather always makes her lessons fun.”

“It certainly will be fun today,” smaned Elephant, but nobody heard him. And all the time the box grinned widely.

The lesson began. “One thing is certain, children. What goes up, must come down,”said the teacher. She threw a ball into the air to demonstrate her point. No-one saw Elephant sniff the incredible dust in the magic box. What happened next was entirely unsuspected. The ball did not return to the floor, but rose to the ceiling, sticking fast.
“That should not have happened at all, children,” exclaimed Miss Merryfeather. “Now each of you throw your ball up and we will see how the force of gravity works.”

Each child followed her instructions. One by one the balls rose higher and higher, some floating in mid air, others sticking fast to the ceiling. The children gazed in wonder.
Elephant blew again. With a swirl seen only by Elephant and his box, magic dust swirled around the teacher’s feet. Suddenly Miss Merryfeather rose from the ground and somersaulted to the ceiling shrieking,
“Help me children, help me. Send for the head teacher at once!”

When the head teacher emerged, the class was in chaos. He could hardly believe his eyes! Thirty children were drawn like magnets to the suspended balls. There they hung or floated in unison,, some upside down and others catapulting from one side of the room to the other.
The head teacher looked at the board and read the learning objective: “To learn about the force of gravity. What goes up, must come down.”
“Too right!” agreed Elephant. “Let’s put it into practice.”
And all the time the box grinned a horrible grin.
Elephant sucked some more magic dust into his trunk. Then “Whoosh!” Out he blew and balls and children dive bombed to the floor. They landed in the cushioned area of the book corner in a most ungainly heap, topped by a sprawling Miss Merryfeather who was quite overcome by the turn of events.

Elephant did not expect the head teacher’s response. Surely he should be extremely upset. But no!
The head teacher read the learning objective again.
“What an amazing lesson Miss Merryfeather! Indeed I will ask the school inspector to come and watch your lesson. We will be crowned the best school in the area.”

Elephant grew even more grumpy. Nobody heard him secretly trumpeting, “Not if I can help it! Come on Box, do your stuff this time.
And this time the box grinned a most powerful grin!

The school inspector arrived the very next day to watch Miss Merryfeather’s Design and Technology lesson.
Design and make a Christmas trifle. That was the task set for Year Three. The children had worked hard, mixing in their carefully chosen ingredients. They had succeeded in making chocolate sauce, lemon meringue, strawberry custard, and blackcurrant jelly. These wonderful things were placed into a bowl to make one big trifle, topped with sponge fingers and coconut creams. What a trifle it was indeed! Miss Merryfeather took the trifle out of the refrigerator. Today was evaluation day. The children would have the opportunity to taste the trifle and answer questions: Did it taste good? Was it too sweet? What did they like or dislike about it and how might it be improved?
Each child stood around the enormous trifle, spoon in hand, as the school inspector appeared at the door.

Elephant twirled his trunk and winked and the box beamed a triumphant grin, opening his lid to puff out his magic dust. It swirled around the classroom like a thick fog. The inspector rubbed his eyes. “It seems rather misty in here . Perhaps my glasses need cleaning, ” he said.
He was totally unprepared for what happened next. Suddenly the trifle started to bubble,-gently at first, plopping here and there, but as the magic dust fell, so the bubbling increased. Soon the bubbles turned into waves. Cones of chocolate sauce and lemon meringue rose into the air like molten lava. Fountains of jelly cascaded over the side of the trifle bowl. Streams of strawberry custard , flowed around the classroom, the children wading up to their ankles. Coconut creams bounced off the windows like a meteor storm.
Suddenly the sponge fingers stood to attention and pointed in a definite direction-straight at Miss Merryfeather. As they pointed, so her shoes began to curl, the toes twirling like long tentacles. They were heading toward the school inspector. They wrapped around his legs, pulling him toward the class teacher. Miss Merryfeather and the school inspector joined hands to steady themselves, scrambling to keep on their feet. But it was to no avail. With a mighty thud and amidst terrified shrieks they plunged headfirst into the Christmas trifle.

The children were too busy surfing around the classroom on a jelly river to see how funny everyone looked. The magic dust suddenly disappeared back into the box. Miss Merryfeather and the school inspector stood to their feet.
The school inspector quivered with rage. He wiped the chocolate from his eyes and glared at poor embarrassed Miss Merryfeather who was practically concealed in lemon meringue. “Never in all my days as an inspector have I experienced anything like this!” he shouted. “I intend to have this school closed down immediately.”

At that moment the door opened and in came the school caretaker, carrying a huge bundle under his arm “Special delivery for Year three,” he announced. “Shall I unwrap it for you Miss?”
Miss Merryfeather nodded.
The parcel contained the most magnificent Christmas tree the class had ever seen. It was placed in position overlooking the Christmas crib that detailed the true meaning of Christmas. The lights on the tree twinkled like a thousand stars, beaming down on the face of the Christ child.
A great sense of peace and joy swept through the room. Elephant had never felt anything like this before. He felt ashamed. Christmas was a time to bring joy to others and he had spoilt it all. His small carved body began to shine like gold. The box too began to sparkle.
Everyone in Year Three turned their eyes to the display table and it was then that Elephant spoke in a small clear voice: “It was me. I did it. I thought if I caused trouble, the school would be closed and I could go back to India. But I got it wrong. Please don’t close the school Mr Inspector. I like it here after all.”

“Yes, me too,” added the box sincerely, “and to prove we’re really sorry, we’ll magic the trouble away.”
Elephant waved his trunk deep into the box and sniffed up the magic dust.
“Puff!” He blew it strongly into the classroom.

Immediately events seemed to rewind as if a button on a remote control had been pressed. The computers started working again. The trifle slid back into its bowl. and the whole room returned to a neat and tidy state. Miss Merryfeather’s tentacles were reduced to toes once more. The lemon meringue that covered her swooshed into vapour and the school inspector was dressed as smartly as he was before entering the classroom.

“Ahem!” The school inspector cleared his throat, his anger replaced by astonishment. “Upon my word! A talking elephant and a box that works magic! How truly amazing! Miss Merryfeather, I feel that I may have been a little hasty here. Who brought this elephant and his box into school?”

“I brought them in, Sir,” said Riman. “My uncle gave them to me so we could all learn about Indian Elephants and study the interesting patterns on this special box.”
“Ingenious!” said the Inspector. “Miss Merryfeather, I can see that your class is very keen to learn. No way can I close this school. In fact, I think I will recommend it as the best school in the area.”
Miss Merryfeather beamed and Elephant trumpeted. The Christmas tree lights shone even brighter. Then to everyone’s amazement Elephant climbed down from the display table and the box trundled after him. Together they walked over to the tree and sheltered beneath its branches

Elephant said, “Dear Christmas tree may we join you. We want to feel this Christmas joy forever. And the box grinned his happiest grin all the time from that day forward.