Two stood beside him.
The smallest sent the dust skyward.
His mother had not ordered extra dust.
It arrived anyway, low across her foreleg, followed by a small trunk that remained raised after its work was done. She paused with a mouthful of grass. Beside her, the calf watched the pale patch settle on her skin.
Then he looked at his own back.
Still grey.
Two Beside Him
They had stopped above the shallow water at Wadi Nara. Reeds stirred along its edge, and distant birds stepped carefully between the reflected branches. Here on the bank, the ground was warm and dry, with fine earth beneath a thin crust.
The calf stood between his mother and her older sister, whose tusks curved farther past her trunk. His aunt scraped the crust with one broad foot. She gathered loose earth, lifted her trunk, and sent it across her shoulder. Dust drifted into the folds of her skin.
His mother did the same. A cloud passed over her head and settled along her back. She lowered her trunk and resumed chewing.
The calf followed the cloud until the last grains disappeared. He curled his trunk toward the ground, gathered a little dust, and lifted it as high as he could.
The puff went forward.
His mother acquired a second patch.
Where It Went
He stepped sideways to inspect her leg. His trunk touched the newly powdered skin, then reached toward his own shoulder. It did not arrive where he wanted it.
His mother began moving toward another patch of dry ground. The calf hurried beside her, watching her trunk instead of her feet. Before he crossed too close in front of her, she rested its tip against his flank. He shifted outward and continued alongside.
His aunt had already reached the new patch. She broke its surface, tossed a broad veil of dust over herself, and moved one step away to reach some grass.
The calf put his feet in the shallow scrape she had left.
Loose powder brushed his toes. He lowered his trunk, but paused before lifting it. Dust from his aunt’s last throw was still drifting past his mother’s side. A dry grass stem bent in the same direction.
He turned until the breeze reached the back of his ears.
His mother came beside him. He shuffled around once more, putting his own back in the direction the dust had been travelling.
Then he gathered another small trunkful.
Above His Head
This time, he lifted the tip higher, opening the tight curve of his trunk before releasing the dust.
A little cloud rose above his forehead. For a moment, sunlight shone through it. Then the breeze carried it back, scattering fine grains over his ears and shoulders.
He kept his trunk raised while the empty air cleared.
His mother brushed his side as she reached for grass beyond him. A pale streak came away on her trunk. He turned toward the touch, then tried to look along his own body.
One ear folded back. His head followed it. He took a sideways step, and his hindquarters turned with him.
The dusty patch remained behind his head.
His aunt’s tail swung past his nose. He stopped turning to investigate that instead.
One More Customer
By the time he returned to the scrape, both adults were eating. Dust softened the dark creases along their backs. His mother stood close enough that he could lean against her leg while gathering another small measure of earth.
He moved clear, lifted his trunk, and blew.
The cloud rose higher than the first. Most settled on him. A little travelled farther and landed on his aunt’s shoulder.
She turned her head. The calf still had his trunk in the air.
After a moment, she went back to her grass.
He lowered his trunk into the powder again.
Apparently she had not cancelled her order.
Leave a Reply