The Elephant Woman Chapter 2

Deenie

As I waited and watched excitedly in the bushes as the women bathed, my eyes almost popped out of their sockets at what happened next. They all got out of the river and came to the shores. Normal women would have dried themselves and then put on their clothes and leave. The women didn’t. Instead, they walked in a single file to a fallen tree that lay at the other end of the river. That was when I saw it. I now fully understand why these women didn’t have clothes. They had something else. Elephant skins. They were elephant women.

Lying on the fallen tree, arranged neatly, were leather-like things that looked like elephant skins. The first woman took hers, wore it and immediately became an elephant. The second woman did same and also transformed into an elephant. Cold sweat ran down my spine as I secretly watched all of them became elephants. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had often heard of these things but here I was, having an extremely rare opportunity to witness it firsthand. 

Oblivious to my presence, the women who were now elephants gave out loud trumpeting sounds and went into the forest, moving in a single file. Luckily for me, and for them too, they weren’t coming towards my direction. I would have been forced to shoot. I crouched low until they had all left. I then left my hiding place and went home. Back at home, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I kept thinking about these women. I had never seen women so beautiful. Of course, they were witches and had magical powers. That could explain the reason for their beauty which was really ethereal. 

One of these women particularly had caught my interest. They were all beautiful but that particular one was extraordinary. Something strange was happening to me. I was falling in love with an elephant woman. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get her away from my mind. Finally, I decided that I will do everything I can to have her as my wife. It was going to be a very dangerous business. But I was someone who was used to danger. I confronted danger everyday and survived. So, I decided that I was going to have her, come rain or highwater. 

Haven made up my mind, I went to the forest the next day hoping I could catch a glimpse of them at the river. I waited the whole day but they didn’t show up. I went back home. The next day, I was there again, still no sign of them. On the fourth day, a group of elephants came to the river to drink. I was excited and thought they were the ones. I waited, hoping they would transform into humans to bathe. They didn’t. After a while, they left and I was convinced that those ones were just ordinary elephants. 

It had been a month now and I was already thinking that I was never going to see the elephant women again. I had been to the river bank several times to no avail. My love for the beautiful elephant woman was killing me. I could no longer concentrate on my hunting. I spent my nights and days just thinking about her.

One day, after a long hunting day, I was going to the river to have a drink when I saw a herd of elephants. There were about ten of them. I didn’t make much of it because I thought they were normal elephants. I raised my gun to shoot, but something strange happened. They started transforming into humans. I almost died with excitement. I had been waiting to see them again for more than a month and here they were. It was with great effort that I was able to restrain my self from rushing forward and meeting them. My excitement doubled when the last of them transformed. It was the one I had fallen in love with. I almost went crazy with my wanting for her.

They all kept their skins on the fallen tree trunk and waded into the river one at a time. They started bathing and splashing and singing and playing like kids. However, I wasn’t crazy about their nude and beautiful bodies. I had worked out a plan and it was time to execute it. From my hiding place, I had noticed where the elephant woman I loved kept her skin. I decided I would steal it. It was going to be quite tricky and dangerous but my love for her gave me courage.

I waited until I was sure they were really carried away by their bathing. I crept forward like a commando and stole the skin of my lovely elephant lady. I crept back to my hiding place, collected my personal effects and went to my bush house. When I got to my bush house, I carefully hid the elephant skin in a place no one could find it except me. After I had done so, I went back to the river bank just as the ladies had finished bathing. 

They started putting on their skins and transforming back into elephants. When it got to my lady’s turn, she couldn’t find her skin. She was shocked and reported the matter to the other elephants. They looked all around and searched every nook and cranny around but couldn’t find her skin. She started crying. She wept bitterly as she looked for her skin. Her friends who had already transformed, scattered the surrounding bushes, angrily. The let out loud and angry trumpeting sounds. However, it was all futile. After about an hour, they decided to give up and left.

They left without her. She could no longer be with them. Without her skin, she was just a human and could no longer be counted as one of them. She was abandoned. I felt pity for her. She was all alone on the river bank, naked from head to toe and didn’t know what to do. She was frustrated. After haven wept until she was exhausted, she laid on the river bank to warm herself. I suspected she was catching cold. That was my opportunity and I took it.

I crept from my hiding place and moved slowly and cautiously towards her. She seemed to have noticed someone was approaching and immediately stood up. She was frightened when she saw me. She realized she was in danger and how helpless she was. She tried to run away but I followed her and caught her. She fought back. I was amazed at the strength she had. She fought so viciously that for a moment, she almost broke free. However, I was a man of immense strength and I succeeded to pin her to the ground. Being so close to her naked body gave me a tingling sensation. 

“Who are you?” She asked. “Please don’t hurt me. I am a poor helpless woman.”

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