Story based off of an image I've seen:
It was a warm evening in the Jungle of Nool.
But Horton the elephant, was not enjoying the cool of the pool.
Instead the elephant had good thought drilling his mind. It had been at least a month or two since he set the speck of Who-ville on the top of Mount Nool. Sour Kangaroo, or Jane if you will, was against the idea of a small civilization existing upon a speck of dust, even went as far to destroy it. However, Horton and the whos finally proved their existence and changed Jane's mind. She's much kinder now, and no longer mean, really. Even let Rudy join his class. But ever since that day, poor Horton, just couldn't get her off his mind. Jane may seem old, but her and Horton are about the same age. Jane is older by a year and a half.
Horton, poor, poor Horton, the elephant, when Kangaroo would drop off Rudy for class, he'd freeze up. Horton had to admit to himself, he was developing something for Jane, but in his mind, thought she'd never be looking for a partner anytime soon, if at all. Her and Rudy seemed just fine by themselves.
Jane would drop off Rudy about every day, and greet Horton. It would be about four seconds flat before she got a response out of him. A stammered, stuttery, 'hello'. Kangaroo would think nothing of it. The two would talk for a moment before she'd hop off and do her business around the Jungle, or in some cases, go straight home. Such was the case when she showed up to drop Rudy off, practically sneezed all over Horton and hopped home without saying a word.
Now, here Horton was, again Kangaroo dropped off Rudy like always, and there Horton paused. Jane would happily greet him, but he had froze.
"Oh H-hey!" he finally say.
When Horton did finally respond, a general conversation would start up. After a while Kangaroo would say a brisk farewell and a 'I love you' to Rudy, before hopping off. As soon as she left class started. Horton did his normal class without interruptions, usually. Every so often his mind would slip over to Jane Kangaroo, but he'd shake himself back into focus. From there on out, class went on without a hitch. It was until class ended and the students followed Horton back to the pool, the common meeting place. There the parents would either pick up their kids, or the kids would walk their way home. In Rudy's case, his mom always picked him up. So, when she bounded up to bring Rudy home, that's when Horton had an idea.
He was nervous, boy was he ever, but decided to carry out this little plan of his. The kids were all gossiping in a circle, and Kangaroo was bounding up quickly. So Horton went to a nearby flower patch and picked as many as he could before Jane arrived. When she did, she quickly hid the flowers behind his ear with his trunk. Now ridiculous looking, Horton did his best to keep his cool.
"Hey Horton!" Kangaroo greeted.
"H-Hey, Jane I uh…" Horton paused.
"What are you hiding behind your ear?"
Now Horton was nervous for sure. He took one more quick glance at the kids before he revealed the flowers. Kangaroo looked at the flowers, then Horton, and back at the flowers. Horton had the biggest blush of his face. Now, Kangaroo, made sure the kids weren't looking. They were indeed, still busy talking.
"Why, t-thank you, Horton." She grabbed the flowers from him and began to stick them in her pouch. "I'll uh…" but now, even she was at a loss for words.
Instead, she cleared her throat, loudly and abruptly, quickly placing the flowers in her pouch.
"Rudy!" she called.
Rudy said goodbye to his friends and hopped over to his mother.
"Bye, Horton!" He exclaimed.
"Have a wonderful day, Horton!" Kangaroo yelled to Horton as she bounded off.
Horton sighed, feeling accomplished.
However, when Jane went to her little jungle hut home. She sighed, not exactly knowing whether or not she has returning feelings. She never truly felt love, but being around Horton, now, felt... different. Something she herself, couldn't explain. Rudy, popped into his mother's room, wandering if it wa okay for him to go outside and play. She happily said, yes, and patiently wanted for him to leave the house. When he did, Jane smiled to herself. Finally admitting she has a thing for Horton, and put the flowers in a makeshift vase.