Nobody's Drabbles

by Mikell

A series of 200 word, narrative drabbles. I've deliberately left out names and dialogue (in most), to practice and improve my narrative characterization. ("Tell" is the exception, being 100% dialogue.) Random topics. Mostly set in the 2k3 series, with occasional references to the 2k7 movie.

3. 3 Oliphant

~Oliphant~

When he first saw the creature, his brothers came immediately to mind. The youngest loved animals of all kinds, and this one… well this was something special. He watched as it swayed, lumbering through the jungle, and a familiar but forgotten word came to mind. Oliphant, that's what they were called, the fantasy, bred-for-war cousins of this real life behemoth. The genius had read to them and though he'd feigned only polite interest, the story was one of loyalty and honor and it had stayed with him.

The others would love this. The youngest would be near bursting with excitement. The reader would rattle facts off like a living encyclopedia, and the fighter would watch, the way he was watching now, gauging distance, calculating reaction time, estimating the ways in which the creature could be used as a means to his end.

Even as he considered strategies, an impatient circus worker prodded it with a sharp stick, causing the creature to grunt, a near-human sound of pain. His eyes narrowed, and the plan adjusted. A bound, a swipe from a razor-sharp blade, and the man stood, staring, at his newly-shortened stick, completely unaware of the passenger, or the elephant's gratitude.