Pani’s First Flight

Early one morning, when the garden still smelled of rain and frangipani, Nila and her brother Kavi heard a tiny trumpet behind the banana trees. There, sitting in the dew, was the smallest elephant they had ever seen. He was blue as the sky, and on his back were two little golden wings. “Are you lost?” whispered Nila. The baby elephant nodded and flapped his wings so hard that his ears flapped too. “My name is Pani,” he said. “My family flew home over the mountains. I was too scared to fly, so I stayed behind.” “Then we will help you learn,” said Kavi. Pani ran down the garden path, flapped with all his might, rose one whole step into…