A Hitch in the Stitch

SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFF! Pasha had a bit of a cold. When an elephant has a cold it’s a terrible thing, because it takes an awful long time to blow a trunk.

“Have you got a cold, Pasha?” asked his Chinese friend, Lily. “You should dress warmly.”

“But I am dressed warmly,” snuffled Pasha. He was wearing a huge cardigan and a great black coat and two pairs of socks. How much warmer could he get?

“You need a scarf,” went on Lily. “I’ll knit one for you.”

“Thank you very much,” said Pasha politely, although he wasn’t quite sure scarves were quite his thing.

“Let’s see,” said Lily. “How many balls of wool will I need?”

Now that was puzzle indeed. How many balls of wool DID it take to make a scarf for an elephant?
“Well, I’m giving the sheep good business,” said Pasha to himself, and he trundled away, leaving Lily to work out the answer.

Lunch at the Library

Pasha trundled into the library cafeteria. He squeezed himself between the railing and the counter and looked at the menu. Pasta or roast lamb? He couldn't quite decide.

"Where are the veggies?" he asked, the lady behind the counter, nearly knocking over some French fries in the process.

"You could try the burger or salad," said the lady with a smile. People smiled a lot when they saw Pasha. Of course, some people looked rather wary, like the person behind him in the queue, who looked like she was afraid of being squashed.

"I guess I'll have the burger," said Pasha. He picked up the little buzzer and sidled off as best as he could to the cashier.

How strangely spice-less the cafeteria seems, he thought, sniffing hard.

"ATISHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo"

Half a dozen people ran for cover when Pasha sneezed.

"Sorry," said the hapless elephant, giving wiping his trunk on a couple of napkins. "A fly went up my nose."

"Well, thank goodness it isn't hay fever," said the cashier, handing him the receipt.

Pasha Meets a Quokka

Pasha the elephant was in the library. He was looking for a book called How to Get a PhD. He squeezed himself between the shelves.

"Oooof!" he said, "Nearly got stuck there." He swung his trunk to the topmost shelf to pick up a book. Then he heard the oddest noise. A sort of thump-thump. Whatever could it be?

Suddenly something small and tiny squeezed between Pasha's big legs. "Oops, sorry about that," said the tiny creature. It looked like a rat, but it hopped like a rabbit.

Thump, thump, went the animal as it tried to hop up to the topmost shelf. "I wonder if you could reach up and grab that book for me?" said the quokka (for that's what the creature was called). "I'm a little short handed, you see."

So Pasha obliged. The grateful quokka introduced himself. "I'm Kip," he said.

"How do you do, Kip," said Pasha politely.

"It must be nice to be so large...very useful thing your trunk."

Pasha felt pleased. Perhaps there were advantages to being, well, a bit large.

"You must come over to my place, some time," said Kip. "I live on Rottnest Island - the only place in the world where you'll find quokkas like me."

So Pasha agreed to spend a weekend with Kip.

"Oh, and look, here's that book you were looking for," exclaimed Kip. For right on the bottom-most shelf, far below an elephant's eye, was How to Get a PhD.