The Last Elephant Keeper

Part 47

Khumo watched as Blaze dug up the ground with her tusk, revealing a small pool of fresh groundwater. The other elephants rushed to the water's edge and eagerly drank, their trunks plunging into the cool liquid. Khumo couldn't help but smile at the sight of them. Despite the hardships they had endured, they had never lost their sense of wonder and appreciation for the simple things in life.

Khumo curled up inside her cosy tent, holding her mother's notebook close to her chest. It was the only thing that kept her from getting bored in this remote campsite. She opened it to the section that she could read without a code-breaking device. It was a treasure trove of her mother's discoveries and insights about the natural world.

She had documented everything she had seen and learned during her travels across Africa, from the majestic lions and elephants to the colourful birds and flowers. She had also drawn beautiful sketches that captured the essence and beauty of each place she visited. Khumo felt a surge of wonder and curiosity as she turned the pages, following her mother's footsteps and imagining what it would be like to see those sights with her own eyes.

Khumo's eyes widened as she scanned the pages of her mother's notebook, admiring the sketches that brought them to life. Her mother had a gift for drawing and had used it to record her impressions of the places and creatures she encountered.

She had sketched everything from the towering mountains and waterfalls to the exotic birds and insects, with such realism and detail that Khumo felt as if she could touch them. She marvelled at the diversity and beauty of the world that her mother had explored, a world that was unknown and mysterious to Khumo and most of humanity.

Khumo was captivated by the sketches of different landscapes that her mother had visited. She saw images of vast, arid deserts, where sand dunes formed endless waves of golden sand. She saw pictures of towering mountains that rose above the clouds, with snowy peaks that sparkled like diamonds in the sun.

She saw illustrations of lush, tropical rainforests, where greenery covered every inch of the land and exotic animals hid among the trees. As she turned the pages, Khumo saw drawings of magnificent animals that ruled their habitats. She saw lions with golden manes and fierce eyes, tigers with orange fur and black stripes, and elephants with long trunks and tusks. She also saw animals that she had never seen before, with bizarre features that made her question their reality. Some had horns, wings, scales, or feathers. Some had multiple heads, eyes, or limbs.

Some looked like hybrids of different animals. But Khumo knew that these were not just figments of her mother's imagination. They were based on the films, books, and media that her mother had used to create her work. Her mother had taken these sources and transformed them into her own artistic vision, using her sketches and writing to express her creativity and originality. As most of the animals hadn't even been at the zoos anymore. They had all gradually disappeared.

As she read through the notebook, Khumo felt a deep sense of connection to her mother, even though had now felt like years being alone with elephants, and her journey, it had become a constant source of inspiration to overview her mother's journey against her own journey.

Khumo sat in the late afternoon sunlight, her mother's notebook resting in her lap. As she flipped through the pages, she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the sketches and descriptions of far-off lands and creatures that she and most of the world had never seen.

But when she lifted her gaze from the notebook, she was struck by the contrast between the worlds she had seen. The barren soil under her feet, the dry shrubs, and the elephants roaming in the distance. It was a stark difference from the colourful and diverse world that her mother had drawn.

It was a moment of dissonance, of realizing how different the real world was from the imaginary one. And yet, Khumo felt a surge of awe at both. The rugged beauty of the African landscape that surrounded her, and the amazing creativity of her mother that had filled the notebook with wonder.

Khumo had only been in the barren African land for a few weeks, but she had already found beauty and wonder in it. She was amazed by the vastness and emptiness of the land, how it stretched beyond the horizon, leaving nothing but sand and sky. She was enchanted by the bright stars that filled the night sky, shining like jewels and guiding her way.

She was fascinated by the elephants that she had befriended, how they communicated with each other, how they protected each other, how they remembered each other. She felt a connection with them, a bond that transcended words and species. She felt a sense of awe and gratitude for being able to witness and experience such wonders, even in a place that seemed devoid of life.