The Animal Facts of Life

Chel Owens

“Elephants are pregnent fohr two years!”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. Dhey also have duh biggest bwains of mammals.”

She smiled in the rearview mirror at her son. He sat hunched over his animal facts book.

“You know,” she ventured, “there’s a saying that ‘an elephant never forgets.’ Maybe because of their big brains.”

He didn’t answer. She knew he heard; he always did. That, the slight speech impediment, and his obsession with one topic made adults think he didn’t.

She sighed and rubbed her stomach, wondering how he’d handle being a big brother. Unlike an elephant, they only had nine months.

casey-allen-49544-unsplash

Written in response to Carrot Ranch‘s prompt this week. If there’s one thing I think of with sisu, it’s pregnancy.

May 2, 2019, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about sisu. It’s a Finnish concept of enduring strength, the ability to consistently overcome. Think long-term. Go where the prompt leads!

Respond by May 7, 2019. Use the comment section below to share, read and be social. You may leave a link, pingback or story in the comments. If you want to be published in the weekly collection, please use the form.  Rules & Guidelines.

 

Photo Credit:
Casey Allen

25 thoughts on “The Animal Facts of Life”

    1. For some reason, I just read your comment. 🙂 I wrote this in thinking about how long pregnancy is, and imagined a conversation with a sort of mix of my second and third children.

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  8. Pingback: Sisu « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

  9. This story shows a lot of compassion, Chelsea. I like it. I agree that pregnancy is a great example of sisu. But imagine two years of it! No, don’t! 🙂

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