The circus confines had slowed to a crawl; the sound of coarse-speaking carnies yelling to
one another, barkers voices calling out tempting words to passersby to take a chance at a
game of skill or sport, and the raspy voices of venders with food for sale. All had grown
silent except for the call of hungry animals and their handlers voices going about their
morning routines.
The night before had been full of confusion and great activity. In addition to the usual
hustle and bustle of the carnival and the nightly performance under the Big Top, one of
the elephants had given birth to a girl, who was named Lotus Blossom by her mother, Genji.
Ike, the circus veterinarian, and the handlers attending the birth were exhausted; both
mother and baby were doing fine and were in good health.
Genji released a big sigh of relief as she relaxed into a state of pleasure. Covered in a
thin layer of mud, Genji lifted her trunk and stroked the small infant beside her. It was
early summer and already it was extremely hot. As the mud cooled and protected her skin
from burning, Genji thought about the events of the last day. Genji moved slightly and
uttered a small groan and winced in discomfort.
“Why do humans complain so much about the length of time before giving birth to their
young? Elephants have to wait twice that long!”
She lifted her head slightly to catch a glimpse of Blossom, who was making an awkward
attempt to get up onto her feet; she wobbled unsteadily and plopped to the ground in a
puddle of mud. Everyone watching chuckled at the young one.
“Come here, little one” said Ike. Blossom was looking dazed and rather embarrassed by her
clumsy try at standing. She looked at Ike, unsure of whether or not to trust him, she
looked at her mother for support, blinked several times, and with trunk upraised took her
first steps over to him. She extended her trunk and after a long time smelling him, she
was sure that he was safe. Ike patted her lovingly and then Blossom shyly returned to her
mother’s side. Without any warning, Blossom’s legs gave way and she slid down onto the
muddy ground. The handlers and circus performers that were milling around laughed
heartily at the sight.
Blossom was sweet, gentle, alert, and interested in everything! Genji had to make sure to
keep a watchful eye on her little one in order to keep her out of harm’s way! Blossom
learned a lot about the circus just by following the carnies around. The grumpy circus
workers were always yelling at Blossom—her trunk and body were always into everyone else’s
business.
“Hey, get out of that, you overgrown pest! Simon, where’s the trainer of this pesky
elephant?”
“Jimmy is over there getting something to eat—hey Jimmy, bring animal under your control
and get her out of our hair! Every time we turn around she’s getting in the blinking
way!”
“Sorry Simon, but a man’s gotta eat. Blossom, don’t go running off like that, you know
better! Stay with me—we have to go over our steps. Just wait a while and we’ll play a
game, okay?”
Concern began when odd, spotted markings that rather looked like polka dots appeared on
the infant’s skin. Ike performed some tests. Besides the unusual markings, Blossom was
in perfect health. The other animals and handlers could see that Blossom looked different
and began to avoid the little one. They all talked among themselves saying,
“Look at the skin on the newbie? Those markings —they look just like polka dots! We
should all call her Dotty the spotted elephant!”
“Oh, oh I have a great rhyme!”
“Tell it then!”
“I know a little elephant who’s rather spotty,
I think I’m going to call her Dotty.
She looks really different from all the others,
I’d stay away if I had my druthers!”
“Billy-Joe, you’re just a gen-u-ine poet, you’re so funny!”
“Billy-Joe,” Will said, “You always gotta make fun of everyone and when you don’t got no
one to pick on, you choose a poor little animal who hasn’t done a lick of harm to
nobody—shame on you!”
And still others, both human and animal, were really concerned for the little elephant,
but were even more concered for themselves and remained a safe distance way. The animals
spoke their concerns among themselves. Some were strongly unfair in judging the infant
based on her looks and won over other animals to feel the same way.
The smartly dressed tiger, Darlington, and his misses, Lady, were clearly against getting
close to Blossom, saying, “I think that animal is sick. Just look at her—the outfit’s
just horrible, don’t you agree? I don’t care what you or anyone else says, I’m keeping my
distance and I think everyone else should too.”
“Are they sure that she won’t give us some kind of sickness? I mean, will we get all
those awful spots on us and die?”
“That’s such a silly idea Jolie!” trumpeted back Jasper, one of the male elephants. “Sick
elephants don’t stay here very long. They take sick animals away from the other animals
to a special place—an animal hospital or something!”
“Jolie, don’t be saying things like that around Miranda. You know how she gets—every
little cough becomes an epidemic! She’ll milk a cold for all it’s worth and miss practice
until it get’s downright disgraceful! ”
“Ah-huh,” said Tiki, “and I know there are a few more animals that shall be nameless who
do the same thing! You’d think that they’d trust what Ike says, after all he is the
doctor who takes care of us!”
A group of monkeys were jumping up and down screeching support for the small elephant,
their brightly colored outfits and little matching hats with tassels on top sliding
every-which-way. Their cries went unheard with all the other animals loudly talking all
at once.
“I’m going to believe what Ike says about that little one,” said Senna, a kindhearted
mother elephant who was a friend with the infant’s mother, Genji.
After all the arguing, there were some who were supporting Blossom and many more who were
against her. Blossom heard all the things that were said about the spots on her skin and
was upset.
Blossom tried some different ways to get rid of the spots:
Plain water—that didn’t work at all; a mud-soaked sponge rubbed briskly over the spots;
trying to rub them off using whatever was handy—a tree trunk, the side of a building,
which just made her skin sore or bleed! Everything Blossom did to get rid of those spots
only hurt her skin, and made other marks that Ike had to take care of with a creamy
ointment.
Some of the entertainers, especially the clowns, would see what she was doing to get rid
of her spots, which they thought was side-splittingly funny! Whenever they saw her they
teased her by imitating her trying to get rid of the spots and laughed at her to the point
that she would cry and run to find her mother and hang her head in shame. Anyone who
knows anything about elephants knows that they are very sensitive creatures, and Blossom
was no different.
The set-up crew saw the way the young elephant was treated. They decided to befriend her;
she was a pest at times, but the sweet-natured animal won them over, she often provided
them with some much-needed entertainment in the way of an unplanned game of keep away or
some other made up game that amused them all. Blossom enjoyed their attention and was
sometimes able to help them by moving things that were heavy.
“I need to find something to do so I can have some fun,”
Blossom said to herself. She wasn’t sure what that was, but knew that she needed to find
it—and fast!
Blossom began watching the other elephants as they practiced their routines; sometimes two
of the monkeys, Ting and Ling, went for a ride on her back. Blossom looked forward to a
time when she could perform under the Big Top, but these dreams many times were crushed by
the fact that her spots would keep her dreams from coming true.
************************************************
The circus traveled most of the year. During the winter months they performed indoors.
Genji had been watching her baby become more and more independent. Dotty, as she was now
called, was growing up. Working at her training with Jimmy Donnelly was the best time of
the day;. She had finally found something that she was good at and loved doing with her
time; Jimmy felt just as happy to be caring for Dotty. This was his first chance to care
for and train an animal from the beginning. He was excited to prove that he could handle
all parts of her care and training.
“Dotty!” Jimmy called. “It’s time to practice our steps! Dotty turned her head, to look
in the direction of his voice. He strode over to the elephant. Dotty rubbed her trunk
over his face and chest saying hello to her close friend.
Jimmy was always amazed at the natural talent that Dotty had. She was far ahead of the
other elephants of the same age; whatever he taught Dotty, she learned quickly; talent and
style were a part of her makeup, After watching the older elephants, Dotty secretly went
off to a quiet spot where she practiced the steps as she remembered them; with each
repetition her legs and body were becoming stronger.
Dotty thought, “If only I could get these steps down perfectly! Maybe I will be noticed
someday and I can be in a show under the Big Top.”
Jimmy encouraged and praised Dotty at practice, telling her that she was special,
beautiful, gentle and sweet. He hoped that she would somehow understand that she was
wonderfully made—one of a kind! Once a week the young elephants got together and
practiced a routine that was run by another trainer, Rob, and the choreographer, Stefan.
Many of the elephants made mistakes and had not learned the steps properly. Rob and the
Stefan were amazed at Dotty’s ability to perform all the steps with ease.
Stefan said to Rob, “In all my years working with circuses all over Europe, I have never
seen such skill in any elephant of this age. She performs like an elephant twice her age!
Who is her trainer?”
“She trains with Jimmy Donnelly. I haven’t seen him working her any harder or more often
than the others. Dotty has a mother who performs admirably in The Chasse Elephants on
Parade.”
“She must have performing in her blood, then!” Stefan said. “I would like to get a better
look at her and see her perform in a different setting,”
Jimmy and Dotty went through their practice routine for Stefan and he observed every step
of his choreography performed perfectly by the young elephant. Dotty even surprised Jimmy
with a few steps of her own that she saw the older elephants doing and ended with a lovely
curtsy. Ting and Ling arrived in time to see her dance and did back flips and clapped.
Her audience offered her much praise and applause for her grand performance. Dotty loved
all the attention and the chance to show off her hard work to Stefan.
She walked over to Jimmy and Stefan with as much confidence as she dared show. She rubbed
her trunk affectionately over Jimmy’s chest, blowing a hefty gust of elephant breath on
his neck. He laughed good-naturedly knowing she was asking for a treat. As she gladly
took the treat from Jimmy, he said, “You’ve been busy, haven’t you? I think you deserve a
mud bath and a good meal, too!” Dotty rubbed against him all the more when he said the
magic words—MUD BATH! Dotty pranced around—as much as a young elephant can, as Jimmy and
Stefan’s laughter filled the air. As Dotty enjoyed her bath, Jimmy and Stefan talked
about training and choreography for the animals.
“So, Jimmy, you have been her only trainer? If this is so I am very impressed with both
of you, being so young.”
“Been seeing to her since she was born; been gettin’ ready from about age fourteen to take
over the care and training of one of these little ones –have enjoyed every minute workin’
with this one.”
With his final statement, he took his mud-soaked rag and gave Dotty an affectionate splat
on her side. Being disturbed from her daydream, Dotty trumpeted her slightly annoyed
response to his gentle slap. After some hosing down of a very relaxed, happy elephant and
a bit more light-hearted banter from Jimmy and Stefan, they parted ways.
Weeks passed since Dotty performed for Stefan. Life went on much the same as before.
Dotty pretended that she was performing under the Big Top as the “star” of the show,
wearing a fancy headdress, just like her mother wears; twirling and dancing. Dotty,
swayed to the lively beat of the calliope music of the carnival playing merrily in the
background and lifted herself up on her back legs and twirling completely around. As she
came to the end of the dance, she curtsied to her audience’s grand applause. Jolted out
of her imaginary performance under the Big Top, Dotty’s thoughts are interrupted by Jimmy
coming toward her whistling a happy tune.
At that moment Dotty remembers who she is and most-likely what she will become—“Who will
even give me a chance at stardom with my spotted skin? They all call me names like Dotty,
Polka-Dotty, and those are just the ones I’ll repeat! My name is Lotus Blossom and I’m a
nice elephant, I love people, and I love to dance!” Jimmy knew well the look of sadness
in her eyes and comforted Dotty with a kiss and gentle words that made her feel happy
inside—just a little.
“Dotty, you’ll have your chance to shine one day, just wait and see! For now believe in
who you are—sweet, loving, smart and funny.
**********************************************
A big problem had been brewing, almost unnoticed, by many of the circus people.
Jasmine, an important member of The Chasse Elephants on Parade was very sick. Ike, the
vet, was on call, day and night, to tend to his ailing patient. The owners of the circus
worried about the elephant and about losing a very important act—everyone who comes to the
circus expects to see a performance by the elephants. The trainers were trying to figure
out who could take Jasmine’s place in the show. The more they thought about it, the more
hopeless it seemed.
Stefan, the choreographer, had been out of town for several weeks and didn’t know anything
about the sick elephant. When he returned the trainers came to Stefan asking him what he
thought they should do.
“Hello, my friends, it is so good to be back!” Stefan said.
“Stefan, the elephant, Jasmine, has been very sick and Ike isn’t sure when she will be
able to perform again.”
“How long has she been sick?”
“Two weeks I’d say,” Bobby said. “Performed a few days, then she just lay down and stayed
there.”
“Does Ike know what’s wrong with her?” Stefan asked.
“He dint know fer sure. Thinks a virus’s keeping her down.”
Word of Stefan’s return traveled quickly and in no time,
a crowd of trainers started to form around Stefan. All were talking all at once, hoping
that he would have an answer for this difficult problem. One trainer, Simon Dillon, spoke
the words that were on all their minds,
“In the mean time,” Simon said, “We got a big problem! We dunno what to do about the act;
the owners are upset, they want a stand-in for Jasmine in the act right away!”
Buddy, Jasmine’s trainer, said, “Jasmine has a solo and has the most difficult dance steps
in The Chasse Elephants on Parade.
Willie chimed in. “Been wracking our brains for days on who could take Jasmine’s place on
such short notice. Ain’t got no elephants that have the smarts to take over that quick!”
“Stefan,” Bobby said, “You got any ideas of what we can do?”
“Not off-hand, gentleman, but I will think on it. I believe that there is an answer to
every question; it is staring us right in the face, we just haven’t seen it yet!”
Stefan’s thoughts were as mixed-up as the trainers were. “There has got to be an answer,”
thought Stefan.
At times like this, Stefan had to walk. He walked all over the grounds of the circus
starting at Jasmine’s pen. Stefan and Ike talked for a while, and then he continued his
walk. Stefan was so deep in thought that a few times he almost bumped into carnies who
were moving heavy gear to set up for the next show. They spoke angry words or cautioned
Stefan to be more careful.
“Are you crazy? Look where you’re goin’, man, don’t ya be dreamin’ and gettin’ in our
way—there’s a show on tonight and we don’t have time to be nursin’ you!”
Other people greeted him as he passed, but he almost didn’t hear them. He was just full
of questions that seemed to have no answers. Stefan‘s thoughts and quick pace caused him
to nearly pass by a figure in an out-of-the-way section of the circus grounds. As he
stopped to look, he realized that it was Dotty, playing her imagining game. Without
making a sound, Stefan watched Dotty perform her routine flawlessly—she twirled, danced,
and even raised herself up on her back legs with her trunk raised high. When she had
finished she curtsied and then skipped off her make believe stage.
Stefan realized in that instant that Dotty was the answer to their problems—she was
absolutely perfect! Straight away, Stefan ran back across the grounds to find Rob and
tell him the good news that their prayers had been answered! Stefan found Rob and the
others eating lunch near the elephant pens. By the time Stefan reached them, he was so
out-of-breath he could hardly speak.
“Gentlemen,” Stefan said, “our problems have been solved! You will not believe it until
you see it for yourselves! I have not seen it in one so young though—such grace, talent,
ability…….”
“Grace, talent, ability--What in heck are you talking about, Stefan? What or who has made
you so excited?” Ron said.
“It is the little one—Genji’s baby, Dotty.” The mouths of all the men dropped at once as
they repeated the name “Dotty—you got to be kidding!”
“Save the act?” Billy-Joe said. “Polka-Dotty can save the act—How? With that skin she’ll
wreck the whole thing—No way!”
“It’s like they made a mistake and tried to erase it and made a bigger mess!” said Buddy.
Stefan was very surprised at their point of view and resistance to the solution to the
problem facing them. Few had ever seen her perform the routine he had prepared and Dotty
had gone far beyond the others in her dancing ability.
Why are you so against Dotty?” Stefan said. “You have decided from the time her spots
appeared that she looks different and ugly, so she must be untalented as well; you think
this gives you a good reason to treat her badly. She deserves a chance to show what she
can do! Give me the name of another elephant to put in Jasmine’s place! You cannot—I say
that she gets a fair showing and…”
“Well, I guess we’ve got no other choice but to see what ole Spot can do. If she ain’t no
good we don’t have to let her do it.”
“She is wonderful, you’ll see. There are few elephants that are as gentle and sweet in
nature and have the talent to perform in the Chasse Elephants on Parade,” replied Stefan.
Stefan led the way to Jimmy’s trailer. It was now mid-afternoon and fairly hot; Jimmy was
sitting in a lawn chair outside his trailer, soaking in the sunshine and reading his
Bible. As he saw the group coming near, he met them half way. Jimmy didn’t get mixed up
with the tattletales, gossips, and unimportant and things that didn’t involve the show.
He knew the general attitude of the trainers about Dotty so he remained uninvolved and let
the others worry about it.
“Hello, my friend, it is good to see you again! I believe that I have the answer to all
our problems with The Chasse
Elephants on Parade act. I have convinced these fine gentlemen at least to consider …”
“We come to ask you a favor.” Rob said. “We’re hopin’ that you and Dotty would perform
Stefan’s routine for us. We need a replacement for Jasmine in the Chasse Elephants on
Parade right away and Stefan believes Dotty is the one for the job.”
Jimmy was very surprised and hopeful that Dotty might be able to dance in a real show!
Jimmy agreed and was grateful for the chance for Dotty to shine at the thing that she
loved to do most of all—Dance!
The trainers, Stefan and Jimmy went to get Dotty from her pen; Ting and Ling were keeping
Dotty company, doing tricks on her back. They all walked over to the Big Top. Dotty had
only seen it from far away, but had never been inside; she didn’t know what was going to
happen—but it was all very exciting! Amazed at the size of the great tent from the
inside, Dotty looked up at all the seats and wondered what it must be like to be part of a
real show. To her surprise, Jimmy brought her to the center of the tent and prepared her
to begin her routine. Understanding what was about to happen, Dotty’s heart began to beat
a little faster. As she performed her routine for all the trainers, a rush of longing for
dancing to a full tent of on-lookers was so strong, she began to dance her own routine as
she had been practicing it in secret for such a long time.
When she finished her last curtsy to her audience, the trainers were still divided in
their thoughts about Dotty; some were very loudly arguing, mad because they wanted their
own elephant to be in the act; others couldn’t get beyond her looks. Those who had always
liked Dotty broke out into applause. Dotty won over a few of the trainers that day with
her talent and they began to see that they had been hard on her. She was a very nice,
even-tempered elephant who was ready for the chance to perform in the show.
Stefan said, “Didn’t I tell you how wonderful she is! I won’t have to change much of the
choreography to fit perfectly into the act; she can dance her own routine instead of
Jasmine’s and do her final curtsy at the end of the act!”
“Great,” said Billy-Joe in an indifferent-sounding tone, “What about those ugly spots on
her body? They’ll wreck the whole act—one elephant with ugly spots and the rest looking
good!”
“Well,” Stefan said, hoping to win them over with a good plan, “I really don’t see a
problem with her spots; she’s one-of-a-kind, perfect in her own way, but there is an easy
fix to that problem for all of you who have a prejudiced attitude, and that is makeup!”
“Makeup—Stefan, what are you talking about?”
Stefan continued saying, “What is the purpose of makeup? It is used to shows off one’s
beauty, but on the other hand, it can cover up things we want to hide as well.”
“So you’re saying we hide Dotty’s spots by making the other elephants look like her? How
will that work with the color of her spots looking like ugly, giant mushrooms, beauty is
not the word I’m think of!”
“I understand what you’re saying, but taking that idea a bit farther, gentlemen, please,
by using beautiful colors on all of them, making them all look the same. It will cover up
Dotty’s “flaws”, as you would call them, and it would work wonderfully.”
“Yeah, I guess I see what you’re saying, it is an okay idea. Now we’ve got to let the
owners know we have a plan that will save the act from the junk pile.”
Dotty was thrilled getting ready for her role in the show. The air was crackling with
excitement for Dotty: the calliope music, the chatter of the people playing games and
ordering food, the venders and their husky voices, and the constant call of the barkers to
play games; all the sights and sounds of the animals getting ready for the show things
that she had always taken for granted sounded sweeter and dearly loved.
Besides the coloring of her spots, she was being fitted to a lovely hot pink ruffle for
her neck, and a pink, green, and blue sequin-studded hat that would match the other
elephants, and they were all having their toenails painted. Ting and Ling had gotten into
act by arranging Dotty’s clothing to suit them—each having their own idea of proper
styling and screeching at one another’s changes. Dotty was so happy that she didn’t hear
the squabbles of the two monkeys perched on her back. She was accepted and needed by
someone else, and that was enough. Genji, Dotty’s mother, was so proud of her. She had
almost lost hope that her Lotus Blossom would be able to do what she wanted to do most of
all—dance under the Big Top!
By the time of the first show, Dotty was feeling comfortable enough with her part in the
act, and Ron, the trainer, was confident in the way practices had been going with their
newest member. Dotty started to feel her heart flutter in nervousness, and looked for her
mother for the last bit of support before the performance. Genji remembered how she felt
when she first started to work in the show, and was there to comfort her.
“Lotus Blossom,” Genji said in a soft, loving tone, “you are the love of my life. My life
has been blessed by having you. I am so proud of you for all your hard work and that you
will be dancing your dream, for real, beginning this night, and for many more to come.
Dance with joy in your heart and you will be just fine.”
With those words shared, Ron called all the trainers to gather the elephants together for
the performance to begin. The Chasse Elephants on Parade was now underway and the
audience was enjoying the new act. It was finally time for Dotty to begin her solo. She
started a little timidly at first, but as her confidence grew, she began to feel free and
happy in the dance. As her solo ended, the final chorus line began across the floor,
front legs supported on the back of the elephant in front with Dotty following in the rear
of the pack. As the elephants walked of stage out of sight, Dotty was the last to leave
and offered a final curtsy to the crowd. The audience applauded so long and loud that Ron
felt that he needed to call the elephants back out again. Dotty got more heartfelt
applause for her dancing; she was so happy she started skipping off stage, which caused
the audience to laugh and clap their approval all the more.
Dotty had many more performances while Jasmine regained her health. Dotty was very
well-liked by the audiences that saw the show. At first Stefan choreographed new acts
that hid Dotty’s unusual markings; with brightly colored costumes as well as using makeup.
Stefan was slowly showing more and more of Dotty’s skin to the people that came to see
the show. Trainers who had been against Dotty since she was a baby didn’t even notice the
changes in the costumes or in their own slow change of heart toward Dotty.
By the time Jasmine was ready to perform again with The Chasse Elephants on Parade, Dotty
thought that her time under the Big Top had ended; this caused a little bit of sadness for
she had come to love performing with her mother and her new friends. Jasmine’s trainer
brought her by to see all her old friends and on seeing Dotty she trotted over to her,
raised her trunk and stroked Dotty on the trunk as a gesture of friendship and thanks.
Dotty in turn stroked Jasmine in the same way.
Dotty thought Jasmine’s return to the rehearsals meant her work was done and Jimmy would
be leading her out of the practice area and back to her pen. What a surprise for Dotty
when Jimmy led her to her place in line. Jimmy gave her a pat and a kiss and whispered in
her ear,
“Well, sweetie, you made audiences love you as much as I do; Ron thinks that you have been
great in the act and wants to make a permanent place for you in the Chasse Elephants on
Parade. You are going to be dancing under the Big Top just like you‘ve always dreamed
of—not for a few weeks, but for many years to come.”
Dotty blinked several times and rubbed her forehead against Jimmy. Ron rushed
breathlessly into the rehearsal with a handful of papers. He looked at both Dotty and
Jasmine, one at one end of the line and one at the other end. Ron had their trainers
bring them forward and said,
“I have a brand-new routine written by Stefan to show off the talent of our stars—Lotus
Blossom and Jasmine. I think that its time to call Dotty by her real name. I welcome
Lotus Blossom as our newest member of The Chasse Elephants on Parade.” The trainers
clapped their hands, the elephants trumpeted in agreement, and the rehearsal began on the
new routine.
It was the first night of the new routine in the show. Lotus Blossom was so excited to be
dancing on stage with Jasmine for the first time. They had similar outfits in different
colors; fancy, jeweled headdresses lay on their heads and were draped in veils. The theme
was supposed to be Arabian Nights. The recorded music was a classical piece played by an
orchestra.
The act began well. The ensemble of dancers performed without difficulty, but when
Jasmine and Blossom were to begin their dance together, the handlers were late getting
them to the stage on time for their musical entrance. They were a bit behind the music at
first, but managed to get in step with the music quickly.
Then it happened! During one of their twirls together, two of Jasmine’s veils became
tangled up with Blossom’s. The headdresses were fastened securely with a few veils that
flowed down. Caught in a tangle of headdresses and veils, both elephants miss-stepped and
nearly tumbled to the floor. Blossom regained her balance and with her trunk grabbed
Jasmine’s veils and pulled them from her headdress with such force that the beads broke
and scattered all over the floor.
As if nothing happened, both elephants began dancing the choreography perfectly at the
right place in the music, which surprised both Stefan and Rob. The ensemble danced the
finale with the soloists and they danced offstage. After the act was over, handler and
animal alike were a little disappointed with the outcome. To everyone’s surprise, loud
applause erupted from the audience. Jasmine and Blossom were ushered back on stage to
take another bow. Stefan wanted to show off both elephants’ talents for performing
difficult steps; Blossom and Jasmine showed Stefan talents of a different sort that saved
the day.
Feeling bad about the rhyme that he made up about Blossom, Billy-Joe started to work on a
new poem that would shout the praises of their newest elephant star, Lotus Blossom.
A late bloomer, our fair Blossom,
Sweet and gentle you are.
Dotty the elephant, marked by spots
You look really different, your skin is flawed,
But the outcome was planned by God.
Many shunned you, they were afraid,
But sometimes that’s how plans are made.
In secret, your dreams were
Locked up tight,
Hoping for a chance to shine;
To dance in a great big colorful tent
And be seen in a whole new light.
By chance, on a sunny midsummer’s day,
A choreographer saw you in a brand-new way.
Looking for an answer, scratching his head,
When he saw Dotty, his problem just fled.
“Dotty, with your talent and grace,
Won’t you please come dance with us?
The Chasse Elephants on Parade
Has a gaping hole, an empty space.
Jasmine, the star, on her bed is laid,
Please come in and take her place!”
The makeup is on, the spots are hid,
Dotty dances like a kid!
She twirls, she does a pirouette,
But Dotty’s dance is not done yet.
She chasses and she twirls across the floor,
“Come on, Dotty, do some more!”
A curtsy and a final skip off stage,
And Lotus Blossom
Turns the page!
Blossom and Jasmine
Dancing together,
Look at them dance, just as light as a feather.
Dancing as a pair and in a chorus line,
They are really mighty fine!
Billy-Joe read his poem of praise at the next rehearsal for the trainers, Stefan, and all
the elephants. Both humans and animals alike, were pleased with the poem about Blossom
and with Billy-Joe for writing such fine words.
Blossom and Jasmine performed with the circus for many years. Blossom, in her later
years, had a baby of her own. Her baby had spots as well in the shape of hearts. She
called the baby boy Cupid—but that’s a whole other story!
Lynne A. Fickett
6/14/06
Revised 1/23/07
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