Written by: Kayla Jordan

     12 December 2020

One sunny morning, Ella was splashing around in the mud when she suddenly heard someone singing the sweetest song. “Who’s there?” Says Ella. 

“It’s only me…”  Ella hears from a distance, but she doesn’t recognize the voice.

“Who is “Me”? I don’t know anyone called “Me”.” 

“No, silly! My name is Abby!” She laughingly says. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, hi Abby! My name is Ella!” Ella is excited to make a new friend. “Do you want to come play in the mud with me?” Ella asks eagerly. 

“In the mud!? Gross! Why would you play in the mud?” Abby asks. 

“The mud cools down my skin on a hot day like today” Ella answers. 

“Okay, where are you?” Abby asks.

“In the mud on the other side of the hedge” Says Ella.

Abby turns the corner to a big surprise.

“Y-y-you’re an -- ELEPHANT!!” Abby exclaims.

?

“Were you expecting me to be a giraffe?” Ella laughingly says.   

“Come in! The mud is so nice!” Ella says, while splashing around. 

Abby jumps into the mud and laughs, and plays with Ella. 

Ella and Abby hear a strange noise coming from the jungle nearby. 

“What was that!?” Asks Abby.

“Oh, I think it was just a lion roaring.” Ella answers. 

 “Oh okay. Hey! Do want to play a game?” Abby asks eagerly. 

“Yes please!” Ella says excitingly.

Abby then transforms Ella and herself into princess warriors. They put on their tutu's and tiaras ready to start their exploring. 

“Where are we going?” Ella asks.

“We’re off to find some clues about the noises we heard in the jungle!” She replies.

“LET’S GO!!” Abby shouts in excitement. 

“Tra-la-la-la. Off we go to explore! Tra-la-la-la.” They sing as they march off into the jungle. 

"Tra-la-la-la"

As they wander off into the jungle they see paw prints in the sand. 

“Look here! I found something!” Shouts Ella.

Abby and Ella both go to have a close look at the paw prints. 

“I think that might be a lion’s paw prints…” Abby says curiously. 

“Let’s follow it and find out.” Ella says. 

They both carefully start following the paw prints and they find a pride of lions! There’s a mommy lion, a daddy lion, and two lion cubs. 

The lion cubs see Ella and Abby and race over to go greet them. 

“Hi! What’s your name? My name is Leena, and this is my baby brother, Liam.” She says excitedly. 

“Oh, Hi! My name is Ella, and this is Abby”, Ella says. 

“We were just wondering what the noise was that we heard earlier. It sounded a lot like a lions roar.” Abby says

“Oh, that was my mom roaring. Liam was running too close to the edge of the rock that we were playing on. My mom got worried that he was going to fall and she roared to tell him to move away from the edge of the rock”, Leena explains.

“Are you in trouble now?” Abby asks Liam.

“No, my mommy and daddy love me and care about me so much. The love that my mommy and daddy show me helps me grow and learn, even when I don’t always understand it. So when my mommy roared at me, it was to help me learn that playing at the edge of a rock isn’t always safe,” Liam explains. 

“I didn’t understand it at first, but my mommy explained that she was worried and tried to get the message across quickly, and that was the best way she could do it” Liam adds. 

“Sorry if the roar scared you. We didn’t mean for it to scare anyone. It was done out of the love that our parents have for us” Leena says.

“That’s okay, it didn’t scare us. We just didn’t know what it was, or why it happened. We’re glad that you’re safe.” Ella says. 

Ella and Abby hear some rustling in the trees a bit further away. 

“I wonder why the trees are moving like that”, says Ella.

“Let’s go find out!” Says Abby, “Do you two want to join us?”

“We’re about to have our midday snack, but maybe next time.” Says Leena.

“Okay, enjoy your snack.” Says Abby.

“Bye Leena! Bye Liam! It was nice to meet you!” Ella and Abby shout as they run off to find the noise in the trees. 

Bye!

“Don’t forget, DON’T PLAY NEAR THE EDGE OF ROCKS!” Abby shouts as she runs further away. 

“I WON’T!” Liam shouts.

Roar!

Ella and Abby walk through some beautiful trees with the sun beaming through the leaves. 

“Look! There’s some bananas in that tree!” Ella points out. 

“Mmmm! I love bananas! They’re my favourite!” Says Abby. 

“Mine too!” Says a voice in the trees. 

“Who said that!?” Abby shouts

“I did! Up here!”

!?

As Abby and Ella look around, a banana peel falls out the sky and hits Abby right on the head!

Ella starts laughing so hard she falls over!

Hahaha!!

“It’s not funny!” Says Abby.

A monkey swings down from the trees and takes the banana peel off Abby’s face.

“Oops… sorry about that. I just love bananas, they’re my favorite food! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was dropping the peel. Are you okay?” The monkey asked

“My name is Mikey. Mikey Monkey. Pleased to meet you!” He says. 

“I wish I was pleased to meet you…” Abby says rudely. 

Ella finally manages to contain her laughter enough to introduce herself. 

“I’m Ella Elephant, and I am VERY pleased to meet you!” 

Mikey’s mom and dad come swinging on the trees and meet him. 

“Your father and I could hear the laughing from a few trees back. What’s all the laughter about?” Asks Mikey’s mom.

“The laughter was coming from me, Mrs. Monkey. Mikey accidentally dropped a banana peel on Abby’s face!” Says Ella. 

“Oh dear, that is funny” says Mrs. Monkey, while chuckling. 

“Mikey, Mr. Monkey, and I were busy racing each other. Would you care to join us?” Asked Mrs. Monkey. 

“That’s very kind of you to offer, but I’m not very good at climbing trees with my trunk…” Said Ella. 

“That’s okay. We can have a race on the ground.” Said Mr. Monkey.

“Okay, let’s go!” said Ella. 

Ready…Steady… GO! 

- - - -

And they’re off! With Abby taking the lead, Mikey close behind her, then Ella, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Monkey. 

Ella’s picking up the pace and overtaking Mikey. Abby is running as fast as her legs can take her. Ella and Abby are neck and neck … Abby pulls ahead and wins!!

“Well done Abby! That was some really fast running,” says Mrs. Monkey. 

“Yeah, how’d you get so fast?” Asks Mikey.

“My parents and I race all the time. We love the outdoors, it’s how we spend time together. We play, eat, race, and learn about the beautiful nature that Heavenly Father has provided for us,” says Abby.

“My parents say that the memories we make will last forever, and that it will always bring us closer together.” Abby adds. 

“That’s why my mom, dad, and I are out as well! To spend some quality time together” Says Mikey.

“Yes, and your parents are right, Abby. This time will always strengthen our family bonds. They’ll tie us closer together for eternity.” Says Mrs. Monkey.

“Mrs. Monkey… Can I please ask you a question?” Says Ella shyly. 

“Of course!” Says Mrs. Monkey. 

“Why do I have a trunk, and you and Abby don’t?” Ella asks.

“Well,” says Mrs. Monkey, “A long time ago, before we were we brought down to earth, we were in heaven. When we were in heaven we knew what our role would be on the earth. We are all different, but we all have our own purpose. Heavenly Father knew that you would need to walk on four legs, so He gave you a trunk to grab things, to trumpet, to breathe, and to splash cold water on yourself on a hot day,” Mrs. Monkey continues,

“Abby is human, so she was designed to walk on two feet, and have two hands. However, she doesn’t need a big, long trunk to trumpet and to splash cool water on herself. I am a monkey, I live in trees, so I need strong hands to grip the branches and hold my body.” 

“But why are we all different?” Asks Abby.

“We all have different responsibilities, and this means that we each have our own divine potential. Our personalities, likes, dislikes, and love all existed in heaven before we came to earth. We came down to earth to get our bodies so we can fulfil our own divine destiny.” Mrs. Monkey explains. 

“Can I do some of Ella’s responsibilities?” Asks Mikey.

“No, Ella is designed for her own responsibilities and destiny. They are designed and made specifically for us. No one has the same divine potential, destiny or responsibilities.” Says Mrs. Monkey. 

Out of the bushes a spider came walking towards Mrs. Monkey.

“AHH!!!” Screamed Abby “S-S-SPIDER!!””

!?

“I prefer ‘Mrs. Spider’, if you please. My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sammy, and don’t worry… I don’t bite” Said Sammy. “Hello, Monkey family. How are you today?”

“Hi Sammy. We are all very well, thank you. We’re teaching the girls about divine destiny.” Says Mr. Monkey 

“Oh, I am actually fulfilling my divine destiny now,” Sammy says, “I’m about to lay my eggs. Mr. Spider and I are busy looking around for a warm, dry place for me to lay them.”

“But Sammy, if you lay your eggs, won’t you die?” Says Ella, worryingly. 

“Why, yes. I will die, but that’s okay. It’s a part of our Heavenly Fathers plan, and after I die I get to see Him again. So that’s something nice to look forward to.” Sammy replies. 

“Uhm… What do you mean ‘again’?” Abby says shyly, hiding behind Ella. 

“I can tell you’re not used to talking to spiders” Sammy says while giggling. 

“In Heaven we have Heavenly Parents who love us and care for us. Then we came to earth to get our bodies and live our earthly life. When we die we get to go back to our Heavenly Mother and Father, because we are their children. Abby, this means that you and I are both daughters of an Eternal Mother and Father.” Says Sammy while crawling closer to Abby. 

“Wow… That’s really special.” Says Abby, “What about Ella?” she asks.

“Ella is also a daughter of an Eternal Father and Mother, so is Mrs. Monkey. Mikey and his dad are sons of the same Eternal Mother and Father. We are all children of Eternal, Heavenly Parents who love us and want the best for us.” Says Sammy. 

“That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside” says Abby. “I love knowing that I’m a daughter of Heavenly Father”. 

Suddenly Abby and Ella realize that they’re starting to get hungry. “My tummy is grumbling,” says Ella, “I think we should go look for some food.” 

“Okay, girls. There’s a really good banana tree down by the river.” Says Mrs. Monkey. 

“Thank you for the tip. We’ll head there right now, and go chow down on banana town. It was lovely to meet you all. Hope to see you again soon!” Says Abby.