Asha’s mother was a special giraffe with a genetic mutation that causes her coat to be pink. Any giraffe with this mutation is extremely at risk of being a hotspot for hunters. She was placed under the Endangered Species Act, so it is illegal for her to be hunted. This mutation was passed on to her children. Fortunately, this mutation doesn’t show up as prominent on her children; it only presents with pink spots on their legs and stomach.
Asha was a young giraffe when her parents were poached by hunters. It was a hot, sunny day on the savannah when Asha, her older brother Dash, and her parents were drinking from the watering hole. The elephants were bathing in the water, and the zebras and gazelles were drinking. Suddenly, there was a loud blast, and chaos immediately followed.
All the animals panicked and started running, making everything around her blurry. She turned to her brother for help, but he was gone. She tried to find her mother to ease her fear. She called out to her, “Mommy!” Then she heard her name from a distance and moved towards the sound. Her mother and father came into view, and she started to run, and the fear was lifting from her shoulders. When she came closer, they weren’t standing tall but lying still on the ground. She shook her dad, trying to wake him, when her mom touched her shoulder and said, “Asha, you need to go now! It’s going to be okay. Find your brother and get somewhere safe, sweetie. Please!” She pleaded, “Don’t worry about us, sweetheart, just go.” She slowly closed her eyes and stopped moving. Asha began to run, trying to find Dash, but she couldn’t. She ran into the trees and kept going.
Asha was rescued from a herd a few days after the accident. It has been four years, but she has never forgotten what her mother had told her. She still needed to find her brother, but she didn’t know where to start. So she confided in her herd’s eldest giraffe and asked for some guidance. She told Asha, “You never know where you should start, only where to end, you just have to see where the journey takes you.” This inspired Asha to go and find what truly meant most to her, her brother.
Her first thought was to go back to the scene where everything took place. She traveled through the trees and slowly approached the watering hole. Memories flooded her brain all at once as she stood trying to recall where Dash had gone. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly she was back in that moment.
Animals circled all around her, and she began to look for her brother for help. He was gone. She focused as hard as she could and tried to pick out every helpful detail. She saw in the distance a young giraffe running West, behind an elephant. She tries to follow them as the animals around her run rampant. She is snapped back into reality from a loud wail. She sees a small gazelle stuck in the water. She lowers her neck, lifts the baby out, and sets off West, hoping for some more leads.
Asha travels miles and finds a herd of giraffes eating from some acacia trees. She stops to ask them some questions. They say they haven’t seen anything and that she should move along. She searches high and low, talking to anyone she can find, and still nothing. Asha begins to lose hope.
Asha goes to the nearest watering hole to get a drink. She is approached by two lions looking for supper. She tries to stay calm as they start to circle her. She pleads for them to just leave her alone, but it is no use. The lions launch towards her, and she manages to kick one away, but the other digs its claws into her back and scratches her deep. She screams and starts to kick them as hard as she can, but she can not fight them off. She closes her eyes, scared, and braces herself for the pain that doesn’t come. She hears rustling and a loud trumpeting sound. Confused, she opens her eyes to see that an elephant had fought off the lions and saved her life. She thanks the elephant and expresses how grateful she is for her. “Don’t mention it, sugar, us prey have got to stick together,” she says as she gets a drink. “The names Elsie, by the way.”
“Asha.”
“Nice to meet you, honey. What are you doing all the way out here by yourself? You can join my herd no problem if you need someone to look out for ya!” she says joyfully as she starts walking towards her herd.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to stay for a while, but I am looking for my brother, so I have to be on my way soon.” I say as we continue walking.
The herd she belongs to is home to all sorts of animals. Amongst the crowd, Asha sees a giraffe, but its face feels familiar. She pushes through the herd as Elsie introduces Asha to the others. As she moves closer, she notices a pink spot on the giraffe’s leg. Asha starts to run and launches herself onto the giraffe and hugs him tightly. The giraffe is shocked until he sees Asha’s face. “Asha?” the giraffe says.
“Dash!” Asha yells as tears stream down her face. “I finally found you!” she sobs. “You have been safe all this time?”
“I’ve been safe, I just wish the same for you,” Dash says as he points to the wounds on her back.
“I’m safe with you now.” Asha continues to cry.
They don’t bother to look back on lost time because they are together now and will never leave each other again.
Written by Lilly Thorsheim from Amery, Wisconsin, United States of America
