The lonely, endless African savannas were the only sights that young Twiga’s eyes saw in his life. It was quite expected for a giraffe. However, he was not even aware that one day all of that would change, much less did he doubt that humans would be responsible for this change, those two-legged creatures that he would sometimes see near his home. Twiga didn’t know much about humans, but he knew one thing: he never dared, at any cost, to let them know about the ancient secret of giraffes, a secret that even other animals didn’t know. This well-kept secret was an ability that, if known, would put giraffes in danger of extinction. No man should have known that just a drop of giraffe blood was enough to cure any wound or disease. Twiga used to think that it was a little selfish to keep this fact to himself; if a single drop of his blood could save someone’s life, but his mother explained to him that if even one man found out about it, their entire species would be doomed. So Twiga took care to stay away from these malevolent beings. Until one day, his path crossed with a human boy.
It was a day like any other. The hot African sun made almost all the moisture in the air evaporate, and Twiga and the rest of his tower were carelessly picking leaves from the thorny branches of the acacia, when he heard a kind of groan from the nearby bushes. Curious to find out what it was about, he left the others and approached the bushes. To his surprise, he found a little human boy lying on the floor. The sobbing was obviously coming from him because, holding on to his leg, he had an expression on his face that told Twiga that he couldn’t be happy. His eyes were tightly closed; he couldn’t see his long-necked observer. Twiga, meanwhile, took a closer look at the boy’s leg, seeing snake bite marks on it. The poor thing must have been in great pain. The empathy he felt reminded him of the healing powers of his blood. Unfortunately, this had to remain a secret, and if he had helped the boy, he would certainly not have kept this information to himself. Yet it was hard to think that way as he watched the boy writhe in agony. Taking a glance in the direction of his mother and the other giraffes, he made a decision: I’m going to save this boy.
He brought his muzzle closer to a branch of a tree, allowing its tip to prick on the thorn. He hurried back to the boy and brought his muzzle closer to his leg so that a drop of blood from his wound would fall on it. By now, the boy had opened his eyes and stared in amazement at the sight of the giraffe in front of him. As Twiga’s blood touched the boy’s wound, the agony in which he was suddenly stopped, and the boy sat upright.
“Did you just…?” he asked, bewildered, looking at the now clear spot where the wound had been until recently.
“This is incredible, I have to tell everyone!” he shouted excitedly and jumped to his feet, running out of the bushes.
Twiga froze with fear. If this boy told everyone what he had seen, his entire tower was in danger. He had to stop him. He ran after the boy and caught up with him (which was not particularly difficult), blocking his path. The boy jumped up and looked up. It was then that his eyes met Twiga’s for the first time, and he felt that understanding flowed between them.
“You don’t want me to tell anyone about this, do you?”
He just looks in the direction of his tower. The boy followed his gaze, silent.
“Okay,” he announced with a sigh, “I understand, your secret is safe with me. Thank you for saving me.” And patting Twiga on the leg with his little hand, he got lost among the acacia trees.
Twiga was worried about whether the boy would really keep his promise; however, there was no reason for that. In the years that followed, the boy became a great friend of the giraffes, keeping them away from his people, and not a word of their secret crossed his lips.
Written by Jovana Sarić from Serbia
