Every day used to be the same for me. I would wake up in the same tiny stall I had slept in for over forty years. I’d wait for someone to open the heavy door to the outside, and then walk out to the barren yard I had explored every inch of thousands of times since I arrived after being torn from my family and brought to this strange place. I would spend my days swaying back and forth in the same spot to pass the time, and hear the same things from the crowd of onlookers.
My only respite—the only thing I really looked forward to—was the occasional treat that they tossed into my pen. Those moments were fleeting, and then it was back to the same never ending boring cycle that I saw nope hope of escaping from. I was sad, in pain, and lonely. I often wondered what I did to deserve this kind of life, when I knew I was meant for so much more. I’m an individual with thoughts and feelings, yet they treated me like I was nothing more than a thing to point and gawk at.
Until, one day, everything changed. They loaded me onto a truck, and I was scared. Where could they be taking me? Was I going to get hurt? But, when my journey ended, I was greeted by sprawling acres of lush greenery. I felt the soft earth beneath my feet—not cold, unforgiving concrete. I saw other elephants dotted along the landscape, free to roam and socialize as they wished. I could go where I wanted. I could do what I wanted. I’d never felt what that was like ever since I was stolen from my family.
Now, every day offers something new. My friends and I can walk around for hours, basking in the sunshine or relaxing in the shade. I graze freely on the abundant vegetation. I splash around in the ponds and can even make myself a mud bath. There are people here, too, but they treat me so differently. They tend to my feet when they hurt (a lingering injury from the concrete at the zoo), and they tend to the grounds around us, but, otherwise, they give me space. They let me be.
I am able to heal from the trauma I endured in my past. I’m not merely coping as time passes by—I’m living every moment. I’m free to be me.
