It was a hot, summer day.  The sunlight played hide and seek filtering through the gaps in the dense jungle foliage, throwing dappled patterns on the ground.  The elephant trudged through the forest with his head hanging low and his trunk sweeping the jungle floor.  The Humming Bird buzzed close to his ear and said, "Why so glum today?"  The elephant said he was feeling low as it was his birthday and no-one remembered.

 Suddenly, from behind the bushes, out popped the heads of the antelope, the monkeys and the squirrel, all yelling "Happy Birthday" along with the Humming Bird.  They had planned a surprise party for the elephant.  The Humming bird brought him some cherries, the monkeys came carrying coconuts on their heads, the antelope had got tender bamboo shoots which were the elephant's favorite snack and the squirrel brought peanuts.  They were going to have a feast. The elephant was no longer sad.  His friends sang Happy Birthday to him and then the squirrel fed him some peanuts which he sucked up through his trunk.  The monkeys cracked the coconuts and used hollow reeds as straws to drink from them, while the elephant's trunk acted as his straw.
 
 When they had eaten to their hearts content they decided to play party games.  First they formed a train with the elephant in the lead, holding each other's tails and weaving in and out of the trees.  On the way, they met the skunk, who wished the elephant a happy birthday.  He had got him a watermelon as a gift which he was rolling along like a football.  "Come join our party", the Elephant invited. The skunk was happy to do so as he did not have many friends since they all thought that he smelt bad.  One of the monkeys took two sticks and beat rhythmically on the watermelon like a drum and the elephant trumpeted and kicked out his feet, while they all did the conga to the jungle beat. 

 When they were all hot and sweaty, the antelope suggested they take a dip in the lotus pond.  The waters of the pool rippled and glistened like gold in the warmth of the sun.  It looked cool and inviting. They jumped in and had fun splashing about.  The elephant sucked up some water in his trunk and sprayed it on his friends.  It felt like being in the shower.  The smaller animals took turns to ride on the elephant's back.   They decided to play hide and seek once they had cooled off.  After all, the jungle is a great place to hide in.

 The Elephant said he was too big to hide so he would find the others.  He remained in the pool counting till hundred while the others got out and began searching for places to conceal themselves.  The antelope was heading toward a nice thick clump of bushes, when suddenly, he heard a whistling noise and something whizzed past his ear.  It was an arrow that got stuck in the bark of a tree a few feet from where he stood. 

The antelope saw a hunter aiming at him and leapt behind the bushes for cover.  The skunk saw what was happening and crept close to the hunter, hiding behind bushes all the while.   Then he lifted his tail and let out a real stink bomb.  The hunter was overcome by the awful smell and could barely breathe let alone take aim properly.  Suddenly two coconuts came crashing down on him knocking him and his bow to the ground.  He looked up to see the monkeys aiming more coconuts at him.  On spying the hunter, Humming bird flew back to the pool to get the elephant.