The Elephant cake with Orange Juice!

"I was chasing butterflies in a forest one day. My path was suddenly blocked by a baby elephant. I was frightened, but he said 'Do not be afraid, Alina. I am your friend, Joomba. Please come to my birthday party today and have fun with my friends of the animal world.'

"My fear disappeared after these kind words. I had never visited an animal world before, Ajja. I was greatly delighted to accept Joomba's invitation."

"Lovely! How old was Joomba?"

"Joomba took me to Elephant Park deep inside the forest. He told me it was his fourth birthday. He introduced me to his pals - a squirrel, tortoise, snake, monkey,  zebra, deer and lion cub. 'Alina, this baby squirrel is Skreech. Be care4ful with your ear-drums when he is around. Tortie is the fastest tortoise around here, next to him is Slime who lets out friendly hisses at others. Trix is no ordinary monkey, next to him is Stripes who has the hardest kicks for his tormentors, Doris is the prettiest deer here and finally the brave kid Leon. Hey guys, this is my friend Alina.'

"I shook hands with each one. They said they were honoured that I agreed to join them for the fun. Stripes then said 'Joomba, you must treat Alina  to your favourite game'  Joomba nodded his head and lifted me high up with his trunk and spun me fast. He then threw me up into the sky with so much force that I shot up like a bullet, touched a star and pushed myself back to Earth"

"Touched a star? How wonderful!"

 "I saw that all my new friends were cheering me. When I came close to Earth, Joomba lifted up his trunk and twirled it in circles and uttered some magic words. Suddenly two beautiful wings attached themselves to my arms and I was able to control my fall. Joomba moved to let me land on his back. He asked 'Did you enjoy the Space Ride, Alina?' 'Yes, very much, Joomba. Can we do it again?' I replied.

"Joomba was delighted at my happiness. He treated me twice more to the Space Ride. I went to a different star each time.  The Earth looked ever so beautiful from space"

"Go on, Alina, your story is so interesting."

"Joomba addressed the monkey. 'Trix, show Alina how clever you are!' Trix said 'Alina, I will disappear from here and from far away make a sound. You and Doris should find me. Okay?' This was fun and I nodded. Immediately, Trix darted away behind the trees; after a while he called out 'Yoo hoo, Yoo hoo!' I knew exactly where the sound came from. I told Doris "This is easy. Let us go over there and catch Trix by his tail!' We went over there, but could not find Trix. He called out 'Yoo hoo!' again from somewhere else. Doris and I ran to the new place but, again, could not find him! Suddenly he popped out from a tree in a totally different place and taunted me 'Alina, I fooled you!'  'How does he do it?' I asked the deer. Doris said 'I have never been able to figure out either how he does it, nor does anyone else know'"

"Did you eventually find out?" asked Ajja.

"No, that's why his name is Trix. When we joined the others, my new friends wanted me to teach them a new game. So I taught them 'Pass the Parcel'. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.

We had fun with many other games too. When all of us were exhausted, Joomba said 'Come on pals, my Mom has made cakes and other goodies. Let us feast on them' On the dining table I saw great barrels of root beer, orange juice and other drinks.  There were so many types of cakes - one made of elephant grass for Joomba, one of nuts for Trix and Skreech, one of tender leaves for Doris and Tortie and so on. A big almond cake for me! After that all friends of Joomba gave him pretty gifts. As I had not carried any gift, I gave him my brooch and Joomba was mighty pleased when I clipped it on a bristle of hair on his forehead!'

"Wow!"

 "It was then that Mom called out 'Alina, Wake up. Time to get ready for school!' Mom is such a spoilsport, Ajja!"

Alina and Grandpa had reached the playground. Ajja decided to tease Alina.
"Elephant, star, wings, Space Ride! How silly can you get, Alina!"
"Silly Ajja! I was only telling you a story, wasn't I?" Alina replied, as she hopped on to a swing.