It happened early in the morning in a quiet little town where days flowed calmly and predictably. People went about their routines: someone headed to the store for bread, someone walked their dog, someone hurried to catch the bus. But that day, everything changed.
At first, the ground trembled slightly, as if a heavy truck had passed by. Then came a low, rhythmic rumble. And soon, into the sunlit street, stepped an elephant — a real one. Enormous, majestic, moving with a slow and certain grace, as though he knew exactly where he was going. People froze. No one could understand where he had come from — there were no circuses nearby, no zoos either. In some eyes there was fear, in others — wonder. But no one dared to move closer.
The elephant reached an old house at the edge of town and suddenly stopped. He turned his head toward the porch — and everyone saw it: a tiny striped kitten sat there, trembling on thin little legs, meowing softly. And then, something incredible happened.
The giant knelt down and stretched out his trunk. The kitten, as if it had been waiting for this moment all along, jumped right onto it. The crowd gasped. But fear quickly gave way to amazement: the elephant began to sway the kitten gently, like on a swing. The kitten held on with its paws and purred loudly. A second later, the elephant tossed it slightly into the air and caught it again, perfectly, as though they had practiced this act for years.
From that day on, their meetings became a ritual. Every evening at the same hour, the elephant appeared at the edge of town, and the kitten ran out to greet him. They played in the yard together — the kitten climbed onto the elephant’s back, tail held high, like a proud captain on the deck of a great ship. The elephant moved slowly, carefully, as if afraid to harm his tiny friend. Sometimes they went down to the river: the elephant would spray water from his trunk, and the kitten would leap about, trying to catch the droplets.
People came from all over town to see the miracle. Children screamed with delight, adults filmed on their phones, and old folks shook their heads, whispering, “Never seen anything like it.” Yet deep down, everyone felt there was something more behind this friendship.
And indeed, the longer it went on, the stranger it became. The elephant always appeared at exactly seven o’clock, as if following a schedule. He left by the same road each time, fading into the sunset. Sometimes his skin shimmered faintly, as if reflecting metal, and around his neck glimmered a wide leather collar — almost like one from a circus.
One evening, as the crowd gathered again by the old house, the elephant and the kitten played as usual. Then suddenly, the giant stopped. His enormous, sorrowful eyes lingered on his small friend. Gently, he removed the collar from his neck and set it beside the kitten. People saw the engraving on the metal plate: one single word — FRIEND.
Then the elephant turned and walked away. This time — for good. The kitten stayed by the collar for a long while, meowing softly, and then curled up next to it, as if guarding it.
For many days, the townspeople argued. Some said he had been a runaway circus performer who found comfort in friendship. Others insisted there was a deeper secret between them, one only they could understand. But what unsettled people most was this: at night, when someone passed by the old house, they swore they could hear, from the darkness — a heavy, echoing step… and a faint, feline reply.
