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“Bikki!” I said, trying to sound stern while at the same time, struggling to keep the laughter out of my voice. It would be a little more interesting if, instead of trying to keep the laughter out of her voice, she was trying to keep herself from looking over at the Chief Trainer, scared since he was watching her. “Please go!” Bikki, my training elephant, had stopped right in the middle of the Junior Trainee Class’s walk to Estavia to watch the Parade of Victory. She suddenly sat down determinedly upon the sandy road and completely ignored my order. I glanced behind my shoulder, hoping beyond hope that the Chief Trainer, our teacher, wouldn’t notice. He was a man only three or four years older than me, but with his shadowy eyes, a missing finger, and a voice like oil, cast fear among the Junior Trainees and I. And now, he had turned around and watching me with an eagle-like glare that sent shivers down my spine.


I took a deep breath and tried to pretend that he wasn’t watching as I whispered to Bikki, “Please, Bikki. Please go.” But Bikki wouldn’t budge. She stared ahead determinedly and pretended not to hear. I opened up her velvety ear and said, “I know that you can hear me, Bikki. Keep on walking.” But she still wouldn’t budge, and her powerful legs set so fiercely into the ground that I knew that she wasn’t going to walk again anytime soon.
I pretended to be adjusting Bikki’s howdah, but I was watching the Chief Trainer as his glare became so intense that I felt as if two holes were being burned into my back. As a last resort, I climbed off the howdah and jumped to the ground. I placed my hands on my hips and looked right into Bikki’s eyes.

“C’mon, Bikki,” I pleaded, my voice softer now. Ever since I had been a little girl, I had wanted a training elephant of my own, but none of the elephants trusted me enough. They shied away when I tried to stroke them, turned away when I offered them a treat. It made me upset, confused. The stable master couldn’t explain it, nor could my parents. But then I had met Bikki. Bikki was a tiny ragamuffin back then. She never obeyed orders, stole food from the feed bag, and fought roughly with the other elephant calves. She was a rebel, and still was,How about 'She had been quiet a rebel, and she still was' for that matter, and that was what I instantly loved about her. Her carefree spirit, her ability to be different, and her way of doing things so independently. In ways, I saw some of myself in her. And that was why I chose Bikki out of all of the other “nice little calves,” according to my parents. The stable master tried to convince me that Bikki wasn’t good for a beginner, that she would take a lot of time and patience, but I after playing with her for a few minutes, I was absolutely sure that this was the elephant, this was the one who I would carry out my training with, until I turned fifteen, when I would either keep Bikki or choose another trained elephant as my very own.


But for now, I was only thirteen, and by now, I knew how disobedient and stubborn Bikki could really be. Like now.


“Bikki,” I said, cupping a hand around my mouth and dropping my voice. “If you let me ride you the rest of the way there, I might just give you something to eat. Maybe even an apple. But you can’t let the Chief Trainer know. And you have to let me ride you.”


Bikki’s dark eyes darted to the left as she looked at me, as if trying to gauge if I was telling the truth or not. I kept my face as innocent as possible. She grunted and slumped down to her knees, allowing me to put my feet in the footholds and hoist myself into the howdah. Um...how would the elephant know what she was saying?


“Good girl, Bikki,” I whispered, reaching into the pouch around my waist and giving her a handful of fresh green leaves.


“Akisha!” I heard my name being called out by the Chief Trainer. Bikki turned around so that we could see the Chief Trainer, his face turning red as a beet and his dark eyes staring into me. The black, bottomless pools of hatred burned into me until I nearly yelped. His eyes were filled with fury, mockery, loathing, and they scared me.

“Yes?” I said, mentally bracing myself for the harsh answer that surely would come.


“Get down here!” he ordered. I hopped down, glancing back nervously at Bikki. Her face was expressionless, she seemed indifferent to the trouble that I was about to get into because of her.


“Do you not yet know the rules of training elephants?” The Chief Trainer said, practically spitting with rage. “You must never, ever, give your elephant a treat when she does nothing worth rewarding! What do you have to say for yourself?”


“I..uh..” I trailed off, and I could feel my face burning with embarrassment as the other Trainees snickered and whispered behind me. I could see them out of the corners of my eyes. They were all clad in wool tunics in a putrid turquoise color that I hated, and around their waists, like mine, were gold pouches embroidered with pictures of dragons. “I think that Bikki was being good by letting me get on. She deserved a treat.”


The Chief Trainer’s eyes seemed to burn even more fiercely as he said, “She was doing nothing that deserved a treat! Do you want to be in this class or not, Akisha?”


“Yes, I-I do,” I answered, trying to hide the misery in my voice. I like this little part.


“Then you must learn to follow the rules, or you will be kicked out and your elephant will be destroyed!” The other Trainees’ jaws dropped hearing this threat. No one, no one, had ever had their elephant destroyed unless they committed the most foul crime imaginable: killing an elephant for no reason. And I wasn’t sure that the Chief Trainer, no matter how powerful a position he held, was even allowed to do that, but by now, I wasn’t so sure.


“I-I’ll follow the rules, I promise!” My voice quavered and I could feel my lower lip trembling. Bikki’s ears perked up and her trunk drooped down as if she could understand the Chief Trainer’s threat.


“You’d better!” The Chief Trainer snorted. “Anyway, no one would care if that useless elephant was killed or not! You only got her because she was the cheapest elephant there, all that your poor parents could afford! It’s no wonder that she’s so stupid!” This guy doesn't sound very mature by the way he talks...he sounds like a little bully. I think he could say something different like, "Don't let me see you rewarding that cheap skum of an animal anymore, unless it really does something worth rewarding! Just because your parents were to poor to buy a decent elephant doesn't mean that you can have pitty on it..." :)


He had done it; insulted my elephant, my Bikki, the elephant that I had such a strong connection with from the beginning of my training. “Take that back, you pathetic excuse for a Trainer, or I will leave!” Hold on - I think you could have first described how much the words hurt and arose her anger before she spoke. And I don't think those were quite the right words...maybe something a little less vicious, since after all, she did want to stay. It seemed as if I had no control of my tongue as I said those words. I half knew that I would never leave the class until I graduated, my parents would be furious with me for quitting after the money they scrounged up so that I could get a proper education.


The Chief Trainer’s eyes bulged once more, then his hand reached out and he slapped me across the face with all he was worth. Nice. I fell to the ground, my back to the Chief Trainer and the other Trainees as they reveled in my misery, giggling, pointing, and openly laughing. My face stung and I could feel blood dripping down my cheek. I bit my lip and blinked, desperately trying to hold back tears.


“That will teach you to talk back to a Chief Trainer!” I could picture his face contorting into an ugly smirk as he uttered the words, his voice dripping with contempt. “Now get back on your elephant before I kick you out; we’re wasting enough time already!”


I climbed miserably onto the howdah, but before the Chief Trainer gave the order to go, I flicked Bikki’s reins sharply, a signal to get moving, and fast. Bikki’s head snapped up obediently, and she began moving as quickly as she could, practically running in her haste. She sensed my distress, and I knew she would t.ryRemove the period. :) to help We ran past the others, the air rushing past my face and blurring the shouts of the Chief Trainer and the Trainees as they hastened to catch up with us, but I ignored them. I didn’t care about the class anymore, I didn’t care about getting a good job, all I wanted to do was run away as fast as I could. The sky soon became dark with the coming of nightfall, and finally we stopped, just in distance of the Estavia. The buildings and cottages loomed ahead, far across the sandy dunes and the bleak silence. Stars twinkled above me as I rested against the howdah, listening to Bikki’s husky breathing as she lied on the sand, enjoying the night much more than I ever could. Enjoying the night? After what she had been through that day? I don't think that's the right sentence to use.