12/08/2026
They kept provoking the elephant, waiting for the moment he would finally fight back.
And when he stopped, they thought they had won.
But they didn't understand where he was going - or what would happen if he let them distract him.
The monkeys threw stones at the elephant's back until he finally stopped.
“Now he will fight us,” one whispered.
The elephant turned, his heavy eyes scanning the three frightened faces. They waited for him to charge so they could quickly climb to the top of the tree.
But he did not charge.
He looked past them, toward the distant, dry horizon—the only direction where water lay waiting.
His throat burned. His strength was fading.
And in that quiet moment, he understood something the monkeys didn't.
They weren't trying to defeat him. They were trying to make him forget where he was going.
So he turned back to the path and kept walking.
Behind him, the monkeys threw more stones, shouting that he was a coward.
The oldest monkey watched him disappear into the dust.
“He is not afraid,” he said softly. “He simply knows that if he stops to fight every creature that provokes him, he may die of thirst before he reaches the water.”
Not every battle deserves your strength. Some only deserve your absence.
- Ajambele
