Johna and the Elephant, Episode 1

Episode 1

Johna had one job, and one job only. Johna walked Furgusun the Elephant in a circle along the fence while children and fiances sat across the elephant’s back, cheering and kissing. Johna and Furgusun went from fair to fair across the country, wherever Mr. Dinsdale sent them. Mr. Dinsdale owned Furgusun, but didn’t have time to take an elephant on a show circuit himself. Mr. Dinsdale was a busy man, with important meetings and contacts so he hired Johna to do the travelling. Johna wasn’t sure if Mr. Dinsdale had seen Furgusun in years.

When Johna first got the job, Furguson was a powerful creature with heavy muscles and a powerful jaw. Johna had her tusks cut off with a chainsaw, which made the elephant scream and fight so hard that Johna had Furgusun chained to the floor. Before  the operation, Furgusun was known as a willful and dangerous beast, but she never acted up with Johna again.

Even after the operation, Furguson was not easy to train. Johna tried a cattle prod, but Furgusun’s skin was so thick the elephant often didn’t care. Johna found the best method to keep the elephant walking was a metal hook on a wooden pole the length of Johna’s arm that could be used to strike Furgusun across the shoulders if she didn’t respond to the steep point in her armpit.

Furgusun wasn’t the only animal Mr. Dinsdale owned. Each summer, he shipped a farm’s worth of animals around the country. The business had been inherited from his father. Rumor had it, the only reason Mr. Dinsdale didn’t sell the farm was on a plea from his mother. When Johna was hired, Furgusun was the crown jewel of the elder Mr. Dinsdale’s collection. Even when Furgusun couldn’t be ridden, people would pay a dollar to look at the elephant.

No one could work Furgusun like Johna. When it seemed the elephant was pacified, Johna was sent to work with some of the smaller animals that grew out of line. The first time Furgusun went on the road without Johna, she rampaged and nearly broke out of her enclosure. When Johna returned, Furgusun was placid as could be. The elephant knew better than to act out when Johna was around.

The two saw the country together. In the summer, they crossed the north, where the weather was mild. In the winter, they faced the blazing heat and bone-chilling cold of the south. In the elder Mr. Dinsdale’s days, Johna stayed in hotels, but the current Mr. Dinsdale announced on his first day that a limit would be placed on lodging, and he didn’t account for transportation between the motel and the fairground, so Johna spent his nights in the barn with Furgusun.

Episode 2