Lesson Seventeen: “Stalemate”

“There they are,” whispered Oliver. “The elephant herd.”

Gemma and her Serengeti team peeked through the wild date palm trees. Ten meters away the herd quietly gorged themselves on leaves, fruits, and tree bark.

“I say we just go and ask them if they have the prize. They look friendly enough,” suggested Oliver.

“You call that, friendly?” said Leboo, the lion, as he pointed his tail in the direction of the adult elephants who were now stomping the ground with their thick, trunk-like legs.

“They’re just sending a message to a distant herd!” said Frank the hippo. “See how the sound travels through the ground? I wonder what they’re saying.”

The team watched as the elephants pounded their message in the dust.

“Wait, are those go-carts?” Oliver pointed towards the vehicles next to the young elephants. “Since when do elephants drive?”

Leboo, the lion, frowned. “Since today, apparently.”

Gemma took a deep breath. “Remember our goal is to find the missing prize. We don’t rush. We think before acting.”

“Well, we may need to do some quick thinking because it looks like the elephants have picked up on our scent and are heading this way!” growled Leboo.

“Run!” shouted Charlie the cheetah.

The ground rumbled and roared beneath the teams’ feet. The elephant herd huffed and snorted and barrelled toward our adventurers!

“AHHHH!!!” The team broke into a run.

“Wait! Don’t panic!” Tina shouted.

But her words fell dead in the dust as the hippos, cheetahs, lion, and even her own brother made a mad dash for the go-carts.

“Grab the prize and the carts!” shrieked Oliver.

“Don’t let them steal our stuff!” shouted Rocco, the oldest of the elephant calves.

Gemma watched in disbelief as go-carts zipped and zoomed across the dust field. It was truly one of the silliest chases you’ve ever seen.

The cheetahs sped ahead, chasing the elephant calves. The hippos blocked the elephant’s paths. And the lions helped the hippos to cut off escape routes. They couldn’t let the young elephants escape with the prize!

Round and round they all went. Faster and more reckless by the second. Soon, safe spaces became impossible to find. Every path was blocked. Every turn led back to the same place. The faster Gemma’s team went, the fewer the options they were left. No one was winning. And no one was losing.

Just then… a deep and powerful voice echoed across the sweet Serengeti air.

“Stop right this second!!” bellowed Wilma, the elephant matriarch.

Gemma gathered all her courage, and stepped out from behind the palm trees. “Remember, they see you as a Queen, so act like one!” she reminded herself.

Wilma’s great eyes swiveled as gemma, with her long, elegant neck, and graceful steps drew near.

Wilma immediately lowered her trunk in respect.

Gemma took a deep breath and said, “Aunty Wilma… this is all my fault. We rushed into action without a plan. We let our fear, instead of wisdom, decide our path.”

“Gemma’s right,” said Oliver. “Rushing forward without thinking didn’t give us a victory. Instead, it boxed us in, with nowhere to go. We were ‘stuck like chuck’, again.”

Rocco, the oldest of the young elephants added, “Yeah, who would’ve thought that going too fast would leave me with no moves.”

Gemma’s eyes widened. “That’s it,” she said softly. “A stalemate.”

Wilma smiled. “Exactly. No one wins, no one loses. We simply cannot continue. But a reset gives us a fresh start.”

“Next time,” Gemma said, “we slow things wayyyy down.”

Wilma gently brushed young Rocco’s cheek with her trunk and turned to Gemma. “Well, that’s life isn’t it? We learn as we go. But speaking of making plans… what did you have in mind when you arrived here? In other words, why’ve you come?”

“As you are probably aware, King Baruti is searching for a stolen trophy. It’s meant to be the grand prize at the Savannah Olympics, but now… without it, we can’t compete. So, if it isn’t too much trouble, we’d like to examine the trophy that’s strapped in the front seat of your grandson’s go-cart.”

“This old thing?” asked Rocco as he unlatched the seatbelt and lifted a dusty trophy for all to see.

“We found this a couple villages over. It was lying in the dust. We saved it!” he continued proudly.

“So… you didn’t take it from King Baruti?”

Wilma blew a puff of offended air through her trunk. “Why would we do such a thing. King Baruti is a friend. And we elephants don’t steal. That’s hurtful and it’s wrong.”

Gemma scratched her head in confusion.  “Well, if it wasn’t you, then… who?”

“Child, I think it best we return this trophy to the King and let him sort out how it came to be on a dusty desert floor.” Then Wilma looked at the rest of Gemma’s team. “We’ll escort you to the King’s village. But first, let us make a plan, a route, lest we end up racing around like a chicken without a head!”

And so, with another mystery solved, this happy group of animals marched their way to King Baruti’s village. Along the way, Wilma taught Gemma the secrets of stalemate. Would you like to hear what she learned?

“Okay everyone, now that we know what stalemate feels like, it’s time to see what one looks like. Let’s take a look at our demo board.”