Kelly was on a school excursion to the zoo. Everyone knew that Kelly—especially Kelly him-
self—had a fantastic imagination. During math class he could be commander of a spaceship traveling
to the starry cluster of Omega Centauri, a thousand light years away. In science he might be riding his
magic time-machine motorbike into the future. In English he could be captaining a Kelly-designed,
pressure-resistant submarine to the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on earth, 30,000 feet down.
At the zoo, the class was on an overhead walkway looking down into the African wildlife park
... but Kelly was down among all the animals. I don’t know if he knew he was really there or if it
was his imagination. Whatever, if he let his imagination run, he could see himself as a great explorer:
a white pith helmet on his head, tall brown leather boots on his feet, khaki pants, and a jacket with
lots of pockets.
Suddenly there was a loud—and terribly close—roar. Kelly was face to face with a huge, hungry-
looking lion. Its long, shaggy, brown mane surrounded a face dominated by a big open mouth and
large sharp teeth. As Kelly looked around for a way to escape he saw he had been encircled by the
whole pride of lions. His only escape route was blocked by a raging river.
“What can I do?” wondered Kelly. He had to think quickly. What were his choices? He could
run, but lions could run faster than he could. He could climb that nearby tree, but he remembered
that, in some parts of Africa, lions actually climbed trees. Was it here? He looked at the raging river.
If he jumped in he might drown. What was he to do?
Just then he saw a semi-submerged log floating down the river. With one almighty jump he landed
on the log, relieved to escape the lions.... Then he felt the log wriggle. He felt it again. The log was
swimming! It wasn’t a log all. He was riding on the back of a crocodile. What was he to do now?
Then he heard another roar, a different roar, the roar of a waterfall dropping over a steep cliff
into nothingness. Again Kelly faced making a decision: Stay on the back of the crocodile and get
swept over the waterfall, swim to shore and perhaps get eaten by the croc, or reach one of those over-
hanging branches. Choosing the branch, he leapt, his fingers just wrapping around the bough where
he dangled above the snapping jaws of the croc. Hauling himself into the tree, he was face to face
with a snake!
Not all snakes are poisonous, remembered Kelly, but some of those that aren’t can unhinge their jaws and
swallow large animals the size of a young boy. What was he to do now? What were his options?
He could climb higher but, as the branches got thinner, would they support his weight? The
snake was lighter than Kelly and could climb higher still. He could jump but, if he broke a leg, the
lions would have no trouble making a meal of him. Then he saw a vine hanging from the tree. Per-
haps, like Tarzan, he could swing into the next tree, then climb his way down to safety.
He swung into the next tree and climbed down the trunk. His feet had barely touched the
ground when he felt something grab him from behind. What could it be? Was it an elephant about
to pick him up in its trunk and dash him to his death? Was it a gorilla reaching out to crush him in a
huge hug? He turned to find himself face to face with a zookeeper.
“Sonny,” said the zookeeper, “We’d best get you out of here before something decides you might
make an interesting change of diet.” Kelly faced another choice. How dare this man stop a great
African explorer! Would Kelly break free and run back to the adventures of the jungle, or go with
the keeper to rejoin his school group? I wonder what decision he made this time.
166 Healing Stories, Teaching Stories