“Ethan, I don’t know how much
longer I can do this. My feet
really hurt.”
“Yeah, so do mine, Sammy. Maybe
we should just live at the zoo
like Uncle Carl. He gets fed well
and just relaxes all day,” said
Ethan.
“When I said I don’t know how
much longer I can do this, I meant
this job. I didn’t mean give up on
our dream of being independent
elephants.”
“Relax. I haven’t lost sight of
that dream either, Sammy. Look, I
appreciated Mr. Dilley giving us a
job at his carwash, but using my
trunk as a water hose isn’t how I
want to spend my days.”
“You think I do? I have one dream
in life, just one.”
“I know, I know, I’ve heard this
story a thousand times; you want
to be a chef more than anything
else on Earth,” said Ethan.
“That’s right, a chef,” said
Sammy. “But that’s never going to
happen, because nobody wants to
eat food cooked by an elephant.”
“You just haven’t found the right
restaurant yet,” said Ethan.
“Don’t give up, Sammy. Somebody
will give you a job eventually.”
“Well, I’ve applied to every
restaurant in town and they all
said the same thing…“Sorry, but we
don’t even serve peanut butter
stew here.” What are they
thinking? How can you not serve
peanut butter stew at a
restaurant?”
“I agree. It doesn’t make sense,”
said Ethan. “It’s not worth
getting upset over though, Sammy.
They obviously don’t know what
they’re talking about, since they
don’t even serve peanut butter
stew.”
“Thanks Ethan. I’m just tired of
waiting for someone else to give
me a chance, so first thing
tomorrow morning I am going to the
bank for a loan. We’ll just open
up our own place. And every
customer that walks through the
door will be treated with
respect. And
I mean every customer; little boys
and girls, grown-ups, puppy dogs,
elephants, even a tiger if he’s
willing to behave himself.”
“Can I be the one who greets them
at the door with a song?” asked
Ethan. “I’ve always dreamed of
being a singer.”
“Absolutely,” said Sammy. “I’ll
make the stew and you can sing
your heart out to all the
customers.”
Ethan took the sponge he had been
using to wipe down a little blue
car and pretended it was a
microphone. To the surprise of
Sammy and the man sitting in the
little blue car, Ethan began to
sing:
“Our days here,
Are almost through,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot;
No more, Carwash Blues,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot;
Because we’ve got better things to
do,
Like singing tunes,
And making stew,
That’s
All
We
Really
Want
To
Do,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot.”
“That’s great. That’s wonderful,”
said the man in the little blue
car. “But until then, can you
please get the suds off my car?”
Ethan and Sammy finished washing
the little blue car as the man
requested and smiled the whole
time they cleaned it. Even with
sore feet it was easy for them to
smile now,
because they knew their dreams
were going to come true. Their
days of working at the car wash
would be over soon; or so it
seemed.
Mr. Dilley had been paying Ethan
and Sammy with peanuts, which they
felt was the only good thing about
working at the car wash; but when
Sammy tried to use several bags of
peanuts at the bank, he was
informed he would have to shell
out something else, money. Sammy
was heartbroken. He and Ethan
didn’t have one nickel between
them, and the cost of starting up
a restaurant was more than Sammy
ever imagined. He didn’t know how
he was going to explain this to
Ethan when he got back. But Sammy
didn’t have to say anything; the
sad look on his face spoke a
thousand words.
“It’s all right, Sammy,” said
Ethan. “We’ll figure something
out.”
Sammy just nodded as a little tear
rolled down his cheek.
A good thing happened the next
morning though; Mr. Dilley agreed
to start paying Ethan and Sammy
with money, and not just peanuts.
But the job paid very little, and
if they saved every penny they
made between them it would take a
very, very, long time to afford a
restaurant of their own. Ethan and
Sammy tried to keep their spirits
up, but it was tough. Days turned
into weeks, and weeks turned into
months, and Sammy still couldn’t
find anyone willing to give him a
loan for his restaurant. For a
while it seemed
as though Ethan and Sammy would
spend the rest of their lives
working at the car wash, until
something unexpected happened.
Something wonderful!
While hosing down a car one
afternoon, Ethan and Sammy
abruptly stopped what they were
doing when the sound of bells and
music filled the air.
“Where’s that music coming from?”
asked Sammy.
“Beats me, but it sounds like it’s
getting closer,” said Ethan.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Ethan and Sammy walked to the
front of the car wash and were
surprised to see a big orange
truck in the parking lot. The big
orange truck was playing music and
had bells that chimed repeatedly.
Several people walked up to the
truck and began speaking to a man
who stood inside it. Everyone was
smiling and looked very happy.
“Here you go young lady,” said the
man in the big orange truck.
“Enjoy your ice-cream sandwich.”
“What? You’ve got to be kidding
me. That man is selling ice-cream
to people from his truck,” said
Sammy. “What a brilliant idea.
Don’t wait for your customers to
come to you, go out and find
them!”
“And he is playing music for
them,” said Ethan. “Are you
thinking what I’m thinking,
Sammy?”
“Yeah, how does he keep the
ice-cream from melting?”
“No, that’s not what I was
thinking,” said Ethan shaking his
head. “I am sure there’s a freezer
on the truck, Sammy. I’m talking
about us, silly. A truck should be
a lot less expensive than a
restaurant. Why don’t we start our
own business by renting a truck,
and just go out and find our
customers like the man with the
ice-cream?”
Sammy didn’t say a word, but
smiled from ear to floppy ear. He
knew right then and there that
his life was going to
change. And it did! After a pay
raise and a couple more months of
working at the car wash, Ethan and
Sammy went to the bank and got the
loan they needed to start their
business. They had the words “Stew
and Tunes,” written on the side of
their truck. It took awhile to
catch on, but eventually the whole
town of Belvar fell
in love with Sammy’s peanut butter
stew. Unlike the big orange truck
that delivered ice-cream, bells
didn’t chime on Ethan and Sammy’s
truck, but there was plenty of
music to be sure. And everyone in
Belvar knew the truck was close by
when they heard Ethan sing:
“We’re so happy,
To see you,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot;
No more, Carwash Blues,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot;
Because we’ve got better things to
do,
Like singing tunes,
And making stew,
That’s
All
We
Really
Want
To
Do,
Doot-doot, doot–doot, doot-doot,
doot-doot, doot.”
THE END
