The Crystal Elephant

                                     The Crystal Elephant
                                                  by
                                        Norma Sadler
    
    Jim and Annie lived in a small rental cottage on Cypress Street in Laguna Beach. On the day before Christmas, he wanted to buy a present for her, something different, something she would really love.  Each year he bought her a Radco ornament for their tree.  This year there would be no tree as they were going to have Christmas with their now grownup children and their grandchildren in Dana Point.  
    Jim drove down to Forest Avenue, at a time early enough for the streets still to be not crowded with traffic and before the lunch crowd showed up. He parked and walked to a store on the corner  In the window, crystal shapes caught his eye, but large sculptures on pedestals would never fit in their living room. Maybe there would be small figurines inside.  
    A young woman in a bright red sweater and black slacks stood behind the counter.  She smiled. "Can I help you?'   
    "I'm looking for something in crystal, like a figurine maybe," he said.
    The sales clerk turned and pointed at the shelf.
    "Here we have a Baccarat tiger. It's 200 dollars."  
            "Maybe a smaller figurine," Jim said.
             "Sure," she said, and walked over to mirrored shelves that held crystal animals, perfume bottles, abstract pieces, even geodes.  By itself in a corner, smaller than the other pieces, stood a lone crystal elephant.  
    "May I see that elephant?" Jim asked.
     The clerk picked it up carefully from the shelf and handed it to Jim.
      The elephant, solid crystal and elegant, would fit in Annie's connection of elephants from around the world.  It was different though from the wood, silver, and pewter ones that she already had.  She loved them and could remember how and where she acquired each one.
    Jim remembered that the first and most important elephants came from Walter, her brother, who served in Africa under General Patton and followed him in the long march up the boot of Italy. Walter carried three wood elephants with small white tusks in a knapsack for Annie, his only sister.  He mailed them from post-war Paris to her. A father, mother, and baby elephant reached Annie and Jim when they were expecting their first child.  That was the beginning of Annie's collection
    Now in their living room Annie's elephants traversed the mantle, making their way through pine boughs and lights.     .  
    "I'll let you decide," the clerk said. "Let me know if you need anything."
    Jim turned the elephant over.  A smooth flat bottom with an etched number signified its history in a Swedish company.  He noticed that unlike Annie's other elephants with their heads down, either standing still or walking through imaginary jungles, this crystal elephant raised a trunk in triumph or happiness. The elephants on the mantle could use another companion.
    Jim turned to the clerk.
    "I'll take this elephant. How much is it?" he asked.
    "It's fifty dollars," the clerk said.  
     He took out his wallet, paid with cash.
    The clerk wrapped the elephant, cozy in a box, then in silver paper with a red ribbon. She handed the package to him.
     "I don't know who this is for, but this crystal elephant is a perfect gift," she said.
     Jim nodded. An elephant for Annie to remember.

Norma Sadler is a member of Third Street Writers, Laguna Beach.