Hi. Here is a little story about a metaphorical elephant in the room. An 'elephant in the room' story can be metaphorical or literal. It could be about the thing in the room that everyone tries to avoid or the thing that commands attention: a thought, feeling, an actual elephant ; ). It could be anything.
Everyone moved
around the room nervously taking care not to come too close to the
coffee table in the center. They pretended not to notice the glass
enclosure sitting there, but their movements were stilted and forced.
If it weren't for the fact that the soiree was the most important
social event of the season, and that the host was a multi-billion-dollar tycoon, capable of financing anyone's and
everyone's business dreams or non-profit needs; the attendees would
have been out of there in a New York minute. It was one thing
to look at that which
sat calm and composed in the enclosure but another thing entirely to
have to talk about it to each
other, and even praise the owner of the horrid creature, but praise
her they did, while suppressing as much of the shivers that shimmied
up their greedy little spines as possible.
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| Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Shirlee
enjoyed watching their discomfort and listening to their pretenses
and polite, deceitful compliments. She had waited for almost three
hours, searching for that one person who was in every crowd; that one
person who was ingenuous, but shy and retiring. She watched
for that one who might be a social moron but was drawn by fascination
toward the glass enclosure. Whoever it was tonight, was controlling
his or her excitement well. Shirlee's impatience was beginning to get
the best of her. It was always a surprise to her, when her
beneficiary revealed themselves. Typically, she would think she had
guessed their identity before they came forward, with a shy but
intense request to interact with each year's diversion. But, no one
had come forward. Finally she would wait no longer.
She
approached the coffee table and the enclosure that everyone else
wouldn't look at, but found their eyes drawn to anyway, and opened
the top of the container. The nervous movement of the crowd suddenly
stopped, they stood transfixed, wide eyes watching in horror, some
making little shrieks, and others groans of disgust. She slowly put
her hand inside the tank and withdrew the hairy-legged, black thing
that clung upside down to her hand, as counterpoint to the glittering
rings on her fingers and the sparkling soft fabric of her cocktail
dress.
Then she heard it.
A soft intake of air that sounded like awe.
