Tembo was the biggest elephant in the whole savanna. He could push over a tree, carry a log in his trunk, and trumpet so loudly the birds rose from the grass. All the animals thought Tembo must be the bravest creature alive. But Tembo had a secret, and the secret was this: he was terribly, hopelessly afraid of mice.
It made no sense, and Tembo knew it. He was a thousand times bigger than any mouse. But whenever one scurried past, his great knees knocked and he scrambled up onto the nearest rock.
One afternoon, as Tembo drank at the water hole, he heard a tiny, frightened squeak. There in the reeds was a little gray mouse, caught in a tangle of thorns, unable to free herself. "Help," she squeaked. "Oh, please help me." Tembo froze. Every part of him wanted to run. But the mouse looked so small, and so scared, that something in his huge heart was stronger than his fear.
Very gently, with the delicate tip of his enormous trunk, he plucked the thorns away one by one until the little mouse was free.
"Thank you," said the mouse, brushing herself off. "You're the kindest giant I've ever met. My name is Nya." Tembo was so surprised that he forgot to be afraid. He had always thought of mice as something to flee from — not as someone with a name, and a squeaky little voice, and a grateful smile. "I'm Tembo," he said shyly. And just like that, the biggest animal and the smallest became friends.
It was not a cure, exactly. The very next day, when Nya scampered up to say good morning, Tembo still flinched. But this time he did not run. "I'm sorry," he admitted. "I've been scared of mice my whole life. I don't even know why." Nya laughed her tiny laugh. "Fears are funny like that," she said. "But it's hard to be afraid of a friend. Just look at me, and remember it's only me." So he did. And each day, the looking got a little easier.
Soon Tembo could let Nya ride on his head, and curl up in the shade of his ear, and run circles around his feet without the slightest flinch. The other animals were amazed. "You truly are the bravest," they said. But Tembo shook his great head. "Not because I'm big," he rumbled. "Being brave isn't never being scared. It's being scared, and choosing to be kind anyway."
"The smallest friend," Nya liked to say, "can cure the biggest fear."
And the giant and the mouse stayed best friends for all the long years of their lives.