Din Din was listless the whole day. He lay huddled in his blanket of soft, sweet-scented hay.

“Good evening, Din Din,” said Dr Trish in her brusque style. “Come on, I want you to sit up so I can check you.”

The doctor had been summoned by Din Din’s parents and grandparents because Din Din had been behaving very strangely ever since his precious garden had been trampled by a herd of elephants the day before.

“I’ve had a long day at the clinic, Din Din, and now I have a meeting to attend with some dinosaur elders later tonight,” said Dr Trish in her clipped tone as she examined Din Din’s bloodshot eyes and checked his vitals.

“He’s absolutely fine,” she declared firmly to Din Din’s parents who were waiting quietly and anxiously on the side.

“But he hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday night. He hasn’t even gotten out of bed,” cried an exasperated Mrs Dee.

“Come on, Din Din,” ordered Dr Trish. “Go and have a wash and I want you in the kitchen in five minutes. I don’t have time for this drama.”

Unable to reject or ignore a direct order by the head of the dinosaurs, Din Din dragged himself out of bed. A few minutes later he was seated at the rock-surfaced dining table. A steaming bowl of vegetable broth lay before him but he felt sick.

“I can’t eat!” he mumbled feebly. Dr Trish pursed her lips tightly.

“Consider it to be medicine and gulp it down.” With those words the triceratops doctor swept out of the cave. “Make sure you go to school tomorrow,” she declared as she left.

Din Din slurped the soup but tasted nothing. Suddenly, with a flutter of wings, Dazel the duck appeared at the cave door.

“Hello, Din Din. How are you today?” greeted Dazel after she had wished Din Din’s family.

“I know it’s very late but I want you to come with me, Din Din,” Dazel said.

“I’m really not up to it, Dazel,” mumbled Din Din. “I don’t have the energy.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer, Din Din. Derek, Dave and Don, you three also come with me,” urged Dazel. “We will need to carry torches as the sun has already set and it’s a moonless night.”

Din Din did not have the strength to resist. Lighting fires on torches from the stove that burned in Mrs Dee’s kitchen, Dazel and the four brothers set out. It was still too dark to see where they were going in the flickering flames of the torches. Suddenly, Din Din stiffened. He realised they were standing before his garden. But the garden was not trampled and upturned as he had seen the previous day. The squashed plants from the flower and vegetable beds had been weeded out and now neat rows lay before him.

“Who cleared up the garden?” asked Din Din softly.

“Kit and I,” replied Dazel. “Burrow the rabbit heard about what happened and he also brought his family of rabbits to help.” Kit and her whimpering kittens nuzzled against Din Din’s stout, green legs.

“But what’s the use, Dazel. If we work on the garden all over again and elephants come charging through the garden all our sweat and toil will be wasted,” Din Din said. He didn’t feel listless anymore. In fact, he felt angry. Fury seeped through him — hot and dangerous.

“I hate those elephants,” he spat out. “We must find them Din Din,” Dazel spoke to Din Din calmly. “We must speak to them that this should not happen. Maybe they were running from something. Maybe they didn’t even realise what they did.”

Kit the cat spoke up, “But until we find them we must build a fence around your garden.”

Din Din nodded. “I have been behaving like a coward. I should have stayed and rebuilt the garden with you all but instead I ran away and slept. I felt I could block out the reality if I did not face it.” He was crying now. Tears rolled down his giant cheeks. His three brothers hugged him warmly, their eyes watering too.

“We will begin building the fence tomorrow,” Derek said. “After school the three of us will come here and help you in collecting the wood for making the fence.”

“There is no need to do that. Wally the woodpecker and his team of carpenters can be hired to build the fence. He was the one who built the treasure chest for me. I will speak to him first thing tomorrow morning. You will have to pay him — maybe fruit from Fruit Park or even better — your mother’s delicious chocolates in exchange for his services,” said Dazel.

“That’s a splendid idea,” said Kit clapping her paws in delight. Din Din replied solemnly. “Thank you, Dazel. But I want to confront the elephants. They must realise what they have done and they must be careful in future.”

“Wiz Rooster must know where they live,” suggested Dazel. “Let’s ask him.” So the entire entourage hastened towards Wiz Rooster’s home. The rooster was enjoying his supper when he saw from his window a large, peculiar group of four dinosaurs, one cat, three kittens and a duck coming towards his home.

He hurried to his doorway. “Is everything okay?” he inquired. Dazel quickly explained what had happened to Din Din’s garden and how a herd of elephants was responsible for this damage. “Din Din wants to meet the elephants. Do you know where they could be found?”

“The elephants like to stay to themselves. They are a large colony which lives in the savannah grassland which is a usually deserted area,” explained Wiz Rooster. “I don’t know what they were doing charging through your garden.”

“I will go find them after my fence is built,” insisted Din Din.

“But what good will that do?” questioned Wiz Rooster.

“I need to confront them. I need to be sure that this will never happen again,” said Din Din, his voice trembling with rage.

“Din Din, in life unexpected things happen. Things we are not prepared for. All we can do is take precautions,” advised the rooster sagely.

“But my garden is too precious. Talking to the elephants will be part of the precautions I take,” Din Din said adamantly.

“I will accompany you, Din Din,” said Dazel.

“So will we,” chimed in his three brothers.

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