Ellie is a famous elephant painter. Hundreds of people come to see her paint every day, and lately, she has been stuck on what to paint next for her performance at the zoo.
It’s always the same old picture of abstract blobs on the canvas, but she wanted more. So, she asked her mom for advice.
“Mom, I need your help to come up with new ideas to paint.”
Her mom said, “You need to think outside the box.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means to think of something that you normally wouldn’t do and leave the box. Baths normally help with brainstorming.” Her mom said as they walked over to the watering hole.
Her mother filled her big long trunk full of cold water and spurted it onto Ellie. Ellie loved playing with her ball while getting a bath because it was more fun than just sitting there. She was bouncing her ball in place when she got an idea. Her mom was right. While in the bath she had gotten an idea how to go think outside the box.
When all the other elephants were asleep, she left by jumping on top of her ball to jump over the wall. She managed to escape the elephant enclosure to go for a walk. She walked around the zoo at night, undetected like a ninja.
“Think, think, think.” she said quietly to herself as she scratched the top of her head with her trunk.
“Keep it down. I’m trying to sleep. What’s your problem?” the monkey said.
“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to think outside the box about what I should paint” Ellie said.
“Well, you could paint yourself.” the monkey suggested.
“Why would I put paint on myself?
“No, no, no. Not literally. I mean like a self-portrait.” the monkey laughing as he clarified.
“Oh, thanks.” Ellie said as she left.
Ellie kept walking and thinking because she couldn’t paint a self-portrait because she didn’t have a mirror, so she can’t see herself.
“Think, think, think.” she said quietly to herself as she scratched the top of her head with her trunk.
A peacock was strolling in the night too when they bumped into each other. It wasn’t just any peacock; Ellie knew him. Usually Mr. Peacock strolls throughout the entire zoo during the day, but he couldn’t sleep.
“Hey, watch where you’re going.”
“Oh sorry, Mr. Peacock.”
“Ellie? Why are you out of your enclosure?”
Mr. Peacock asked surprised.
“I was thinking what I should paint next.”
“The people love your paintings. Why do you want to change it?”
“Because I want to be more creative.” Ellie explained.
“Well, you could add more color like my tail feathers.” he suggested as he spread open his tail.
“Thanks, Mr. Peacock. That sounds like a great idea.” Ellie said as she left.
Ellie kept walking and thinking when she passed the giraffe enclosure.
“Think, think, think.” she said quietly to herself as she scratched the top of her head with her trunk.
But this time she ran into one of the zookeepers. They swarmed and captured her. They brought her back inside the box. She was returned back to her mom who was worried sick about her. Ellie confronted her mother and explained why she left.
Her mom replied laughing, “It’s just an expression, silly. I didn’t really actually mean leave to think.”
“Well, I finally know what to paint now.”
The next morning, when it was time for her performance, she grabbed the paint brush in her trunk, and she painted like she never painted before with such passion.
The crowd oohed and awed.
When she was finished she was so glad she thought outside the box.
She took the monkey’s and Mr. Peacock’s advice, painting a portrait based on her mother; shrinking her down to her size so it’s more like her and a colorful background to match his feather.
The crowd cheered louder than ever as they were impressed by her super creative painting.
Thinking outside the box helped her overcome her problem.
The End
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