| " | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the fifteenth of May of the following year, Horton the Elephant's worries were clear. He'd made his way home to the Jungle of Nool, where he'd spend the hot days in the cool of his pool. So much had happened since he sat in that spot, more than an elephant's usual lot. 'Twas here that he heard that historic small yelp, and here that he vowed to offer his help to a tiny pink world adrift in the air, for no other creature believed it was there. As a matter of fact, it is worthwhile to say, that many his peers went out of their way to rid that daft elephant of senseless delusions and prove that those cries were figmental illusions. One of outstanding particular note was a kangaroo, sour, and eager to gloat at the notion of anyone subject to see ideas in any way other than she. And there in her pouch did a small joey squat, young and naive, of the world knowing naught, but there without out question it parrots quite proudly the judgements its mother dispenses so loudly. So needless to say, when the news came around, they'd plenty to say 'bout the speck Horton found. In spite of his efforts to see it unhurt atop a soft clover, not dashed in the dirt, that kangaroo'd go the ends of the earth to follow the dust speck and scoff at its worth. Proclaiming that Horton had clearly gone mad, she led all the jungle to see him as bad. Long story short, he ran far away (but that is a tale for a different day). But not even oceans dividing the two discourage the wrath of a sour kangaroo. She hauled him back over to Nool to stand trial for the crime of maintaining that speck all the while. "All of this talk of a world known as Who... I say he's crazy!" The joey said "Me too!" The jury of animals ruled him insane - "There must be a peanut lodged up in his brain!" Judge Yertle The Turtle passed sentence in light of the eye witness evidence given that night. "For the safety of those whom his antics enraged, Horton is ordered committed and caged. And as for the dust speck, the elephant's spoil, it shall be melted in Beezlenut oil!" "Boil my dust speck? You mustn't, you see! Take me if you must, but please let it be. For that little dust speck is more than a mote; it's a whole planet, with a people its tote!" "Humph!" said the sour kangaroo, "It is not! It's a fanciful dream that will make your head rot! Believing such things, I think you're a fool - nay, the biggest blame fool in the Jungle of Nool! To end this codswallop and your tries to mislead, I want that speck gone!" The joey agreed. So despite Horton's pleas, seems the speck shan't be spared, and a vat of hot oil was promptly prepared. The speck would have met its cruel end then and there, if a sudden small "Yopp!" hadn't punctured the air. All of those wrestling the clover now faced the reality they had dismissed with such haste. The animals saw then they should have been keener than trust kangaroos with a sour demeanour. The jungle's inhabitants now turned to face the cause of this scandalous utter disgrace. They snarled at her fiercely, their anger now double. "You were the one who caused all this trouble! You were the one who had us believing that Horton was dangerous; oh how deceiving! If you hadn't coaxed us, we'd dodge all this fear! If you had just listened, we'd save this past year!" "Now now," said the tense kangaroo to assuage the encroaching mob's palpable imminent rage. "How should I've known that a world could exist on a small bit of dust? It sounds mad, I insist! I didn't mean harm, I say honest and truly! I just wanted Horton not acting unruly!" The kangaroo backed away further until she bumped on the vat, making some of it spill. "Alright now, I think she has learned her due lesson," Horton injected to calm the aggression. "Forgive and forget, I always say; Let bygones be bygones and start a new day." "Speak for yourself! What rubbish! What rot! Justice must be given - the justice she wrought!" a bold voice declared, and "Yeah!" followed others. The source of the charge was the Wickersham Brothers. "If anyone knows about mischief, it's us! We're always close by when arises a fuss! Whether we cause it, or cause it to stay, Expect monkey business; there's no other way!" "So good to see you, my simian friends! Tell them that I'm all for making amends!" The kangaroo pleaded through a desperate grin, but the troublesome monkeys would not let her win. "On the contrary, we're not here to free you. Better not cross us. We'd not want to be you! For you made a monkey of us and now due is the vengeance where we make a monkey of you!" Before you could even say "green eggs and ham", the Wickersham Brothers spread out through the jam. They flailed their limbs and, noisily whoopin', disorientation arose as they swoop in. The kangaroo couldn't begin to react; the monkeys descended upon her, attacked! Those very same ropes that were just used to bind an elephant charged with losing his mind were repurposed and put into use to subdue the struggling throes of a sour kangaroo. The onlooking crowd knew not what to think; they nary could muster so much as a blink. Is this what we wanted? Is this what is right? Eyes exchanged glances in hopes of insight. Meanwhile the Wickershams proudly displayed the elegant bindings their handiwork made: The kangaroo's hands and big feet had been tied in separate lassoes pulled out to the side. But, not one to have things kept under her hat, you'd better believe she would have none of that. "Unhand me, you damn dirty Wickersham pests!" Though not in position to make such requests. "Me too!" said the joey who's still tucked inside, helplessly carried along for the ride. "What do you think; should we do as she asks? Or should she be held to additional tasks?" Again, not a single voice dared to chime in for fear of inciting more riots begin. "What's wrong here; has Cat In The Hat got your tongue? Just moments ago you'd have Horton hung. But all things considered, look, kangaroo, If anyone deserves to be boiled, it's you!" "Yeah! He is right!" a voice piped up at last. "Yeah!" the crowd echoed; their shake up had passed. "Untie me at once, or you'll come to regret it!" the kangaroo threatened, but none of them sweat it. The monkeys took hold of their prisoner's binds and marched towards the vat; they'd made up their minds. "Okay!" stammered she, "I admit, I was wrong! I shouldn't have heckled that speck all along! Or Horton the Elephant, I should've let be, even if thinking things diff'rent from me. You see? I am good now! I've learnt and I grow! It won't happen again; now please let me go!" By this time the crowd had united in jeering. "Boil her! Boil her!" they chanted whilst cheering. Over the cauldron they tugged her ahead. "Don't put me in there!" she frantically pled. "Please let me go! It's too hot to bear, ouch!" "Me too!" said the young kangaroo in her pouch. "Yes, what have you got against my poor kid who had nothing to do with the wrong that I did! If I'm doomed to suffer the fate you must give, at least let my innocent progeny live!" "Innocent! Humph!" someone planted their thought in; it came from a character oddly forgotten. Horton the Elephant rose from the mass as others stepped back to permit him to pass. His oft friendly visage now struck with contempt; his merciful nature this bias did tempt. He stopped at the prisoner, looking her over, his trunk still wrapped tightly around his dear clover. "Don't you see this is where I was just at, when I was committed behind lock and slat? But rather than leaving the sanction at that, you insisted this clover be thrown in that vat! And a world full of people you'd rashly lay flat, as I watched in horror and helplessly sat. So I might be slow, and I might be fat, but I'm not so thick to neglect tit for tat!" The kangaroo gaped at the elephant's earful, her ears drooped disheartened, her eyes trembling tearful. She knew there was nothing else more she could do than face the harsh punishments that would ensue at the hands of her captors determined to lynch persuasive deceivers and spare not an inch. Weeping, resigning to the will of the mob, her breathing erratic and heart fixed to throb, she didn't resist the tugs at her limbs or whatever may come of their bloodthirsty whims. She clenched her eyes shut as the heat waves ascended and felt her pouch sag as her joey suspended. The two kangaroos held by ropes were out splayed, defenselessly, vulnerably, fully displayed. The swelter rose up from their scorching tormentor and milked sweat from their every surface 'twould enter. The kangaroo trembled in painful suspension both from intense heat and the outwardly tension. The joey too whimpered as it tried to take shelter in its mothers thick pouch away from the swelter. The Wickersham Brothers, of their triumph so proud, turned from their work to address the whole crowd. "There you go, folks, the show you've been wanting! Your oppressor, once cocky, now ready for taunting! Step right up close now; come one and come all! Don't wait for these ropes to burn up and her fall! If any you citizens wanted a turn to have a chance getting her back in return, now is the time, she's open to you! Step right up, sir; tell me, what will YOU do?"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t