Literary Las Vegas
Summerlin writer Lacey Miller follows the plight of a family of elephants on a desperate quest to find safety in South Africa in the novel “I, Elephant.”
In addition to her fiction, Miller has written for television, including work featured on “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”
Excerpt from
“I, Elephant”
Aanya was perplexed at the absence of her mother. True, she was still safe and cared for, but it nevertheless felt like a wallet on Thursday night; empty and longing. Seldom had she been left without the comfort of her mother, her foundation and treasure. Besides, she was hungry! The whole confusing night felt like one shoe dropped, leaving the other dangling above her head. She was waiting for something she could understand, something familiar. Being so new at living was hard enough; being new and scared was more than she had bargained for, and these elephants smelled different. She put out her trunk and dared to touch one of them, a male. Yes, it has the smell of family, and it’s much bigger than I am, and stronger. But it doesn’t have that thing that milk comes from!