“Now you have all been sent back to my fourth-grade class because you have forgotten what you learned when you were in elementary school about getting along with each other,” said Ms. Gardner.

“Notice that I have split your groups and placed a different member of each party in every other seat. Starting in the first row, there’s a Democrat and then a Republican and then a Democrat and so on all the way to the last row.”

A Republican raised his hand. “Ms. Gardner, why is a Democrat first in the front row? They should all take a back seat to us.”

The Republicans in the room chanted and cheered.

“Quiet! Quiet down now,” shouted Ms. Gardner.

“Now let’s take out our story books and I will read the first one, called ‘The Elephant and the Donkey.’

“Once upon a time in a land far away, an elephant was rumbling through the jungle and came upon a donkey. ‘What are you doing here? This is my jungle,’ said the elephant. The donkey looked surprised at what he just heard. ‘Your jungle?’ said the donkey. ‘Who made you king of the jungle? I’m king of this jungle.’

“?‘I’m bigger and stronger than you,’ said the elephant. ‘That’s why I’m the king.’?”

The Republicans in the class hooted and hollered. A Democrat raised his hand.

“An elephant moves too slow and he knocks everything down in his way. He’s like a 9,000-pound turtle with a 10-foot nose that he sticks where it doesn’t belong.”

The Democrats applauded and cheered. Ms. Gardner waved her hands to quiet everyone down.

“Let me continue, please,” she said. “So, the elephant and the donkey argued about everything. The donkey wanted to grow food in the jungle so all the animals could have something to eat. The elephant argued that every animal should go find his own food to eat. They argued about building a big fence around the jungle to keep out unwanted animals and they argued about what to do to help the animals when they got sick.

“In the middle of another argument, all the other animals came walking out of the jungle to where the elephant and the donkey were standing in a field.”

Ms. Gardner stopped reading the story. “Who would like to guess what happens next?”

A Republican raised his hand. “The elephant steps on the donkey. He squashes him and declares himself the true king of the jungle!”

Loud cheers erupted from his supporters in the room. A Democrat raised his hand.

“The donkey understands what it’s like to carry a big load on your back. He’ll tell the animals he’s going to help take care of them all. He’s the real king!” The Democrats shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Let’s finish the story,” said Ms. Gardner. “A fox stepped to the front of all the animals and begins to speak to the elephant and the donkey.

“?‘We used to be the greatest jungle in all the land,’ said the fox. ‘We used to think that you, Mr. Elephant, and you, Mr. Donkey, cared about us and you did what was best for us. Now because you can’t get along, we can’t get along. The jungle is divided everywhere by red vines and blue vines stretched across all the trees.’

“Then an owl flew in front of the pack of animals to speak next,” said Ms. Gardner. “?‘When I was a very young bird,’ said the owl, ‘my mother taught me to get along with other birds and animals, even if I really didn’t like them.’

“?‘Mr. Elephant, Mr. Donkey, look around at all of us,’ the owl said. ‘There are big animals, small animals, different color animals. Some of us fly. Some of us walk. Some crawl and some slither. Some have four legs. Others have two and there are those with none. We make many different sounds and our languages are difficult for all of us to understand. Many of us have come here from other jungles to seek a better life. Everyone used to drink the water from the same river. Now, we drink the rain water we collect in our own ponds so we don’t have to meet at the river anymore.’

“A tear fell from the owl’s eye. ‘We want to be proud about where we live again. We want to say this is the best jungle in all the land. We want to be united as one group of all the different animals.’

“The elephant and the donkey stared at each other for a moment and then turned toward the animals.

“?‘We’ve forgotten our promise to serve all of you,’ said the elephant.

“?‘We have made you angry,’ said the donkey. ‘You put your trust in us and we let you down.’

“From that day on, the elephant and the donkey worked together to earn the animals’ trust again. A special group was made with one animal from all the different types to help the elephant and the donkey make decisions that would help all the animals live together. Soon the jungle was the best in the land again and everyone lived happily ever after.”

The class was silent.

Ms. Gardner closed her book. She looked around the room. “Now before you leave today, I want each Republican to take a hand of each Democrat and speak the oath you took when you were elected by the American people.

“I do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”

The class stood and pledged allegiance to the flag.

“Now go and serve the people,” said Ms. Gardner.

Rich Strack can be reached at richiesadie11@gmail.com.