Wandering Elephants

"Now tell me about this, hmmm, elephant", the psychiatrist said. His patient lay upon a clichéd Freudian couch looking dogged and anxious.

"Its been about a week now", the man started, "Every night at eleven-oh-two I hear a series of loud thumps. I go check to find the back door ajar."

"Mhmm..Do you have a habit of forgetfully leaving the door open?" interrupted the psychiatrist.

The patient turned his head, he looked desperate, eyes wide: "No! just the opposite in fact, I triple check my doors to the house every night, front and back...but, not only is it extremely peculiar that the door is left open, its not the usual small blue door that leads to my backyard. Instead its much much larger, engorged somehow."

"Is there any possibility you are sleepwalking into a completely different house entirely?" wondered the Doctor.

No, no, you see...I thought of that, but I checked and all of my possesions are still in the house, pictures still on the wall in their frames, fish in their tank. Everything is as it should be, well except the backdoor is at least twice its usual size and open"

The psychiatrist nodded thoughtfully, "A dream perhaps?"

"Well, maybe, I'm unsure, I honestly can't tell anymore. Oh! I haven't even gotten to the craziest part yet. So the door is open and in lumbers a big gray elephant. Just walks straight in as if he owns the place! He doesn't even seem to noticeme at all, just walks in, opens the cabinent, pulls out a large bag of stadium peanuts I didn't realize I owned and using his trunk he begins to pluck them out and plop them into his mouth. He finishes half the bag, replaces it where he found it, neatly closes the door behind himself and lumbers off. What do you make of it, Doc?"

"Odd indeed, hmmm. The Doctor mused for a moment, then dug around in his desk. He pulled out a newspaper read for a minute, then said "Have you seen The Sentinel lately?"

The man on the couch shook his head.

"Here, check out page 3"

In bold letters there was an advertisement that read:

Circus Arrives! Come see our Smarter than Average Elephant!