the promise, knowing, five men, comfort, crying
- Stella asks Ivan to promise to always take care of Ruby, and to find a safer place for Ruby to grow up; Stella hopes Ruby will have a better life than hers.
- Ivan gives his word—they call that silverback's honor—and realizes that this is Stella's last wish.
- Ivan recalls something Stella once said about elephants feeling more joy and more grief than apes do.
- Ivan wishes he could numb the pain and the loss he feels right now.
- A forklift carries Stella's body away.
- Ivan must find a way to comfort Ruby, but he can't lie and tell her that Stella had a good long life. Instead he tells her she was loved by her friends.
- Mack and George talk. Is it safe to say they are feeling some regret, remorse, possibly some guilt about how things went down for Stella?
- Hard to say, but no one is feeling right about any of this now.