ZOO LIFE

• Jack McNaughton, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2022

Once upon a time, there was a zoo. It was the MOST famous zoo in the world because it had three very special animals. A dinosaur called Joe, a singing koala named Ben, and Jeremy, the tap-dancing snake (which is pretty special considering snakes don’t have feet!).
“BANG, BANG” goes Joe the dinosaur as he tried to escape his enclosure. He didn’t want to live there anymore because 365 days a year, the animals had to put on an hourly show and he was sick of it. One small problem, Joe didn’t know how to escape, but he knew the wise old owl who lived at the other end of the zoo, would have the answer.
After the last show, when all the visitors had left the zoo, Joe took off to find the wise old owl. Along the way, he ran into his buddy, Ben, the singing koala. “Where are you off to?” said Ben. “I am planning to escape, and I’m going to ask the wise old owl to help me” he said. “I’ll come too” said Ben. “I am soooo tired of performing from sunup to sundown every day too.
Tippity tap, tappety tip. “What’s that noise” said Joe. “Oh, that’s just Jeremy, the tap-dancing snake”. “I heard what you’re up to”, said Jeremy, and I want to come too, my feet are soooooo sore after all the tap dancing I have to do” (which is pretty interesting, considering snakes don’t have feet).
They walked up the hill to where the wise old owl slept. “Wise old owl, can you help us escape please?” they said. “Yes, I can help you. I know a secret”. The three animals leaned in. “At 7am, before the zoo opens, the zookeepers test the waterslides to make sure they’re safe for the visitors. While they are in the water, you can slip the key to the front gate, out of their pockets and use it to escape”.
Sure enough, at 7am, the zookeepers took off their uniforms and put them on the fence. Jeremy, who had taken off his tap shoes, quietly slithered up and snatched the keys. The animals made their way to the front gate, just as the head zookeeper started the music for the first show of the day. “And here are the most famous animals in the world” and as he spun around, there was no animals to be seen. The zookeepers ran frantically through the stadium “They’re getting away, hurry”. Just then, the wise old owl, flew down onto the head zookeepers shoulder and whispered “they are running away because they are tired, you work them too hard”. The zookeepers face went from angry and crumply to sad. “STOP, STOP”, he said to the other zookeepers “Let them go, just let them go, the deserve a free life”. The three animals stopped, looked back, and thanked the zookeeper as they made their way into the world.
The animals were grateful to the zookeeper, so on this day every year, they return for one special show and it’s the most famous show in the world, and the animals LOVE performing in it.