Zooscape

• Ava Imre, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

The gate shut and I was trapped in my cage again. A hopeless monkey, all alone. I looked out the grey prison-like gate for hours waiting for someone to save me; but no-one came. I swung up to my bed using my sturdy green vines and closed my eyes, feeling less hopeful than yesterday.
“Psst! Wake up,” a voice whispered. I opened my eyes to see a meerkat, hovering above me. I jumped back and fell off my bed. Luckily a vine was there and I caught myself. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scarya,” exclaimed the meerkat, “I’ve heard around the zoo that you want to escape...so come with me.”
I stared at him, but he didn’t laugh or anything. He was legit, so I swung back down and followed him. Watching intently, I saw the Meerkat expertly scale the gate. Seconds later, I followed him until we ended up at his cage. When I looked around I saw a...LION! I gasped and jumped back to the most distant corner in horror, but Meerkat just laughed at me. “Don’t worry, this is Lola, she can scare the staff away.” I crossed my arms and turned my head away from both of them. I couldn’t stay mad forever and also my neck hurt, so I walked over to them in the middle of the cage.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked. We spent the next hour figuring out a way for all of us to get out.
The time came! Lola went up to the secret place all the staff seemed to go during lunch hours or after we went to sleep. While Lola was there, Meerkat and I ran. We ran and ran and ran.
When we were close enough to spot the exit, Bart the head of the Zoo stopped us. We stood there, not knowing what to do. How did he find us?! Meerkat and I saw Lola getting thrown back into her cage and we were shocked; I was shocked. I got so angry, then I saw something I could use. VINES! I jumped and grabbed onto them, then I swung and jumped down and kicked him right in his hairy face. He fell to the ground and Meerkat and made our way towards the exit as fast as a cheetah.
We made it. We were outside the zoo. The soft sobs of Meerkat drifted in the wind, upset because Lola wasn’t there. I hugged him and we walked into freedom.