|
Bongo, the zebra, ran around the boulders, smiling and
singing happy songs. He loved living in the zoo. He wasn’t kept in a small
cage, but had a lot of room, trees, grass and friends. Gorzo, the gazelle,
and Glama, the gnu shared a place in the zoo with Bongo. They had a pool
of water to swim in and when it was hot, the zookeepers gave them huge
blocks of ice filled with frozen fruits and vegetables.
One hot summer day Gorzo sat licking his block of ice.
He wanted the banana in the center of it. He enjoyed the melon and pears,
but he loved bananas.
Glama licked her block of ice. When she finished she
trotted over to the pool of water and jumped in. Water splashed on the
children that stood at the fence watching the three animals. When the
children started laughing, Bongo raised his head. He wanted to know what
was so funny. Leaving his block of ice, he headed over to the pool. The
children were shouting, “Jump in. Jump in.” Bongo backed up and ran as
fast as he could. He leaped through the air and landed with a huge splash
in the pool. Water drenched the gnu and the children. Glama laughed, the
children laughed and Bongo laughed.
Gorzo heard all the noise and wondered what was so
funny. He pranced over to the pool. The children shouted, “Jump in. Jump
in.” Gorzo ran backwards for a few steps and then sprung through the air,
landing with a splash in the pool. Gorzo sent a wall of water all over
Bongo’s face, Glama’s face and the children’s heads. The children laughed,
Glama laughed, Bongo laughed and so did Gorzo.
The children’s mums and dads came to pick them up.
“It’s time to go,” they said. None of the children wanted to go. They
wanted to stay and get splashed on.
“We want to stay. We want to see the gazelle, gnu, and
zebra play in the water.” The children sobbed to their parents.
Gorzo climbed out of the water; so did Glama and Bongo.
The three of them backed up to the other side of the boulders. The
children saw what they were doing. “Jump in. Jump in.” The three animals
ran as fast as they could. They leapt through the air and together
splashed in the water. The mums got all wet. The dads got all wet. The
children got all wet and so did the animals. Everyone laughed. When it was
time to go home, all the children wanted to take a photo, so Gorzo, Glama
and Bongo lined up together at the fence. They smiled as the children took
photos of them.
“That was the most fun I’ve ever had at the zoo,” one
of the children said as they walked through the exit.
Bongo sat down next to his block of ice and licked it.
Gorzo licked his until he got to the banana and Glama bit chunks of melon
from hers. It was the most fun day they had ever had too. |
