I have always been an animal lover and my love extended far beyond pets like cats and dogs, but even to elephants, monkeys and lions too. I used to be pretty emotional too, over, some times; seeing a wounded dog limping along the street would make my eyes dewy. I admit that I am very dreamy, so dreamy that I never really bothered about the zoo that I pass by on my way to and from school everyday. I have never been to a zoo before, and when I learnt about its existence, I wanted to visit the one near our school very much. Unfortunately, schoolwork barely left me free time to brush my hair (I managed, somehow!). Anyway, it would have pained me too much to see so many animals locked up in such tiny spaces.
One lucky day, a week before our school closed for summer, I finally managed to find time to drop in at the zoo. Actually, I was forced to make time as I was invited by a few friends. And being too courteous, I was forced to accompany them. I was kind of excited, but not as excited as I expected myself to be. I felt the dull kind of thrill looming up within me. In fact, Emma bought four tickets, one for each of us, before I accepted their invitation. I was soon dragged into the zoo. It was not a large zoo, but it was quite pleasant with all kinds of animals. Even so, I was not amused by the idea of keeping two giraffes in a 5 by 8 meter cage. When I saw the chimps and lions, my heart simply broke. There were five chimps in what was a cage too small for them. The poor lion lived alone in ‘solitary confinement’; some way to treat a king! It was heart shattering. The chimps looked restless, ill and bored as they clambered about the iron mesh. I thought they looked nervous. I knew I would be nervous if I was aware of spectators eyeing my every move. The lion’s cage was opposite and my eyes moved anxiously between the six miserable animals. They looked hungry, angry and wild.
‘They were brought from the wild. They have all the right to be wild,’ I thought slowly looking at the one zoo rule written boldly as a sign on each cage-‘Do not feed the animals’, but that rule was hard to follow and I found myself searching my backpack for the bar of chocolate that I bought for lunch. I undid the wrapping and tossed it between the cage bars to a gentle looking chimp, which caught it deftly. The chimps generously shared that bar of chocolate and then looked at me as if to say ‘I want more.’
The lion must have somehow noticed that I fed the monkeys, because at that very instant, he roared majestically. The people crowding around the cage screamed and fled as if the lion would skin them just by roaring. Anyway, it was stupid behavior because I, a twelve year old girl stood still, unaffected by his mighty roar. I was affected though, by the ill treatment that the lion suffered. Earlier I managed to help the chimps. I was looking for a way to help the wild jungle king, when I noticed that the cage door was bolted and not locked. To my utter shock, regret and shame, my hand impulsively stretched out and pulled back the three bolts that fastened the cage door. In less than a minute, the door was wide open; and the lion? He ran out in utter, utter madness. He did not attack me but ran out the main gate into the busy streets before the zoo keepers could stop him.
It was only after the worst happened that I realized what I had done. My knees trembled in fear as I recalled shakily that lions are carnivores. There were millions of people around the city and I do not think the people would be too impressed by the fact that a wild lion was roaming the streets. I walked home wishing I was dead. Lots of people could die just of fear, let alone those actually attacked by the lion. I shuddered and felt goose bumps rise up on my cold skin as I opened the rusty gate to our house. I sort of hoped that nobody knew what happened, but it was headlines and talked about vividly over dinner though nobody knew that I was behind it all. I felt unable to eat. I was consumed by shame and fear. I did the most stupid thing; it would be too embarrassing for anyone to know. That night I slept with my conscience at war with myself.
The headlines the next day were just as I expected-‘Lion roams streets- kills two, mauls a baby.’ That was too much. My idiotic action took away three innocent lives. I skipped school and locked myself in my room. I refused to eat and cried until my eyes nearly fell out of my head. I wondered how they were going to catch the lion. I was tired and hungry and my mind was exhausted, so I fainted on the floor.
I woke up suddenly as a stream of cold water tricked down my forehead. To my amazement, I was not lying on the carpet in my room, but on the pavement in the zoo. I looked up and saw Emma, Amy and Megan peering down at me calling out, ‘Judy! Judy!’ It turned out that the lion’s escape was merely a nightmare or a day mare, rather. But I panicked and hysterically cried ‘The lion! The lion!’ I was still weak, so I passed out again.
‘Judy! What is the square root of 625?’ asked Mrs. Burnett.
Mrs. Burnett? How did she get to the zoo? She is our mathematics teacher. Suddenly, it dawned upon me that I was never at the zoo. It was a hot summer day so I fell asleep in class and dreamt it all. It was so embarrassing to stand amidst giggles and to be sent to detention, which I never got until that day. It was the first time I fell asleep in class and the first time I visited a zoo (even though it was only a dream). With a little care, I ensured that it never happened again. We visited that zoo in reality that afternoon and happily, I discovered that it was a large zoo with habitats similar to the animals’ own. So, nothing tempted me to set the lions and chimps and elephants free. Because breaking the rules, sleeping in class and getting detention, they are not worth it, I tell you, they are not!
- Amorette Grace Lyngwa
Amorette Grace Lyngwa turned 15 in May 2011 and started writing when she was only 9.
