Melody Visits the Zoo

 “Hello Midge,” greeted Jake as he came into the yard at Midge's house. “What are you doing?”

“I'm waiting for Booker-T to come to the house,” said Midge. “Then we were going to come see you.”

“Where is Booker-T” asked Jake.

“I don't know,” said Midge. “I walked to his house, but he wasn't home. Maybe he is sleeping and didn't hear me call his name.”

“Maybe he went to Melody's house,” suggested Jake. “I think he really likes her.”

“I think he does too,” said Midge. “He tries really hard to include her with us all the time now.”

“You are right,” said Midge. “Here they come now.”

“The twins,” smiled Jake.

“They do look a lot like twins don't they,” laughed Midge.

“Hi Jake, Midge,” greeted Booker-T as he and Melody entered the yard. “What are you doing?”

“We were waiting for you,” smiled Jake.

“I went to get Melody,” said Booker-T. “She likes coming with us when we do things.”

“Good, said Midge. “Lets take her in to meet Snappy before we go to the zoo.”

“Come on Melody,” said Booker-T as he followed Midge into the house.

“Hi Snappy,” said Booker-T as they entered the living room.

“Hi everyone,” greeted Snappy. “What is everyone doing this morning? Who is your new friend?”

“We came to see you” said Jake. “Then we will go see what animals are at the little zoo again. This is Melody. She is our new friend who lives on the next street.”

“Wow,” smiled Snappy. “Hi Melody. You look a lot like Booker-T. I think you could be twins.”

“Isn't she pretty?” asked Booker-T as he smiled.

“Do they have any fish and turtles at the zoo?” asked Snappy.

“No,” said Midge. “Maybe they are hard to move around.”

“They only have five cages at the little zoo building,” said Jake. “The animals are not there very long and they go to the big zoos in other places.”

“Maybe they have fish and turtles in some tanks in the back of the building where you can't see them,” suggested Snappy.

“But we can't go back there to see,” said Booker-T.

“Will you take me to see the animals at the zoo?” asked Melody.

“Sure,” said Midge. “Do you want to go today?”

“Oh yes,” smiled Melody. “I really want to go.”

“We like to go see what animals are there sometimes,” said Jake.

“Do they have dogs and cats there too?” asked Melody.

“Oh, no,” laughed Jake. “There are only wild animals there.”

“We aren't wild animals?” asked Melody.

“No,” laughed Booker-T. “We are what humans call Domestic animals.”

“We are house pets,” said Midge. “We keep humans company.”

“Company?” asked Melody.

“They have us so they don't have to be alone,” said Midge.

“The wild animals at the zoo don't live in people's homes,” said Jake.

“I never saw a wild animal before,” smiled Melody. “Can we go see them now?”

“Have fun,” smiled Snappy.

The four friends left the house and hurried along the sidewalk to the zoo.

“Is this where the wild animals live?” asked Melody as they crossed the street into the parking lot of the zoo.

“This is where they live for a short time,” said Booker-T.

“Can we go inside?” asked Melody.

“Sure,” said Jake. “Come on, lets go.”

As they walked through the door, Melody stood there and looked around the big room.

“Oh wow, Booker-T,” said Melody, “He is really big!. What is it?”

“That is an elephant,” said Midge.

“Have you seen an elephant before?” asked Melody.

“We saw an elephant here and two at the circus,” said Midge.

“What is a circus?” asked Melody.

“It has wild animals and dogs who do tricks for the humans who come to see,” said Booker-T.

“I want to see a circus,” said Melody. “Will you take me to the cirus?”

“We will go when the circus comes to town again,” said Jake.

“Look at those animals being funny,” laughed Melody.

“Those are monkeys,” laughed Midge. “They always act funny. We watched them swinging in the trees and jumping up and down and making funny noises.”

“What kind of animal is that one?” asked Melody pointing to the cage in the corner.

“I don't know,” said Jake. “Lets go see and I will read the sign.”

They walked over to the cage and Jake read the sign on the cage.

“It says they are anteaters,” said Jake.

“Do they only eat ants,” asked Midge.

“Ants are really small,” said Booker-T. “It would sure take a lot of ants to fill one of those animals up.”

“Well, this says they eat ants and termites and sometimes other insects,” said Jake. “But mostly ants.”

“We need one in our yard to eat up all the ants,” laughed Midge.

“That animal is really pretty,” said Melody pointing to the next cage. “What is it?”

“He is a white Bengal tiger,” said Jake.

“I like the orange and black ones the best,” said Booker-T.

“The sign says his name is Snowflake,” read Jake.

“Can we talk to them?” asked Melody.

“Sure,” said Jake.

They stood in front of the cage and Melody looked up at the beautiful white tiger.

“Hi Mr. Snowflake,” greeted Melody.

“Hello,” said Snowflake. “You look like miniature tiger. Are you a baby tiger?”

“No,” said Booker-T. “We are house cats.”

“I never heard of a house cat,” said Snowflake. What does a house cat do?”

“We lay around and sleep and sometimes have fun,” said Booker-T. “What do you do?”

“I lay around and sleep,” laughed Snowflake. “I also like to play but I have no one to play with here.”

“Maybe when they take you to your new home, you will have friends to play with,” suggested Jake.

“What are you?” asked Snowflake. “you don't look like a tiger or a house cat.”

“I'm a dog,” said Jake.

“Are you friends with the house cats?” asked Snowflake.

“Yes,” said Jake. “We are all friends.”

“I'm a dog too,” said Midge.

“House cats don't eat dogs?” asked Snowflake.

“Oh, no,” said Jake. “And we dogs don't eat cats either.”

“What do you eat?” asked Snowflake.

“Midge and I eat dog food and the cats eat cat food,” said Jake.

“Our owners feed us,” said Melody.

“you have owners?” asked Snowflake.

“We live in a house with humans,” said Melody.

“Can I come live with you?” asked Snowflake. “We can play together.”

“I don't think wild animals can live in a house with humans,” said Jake.

“Why?” asked Snowflake.

“I don't really know,” said Jake. “There must be a reason, but I don't know what it is.”

“That is sad,” sighed Snowflake. “You live in a house and I live in a cage.”

“I guess it is sad,” said Midge.

“We will come to see you everyday,” said Booker-T. “Until you go to the new home. Now we need to go home.”

“Okay,” said Snowflake as he watched them walk away. “Bye my new friends.”