The Strange Tortoise

Jake, Midge and Booker-T along with their new friend, Mickey

“Do you go to the zoo all the time?” asked Mickey.

“It's fun to talk to the animals at the zoo,” said Midge.

They walked to the door of the zoo and Jake said. “Look, they have a new sign out front with the name of the animals inside.”

“We see who is here before we go inside,” said Booker-T.

“What kind of animals are inside?” asked Midge.

“The sign says there are meerkats, chimpanzee, a brown fox, a falcon and a pancake tortoise,” said Jake.

“A pancake tortoise?” asked Midge.

“Does it eat a lot of pancakes?” asked Booker-T as he sat down on the ground laughing so hard.

“I don't know,” said Jake.

“Lets go see the pancake tortoise,” said Mickey as she slowly walked inside and stood at the door looking around.

They found the tortoise in the corner cage, inside a large tank with a small pond and lot of rocks. They stood staring at the tortoise.

“Did someone step on it?” asked Booker-T. “Why does he look flat?”

“I don't know,” said Midge tilting her head from side to side as she stared at the tortoise.

The tortoise crawled to the side of the tank and pressed its nose to the glass to stare at the animals who were staring at him. “Why are you out of your cages?” asked the tortoise.

“Hi,” said Midge. “You talk?”

“Yes, I do,” said the tortoise. “So why are you out there and I am in here?”

“You are on your way to the big zoo we have on the other side of town,” said Jake. “We live in houses here in town with people.”

“I am afraid of people,” said the tortoise. “They took me from my home and brought me here.”

“They won't hurt you,” said Midge. “They are taking you to a nice home and will take care of you and many nice people will come to see you.”

“The people won't hurt me?” asked the tortoise.

“No,” said Booker-T. “They will take good care of you and they will fix your area home to be like your home in the wild.”

“Do you eat Pancakes?” asked Booker-T.

“Oh no,” said the tortoise. “What are pancakes?”

“It's people food,” said Midge. “They make them and eat with butter and syrup.”

“Do you eat pancakes?” asked the tortoise.

“No,” said Jake. “We eat animal food most of the time.”

“If you don't eat pancakes,” said Midge. “Why do they call you a pancake tortoise?”

“Because my shell is flatter than other tortoises,” laughed the tortoise.

“We thought maybe someone stepped on you,” said Jake.

“If someone stepped on me,” said the tortoise. “They would hurt me.”

“What is your name?” asked Midge.

“I'm Panky,” said the tortoise. “Do you have a name too?”

“Oh yes,” said Midge. “My owner named me Midge. This is Jake and the orange and black cat is Booker-T and our new friend is Mickey.”

“You have owners?” asked Panky.

“Yes,” said Jake. “We live in a house with a human who takes care of us.”

“Nice,” smiled Panky.

“We will be right back,” said Booker-T. “We are going to check out the other animals who are here.”

“Okay,” said Panky. “Come back soon.”

“We will,” said Midge as they walked to the next cage tank. “What is this one? It looks like a frog but it is a really pretty blue color.”

“The sign here says that it is a poison dart frog,” said Jake.

“Is he poison?” asked Mickey.

“I guess they use their poison in the wild to protect themselves,” said Jake.

“It would be bad if we touched it,” said Midge.

“I think so,” said Jake.

“Lets go see the spider monkey,” said Booker-T. “I like monkeys.”

They walked to the next cage where they found three monkeys swinging in a fake tree.

“Why do they call these monkeys spiders?” asked Mickey.

“What does the sign say Jake?” asked Midge.

“It says they have long arms and legs and they use their tail like another arm so it says they look like spiders,” read Jake.

“I don't think they look like spiders,” said Midge.

“They look like skinny monkeys,” said Booker-T.

“You don't look like a monkey,” said one of the monkeys.

“We aren't monkeys,” said Midge. “Three of us are dogs and one is a cat.”

“Why are we in this cage and you are out there?” asked another of the monkeys. “Can we come out there and play with you?”

“We aren't wild animals like you are,” said Midge.

“We aren't wild,” said the other monkey.

“Yes you are,” said Jake.

“I want to go home to my trees with my friends,” said one of the monkeys. “I miss them.”

“I think you are going to a nice new home with other friends,” said Jake.

“What is your name?” asked Midge.

“My name is Spike,” said the monkey. “That is Sissy and the other one is Binky.”

“Nice to meet you all,” smiled Midge. “My name is Midge and my friends where are Jake, Booker-T and Mickey.”

“Do you know where we are going?” asked Sissy.

“The sign here says that you are going to our big zoo across town,” said Jake. “You will like it there. It is nice. We visited it once.”

“Maybe it will be nice,” said Binky. “I like to play. Maybe we will have many friends there to play with.”

“I think you will,” said Booker-T.

“I want to go see the Wallaby,” said Mickey as he started walking to the next cage.

“It looks like a kangaroo,” said Midge. “Why do they call him a Wallaby?”

“Hey!” said Mickey “What's your name?”

“I'm Wally,” said the Wallaby as he jumped around. “What's yours?”

“I'm Mickey,” he said. “You jump good.”

“I know,” said Wally. “I like jumping around.”

“I can jump too,” smiled Mickey as he started jumping. “See me jump.”

“You are pretty good,” said Wally as he bounced around. “But I'm a better jumper.”

Suddenly he was laying on the ground.

“What happened?” asked Midge.

“I was jumping good and hit the bars and they knocked me down,” said Wally.

“Are you okay?” asked Booker-T.

“I am fine,” said Wally rubbing his head. “Do you want to come inside and play with me?”

“It is time for us to go home now,” said Jake. “Say good-bye and we need to go home.”

They all said good-by and the four friends walked out of the zoo and headed home for the day.