Ferbert Flembuzzle's
Most Exotic Zoo
Chapter 4 - Grown-ups
(Please forgive errors in formatting. Posting on a website has its limitations.)
As soon as there was no one left outside the gate, Ferbert and the small girl at his side ventured into the zoo. As he pressed his way through the crowds, he noticed the people looked confused. Farther in, they appeared disappointed. Farther still, they were angry and outraged.
“Oh no!” he gasped, his heart sinking. “No, no, no! They don’t see!”
Ferbert ran to the giant Jumondo bird exhibit and discovered people packed around the short fence encircling the exhibit, in the middle of which was an enormous, towering Jumondo tree.
“Where is it?” someone asked.
“Maybe it’s in the high branches, too high to be seen,” another person suggested.
“That can’t be,” someone else replied. “The sign says the giant Jumondo bird is the largest bird in the world. We should be able to see it even in the highest branches.”
“Wait, I see branches moving!”
“It’s just the wind.”
“I don’t see any birds, and I certainly don’t see the largest bird in the world.”
“Maybe it escaped. After all, there’s just a short barrier—the thing probably flew away.”
“Maybe it’s one of those birds that doesn’t fly.”
A small, freckle faced girl suddenly yelled out, “I see it! It’s right there. It’s amazing!”
“Where? I still don’t see it,” someone responded.
“Right there. It’s right there!” the child called out, pointing toward the Jumondo tree, her strawberry blonde hair bouncing as she jumped with excitement.
The girl’s father knelt down to be at eye level. “Sweetie, what does it look like? Is it in the tree? Is it behind the tree? Where do you see it?”
Her lips tightened with frustration. “Dad, it’s right there.” She pointed toward the tree again.
The dad tried to hide his humiliation by forcing a smile and whispered to his daughter, “Sweetie, I think you misheard me. The sign says there’s supposed to be a Jumondo bird, not a Jumondo tree.” He then stood and apologized to the crowd. “My daughter is just a little confused. She didn’t see anything.”
As he made this announcement, the girl’s joy faded away; her jumping stopped and the smile disappeared from her lips. She felt certain she had seen the giant Jumondo bird, but now she only felt embarrassed. The girl glanced back toward the exhibit for one final look and happened to see Ferbert Flembuzzle standing on the other side.
Ferbert, having watched the whole thing, was smiling at the girl. The smile was soft and genuine and seemed to say, “You saw it, and these grown-ups can’t take that away from you, unless you let them.”
The freckle faced girl smiled back as her father grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away, grumbling under his breath.
Ferbert then hurried to the Drobwobble tortoise exhibit, which consisted of a large, sand-covered oasis with a large pond surrounded by several tall palm trees. To Ferbert’s dismay, the reactions he found there were similar.
Amongst the mumbles and grumbles of the crowd, a young boy with shorn black hair pointed to the pool of water and told the grown-ups he saw the tortoise. His mother studied the exhibit for some time before shaking her head and giving her son a look that suggested she was ashamed of what he had said.
“I don’t know what you think you’re seeing, but there’s clearly something wrong with your eyesight. I am taking you to the eye doctor as soon as we leave.”
The boy’s enthusiasm deflated as his mother dragged the boy right past Ferbert, who displayed the same smile he’d given the girl. The boy, regaining his confidence smiled back as his mother whisked him away.
At the Blorterblum bush beast exhibit, a mother scolded her daughter for announcing that she saw the amazing creature. “Get a hold of your imagination and stop pretending you can see animals.”
The daughter was devastated, but as tears began to well up, she caught sight of Ferbert’s comforting smile and stopped crying.
Similar scenarios played out at every exhibit he visited. Parents rebuked their children for seeing creatures, and child after child caught sight of Ferbert’s smile, reassuring them that they had seen something fantastic.