Ferbert Flembuzzle's
Most Exotic Zoo

Chapter 6 - Forgetting

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From that moment forward, the grown-ups in Vedner began using the term Flembuzzled every day as a curse and byword. At first, they’d said it only to describe being tricked by someone else, but it didn’t take long before the term was used to describe every unpleasant event or unfortunate circumstance.

If someone lost their car keys or had to wait in a long line, they insisted they were being Flembuzzled. When the weather was unpleasant or teenagers had been caught doing something wrong, they complained of being Flembuzzled.

In every speech Mayor Monev gave, he told the grown-ups that the one thing they must never forget was how Ferbert Flembuzzle had Flembuzzled them all. Every speech ended with this warning: “Above all else, never trust a Flembuzzle.”

The only people who didn’t use the term were the children who’d seen the creatures in Ferbert’s zoo. That, however, did not last forever. As the months went by, the children’s memories faded. They forgot about what they had seen at the zoo, including Ferbert’s smile. In time, even the small children told tales of being Flembuzzled when things didn’t go their way.

All of this was unknown to Sophia, who was never taken into town during the three years following the closure of the zoo. Instead, She spent her days at home, outside of town. In the days immediately following the gate being locked, Sophia talked about the zoo often and frequently begged Ferbert to take her back.

“I’m sorry, but you know I can’t,” Ferbert would explain. This apology was always followed by, “When the time is right, you will see it again.”

Eventually, Sophia stopped asking about the zoo. When she stopped asking about it, she stopped thinking about it. When she stopped thinking about it, her mind focused on new things.

Ferbert taught her to read and write and about math, science, and geography. She filled her mind with the wonders and knowledge found between the covers of books, and as she filled her mind with new knowledge, her old memories, including those of the zoo, faded away.

In three years’ time, she forgot everything about the zoo, the angry people, and the other children. She even forgot about Mayor Monev.

By the time she was seven years old, only three things occupied her mind: the two things she loved and one thing she wanted.

The first thing she loved was spending time with her dad. She spent all day, every day, with Ferbert, and when they weren’t reading in the high branches of the maple tree, they played games, ran outside, did cartwheels, played with dolls, and held tea parties. Sophia loved Ferbert as much as any daughter could love her father.

The second thing Sophia loved was learning and reading. She read about hundreds of different places, thousands of plants, and even more animals and insects. She read about great explorers and scientists and learned about faraway places and the great wonders of the world. There wasn’t a subject Sophia didn’t learn and didn’t, in turn, love.

There was, however, the one thing she didn’t have, and it was the one thing she wanted more than anything else: friends. Sophia wanted to play hide and seek, jump rope, and go on adventures with children her age; she wanted friends she could giggle with and tell secrets to. She knew that she would be the happiest girl in all the world if she made just one friend.

There was one problem, though: Sophia never went anywhere with other children. She’d read story after story about a place children gathered every day to learn and play and make friends: school. When she was five years old, she’d waited for Ferbert to send her to school, but he never did. The next year, when she was six years old, she’d waited again, but Ferbert never even mentioned school to Sophia. At seven years old, she didn’t want to wait any longer and finally built up the courage to ask.

That fateful day was a month after Ferbert had given Sophia the yellow tulip, told her how he’d been to the Jumondo Forest, and realized that she had forgotten everything. They were sitting in the maple tree, reading. The summer was almost over, which meant the new school year would start soon.

“Dad, I have a question,” Sophia announced.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Ferbert looked up from his book.

“I was wondering if, maybe, I could… if you think it’s a good idea that… I think I’m ready for… You know I’m old enough… I think it will be good for me if… I mean, I’m hoping—” As many words as Sophia knew, she couldn’t find the right ones.

“Sophia,” Ferbert interrupted, “if you want to ask something, just say it. If it’s something good, how could I possibly say no?”

She sucked in a huge breath of air, held it for a few seconds, and then let her request burst out, “I want to go to school—a real school, with other kids!” Ferbert’s eyebrows dropped, and he looked down at the book in his lap. Sophia’s eyes stayed locked on his pained expression, which she had never seen before. “Dad, I’m sorry—forget it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t need to go to school; I can learn everything I need from these books. It was a silly thing to ask.”

Ferbert shook his head, “No, you’re right. School will be good for you.” He forced a smile and said, “You can go.”

Sophia smiled and tried to say thank you, but nothing came out.