A Trip to the Zoo!
A story written and illustrated by Mr. Wilcox
Over the summer, Simon was feeling kind of bored. He was enjoying just sitting around doing nothing because it was summer and there was no school. However, sleeping and watching TV every day starts to get really boring! He wanted to go out and do something! See things! Meet new people! And maybe learn something!
Simon finally had an idea. He would go to the zoo!! He had never been and he was told by his friends that there are enormous elephants! And fierce polar bears! And peculiar looking monkeys!
The first animal Simon came across was Mr. Gorilla. He looked grumpy and Simon wanted to try to cheer him up. Mr. Gorilla kept roaming around and grunting . He was so big and powerful looking that it kind of scared Simon.
Mr. Gorilla climbed up the trees and just sat there. Simon thought for a moment and realized that Mr. Gorilla was doing the same thing that he was doing when he was at home! That's when Simon felt kind of embarassed. He was watching Mr. Gorilla in his home and he wouldn't like it if someone was watching him at home! Though, Mr. Gorilla didn't seem to mind.
Simon told himself he'll see if the other animals mind...
So after visiting with Mr. Gorilla for awhile, Simon went out in search of new animals to meet. That's when Simon came across these peculiar looking monkeys. It turns out they're not monkeys at all! They're lemurs! They're native to the island of Madagascar in Africa and they're super cute. Simon smiled when he saw how happy and playful they were. They hopped around the trees in their habitat and called out to each other.
Simon remembered how Mr. Gorilla seemed grumpy, but The Three Lemurs were so happy. They clearly didn't mind people watching them! In fact, Simon felt like the lemurs enjoyed the company!
One thing was sure, Simon wished he could climb in the trees like the lemurs do. A dog can dream...
When Simon found the Mongolian horses, Simon was confused! You see, not that long ago he went to a farm and saw what he thought were horses. As it turns out, the horses standing in front of him were from Mongolia! Mongolia is a country that is right between China and Russia. The weather is harsh there and the people still use horses for a lot of different things.
The Mongolian horses seemed really friendly and they were just hanging out. Most of the time they were grazing , which is how horses eat! Though they were smaller than the horses Simon saw at the farm, he was told not to let their size fool him! They were really strong and super fast.
Simon was pretty fast, too. He wondered if he would be able to beat the horses in a race. Then one of the horses made a sound and ran off! Simon just looked on in astonishment because there was no way he could keep up with that speed!
When Simon got to the elephants, he was terrified to go near them at first! They were tremendous! Simon is really big for a dog, but the elephants made him look no bigger than a kitty cat! After awhile, though, he realized that the elephants are really kind. They're pretty slow, but they look really strong. Simon saw one of the elephants pick up a log that was huge without any problems. It would have taken two or three humans to lift that log and even then it wouldn't have been easy.
Simon learned that elephants are considered to be really smart. They never forget and are able to become friends with people, kind of like dogs. Sadly, Simon also learned that people try to hunt elephants for their tusks, the white teeth looking things by their mouth. Simon didn't understand why people would hunt such a kind animal!
He said goodbye to the elephants and headed towards the animal he was looking forward to the most!
Simon was so excited to see the polar bear! Simon felt that bears were similar to dogs in a lot of ways! They both like to swim, they both like to run in the woods, and they both like to lay around in the sun! Polar bears are from the really cold places of the world, like Antartica or the North Pole. So, Archy was really hot and had to try to keep himself cool. He had water he could swim in or shade he could sit under. His white fur was kind of dirty and it kind of looked like it was the same color as Simon! But Simon knew that in the winter, Archy's fur would be bright white so he could blend into the snow, that's called camoflage. It's very important where Arhcy lives that he be able to blend into the snow.
The other thing Simon learned about the polar bears is that their home in the arctic is slowly melting away! Apparently, the world is getting warmer and warmer. He was glad Archy was safely living at the zoo, but he hoped that the snowy lands he came from would be ok.
Simon really enjoyed hanging out with Archy, but it was getting really late. It looked like it was about time to go home!
Simon had a really long day at the zoo, but it was so much fun. He saw a bunch of different animals. Some were happy to be at the zoo, others seemed kind of grumpy. Some animals made Simon wish he could do what they did, but others were really different from him!
As Simon got home, had something to eat, and relaxed for the evening, he realized something. All those animals are the zoo are amazing, but no two were alike. Just like no two dogs are alike and no two humans are alike. Simon realized that visiting the zoo is fun, but he's much happier just being him.
Words by Mr. Wilcox
Pictures taken by Mr. Wilcox
Yes, Simon really is Mr. Wilcox's dog!
Thank you for reading! I hope you are able to go visit the zoo some time yourself! Say hello to Archy the polar bear for Simon, ok?!