Clifford at the Zoo
Hi, my name’s Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog named Clifford. Clifford is a big red dog with great intentions!
Just the other day I took him to the zoo. Clifford loves to befriend the other animals, but sometimes Clifford is a little too friendly. Like when he went to kiss the elephant and accidently broke through the gate. Uh oh! Stampede! The elephants ran out and trampled the cage where they keep the apes. A man in a green uniform with a green helmet had to use his tranquilizer rifle to shoot every elephant and every ape. Oh Clifford! You were just trying to give her a kiss.
Penguins love to swim! So does Clifford. But when Clifford jumped in, all the water splashed out. No more water for the penguins. Oh Clifford! You only wanted to cool off.
When Clifford is really hungry he likes to eat birds: colorful birds, loud squawking birds, bald eagles, and even itty bitty ones that sing. There was this funny looking chimpanzee sitting on top of a pole, but Clifford must have thought she was a bird. Oops! Clifford! That wasn’t a bird it was a cute chimpanzee. What’d you go and do that for? Silly old dog.
When Clifford gets excited he wags his tail. His tail knocked over a few trees and one power line, sparks flew everywhere. Some sparks must have landed in the hay, because the petting zoo, full of goats, horses, cows, pigs, and chickens went up in flames.
The man with the green helmet told me and Clifford we had to leave the zoo. Too much destruction for one day, he said. Destruction? I asked. My dog is a nice dog. But Clifford thought the man’s rifle was a bone. He thought the man wanted to play fetch. When Clifford bit into the gun he also bit off the man’s arm. Poor Clifford, always trying to have a good time.
Turns out the tranquilizer gun went off in Clifford’s mouth. We didn’t know for sure until he fell onto the fence that enclosed the tigers. I hid in Clifford’s ear as he slept. I peeked out from time to time to see what all the ruckus was about. People were running and screaming and waving their arms. One little boy lost a foot. Too bad Clifford was asleep, it was so fun watching the one-footed-boy hop around like that.
The men in white that dropped from helicopters said they had to rescue me. They said it was too dangerous in the zoo since things were on fire and most the animals were out eating people. I had to agree with the men in white on that one. There did seem to be a lot of commotion. But honestly, when you have a dog as wonderful as Clifford you never know what the day may bring. I told the men Clifford was taking me home, then climbed onto his big red back and rode all the way to the country.
When we got home Clifford and I played a game of hide and seek. I hid in a tree. I used to never climb trees, but now I’m older and braver. I was way up there next to a nest of robins. They were so cute, but made way too much noise. Shhhhh, I said. I don’t want Clifford to find me. But he did find me. Instead of putting his paw up to tag me, he opened his big mouth and swallowed me whole. I guess he mistook me for a bird. Silly old dog! He must have been one hungry boy.
Good thing Clifford has a spacious belly. It’s dark in here, but I’m getting used to it. The chimpanzee and I get along swell. We play thumb war and give each other high fives. And anyway, I’m sure Clifford knows to get us out soon. I’m sure he misses me as much as I miss him. Can’t wait to pet his red fur and play games again. Can’t wait to take him to the zoo, a ball game, and my grandparents’ house in the city.
JP Vallières is from the Village of Adams. Some of his work can be found in Passages North, Santa Monica Review, and forthcoming at Shenandoah. He lives with Kimmy and their four sons in northern Idaho.
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