Based on the role play Zoo in Space by Alex Derus and Leo Starr.
At the end of a long day at the London Zoo, a lioness named Lea was settling down to some tea when she was burst in upon by a seal. "Lea, lea!" the seal called.
Lea, who had thankfully set her teacup down gently despite being startled, said "Pete, must you always jump in on me like that?"
Pete, the seal, replied "dreadfully sorry as usual. I bring horrible news. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop worrying. I'd swear that in front of Parliament if I have to."
Lea asked "for heaven's sake, what is it?"
Pete said "the zoo is losing money and will be cutting expenses. Their first step is transferring one of us."
At that moment, Lea simply went pale with worry. "T-t-t-t-transferred?" she asked awkwardly.
Pete replied "yes. Any one of us is going to be drop-kicked out of the zoo for financial reasons. Even you are at risk."
Lea then said "me? They can't transfer me. Not their main attraction. My act has been able to wow tourists and locals alike."
Meanwhile, five time zones away in New York, Alex had just finished up on his 3:00 show to the sheer joy of the patrons. Marty was chatting with him. "Man, that was something, wasn't it?" he asked.
Marty replied "yeah, your show was excellent. I was wondering if you'd ever do something special for yourself."
"Like what?" Alex asked, "I've got my fans, my friends, and my service. What more could I want."
Marty said "well, I don't know, maybe a nice lioness."
Alex, who had been in the midst of eating a lunch steak, accidentally inhaled the bone in the meat and managed to gag it back up, blasting it into Gloria's pool in the process. "Why do you think I need a girl? I don't feel I need one just yet. Besides, if you've seen one, you've seen them all."
"Alex, what is this?" came a voice from another pen.
"Sorry, Gloria" Alex replied.
Gloria came in with the bone and dropped it on the floor of Alex's pen. "Next time, watch where you're gagging" she said.
Back in London, Big Ben was chiming 10:00 pm. Lea was settling down in her bed. "What if I'm the one to be banished?" she thought. "I can't bear being sent to another zoo that's dingy and grimy. I live to perform, and I can't give that up. Either way, it's out of my control." With that, she rolled over to try and sleep, but the insomnia persisted.