" To Private's Eyes"
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Chapter 1
It was an early spring morning in mid May, at 0700 to be exact, at the Central Park Zoo in New York City, New
York. The penguins, Rico, Kowalski, and Private were all up on the platform in the penguin habitat, stretching
for their daily training routine. They stretched for at least thirty minutes, waiting patiently for Skipper to
come out of the penguin headquarters, but he did not stir.
" What is taking Skipper so long," Kowalski tapped one of his feet impatiently on the platform and put his
flippers on his hips. " Normally, he's out here before we usually are."
" Maybe he's still in the latrine," Private suggested. Rico nodded his head in agreement. " I'll go knock on the
door to see if he's okay." He waddled up to the fishbowl and climbed down a hole that was hiding underneath
it. While in the hole, Private began climbing down a ladder that was attached to a wall. Private neared the end
of the ladder, which led over by the bunks, and jumped down onto the floor. He looked around the area and
became dismayed when he found Skipper was not in the latrine at all. Skipper was just walking around the
headquarters, mumbling to himself, and scribbling something down into some sort of book. Private peered
down at the book's front cover to get a closer look at the title. Skipper glanced up with widened eyes, closed
the book hard, and stuffed it under his pillow, which was on the very bottom bunk.
" Private," Skipper questioned nervously, then became firm. " Aren't you suppose to be up on the platform
warming up for today's training?"
" I already finished that and so did Rico and Kowalski," Private stated in his British accent. " We've been
waiting up there for you for at least half an hour now." He glanced over at Skipper's pillow, noticing that part
of the book was sticking out.
" Oh," Skipper looked down at his feet. " My bad. Thank-you, Private." He rushed passed Private and climbed
out onto the platform through the fishbowl entrance. Private watched Skipper carefully, making sure he was
completely out of site. When all was clear, he quickly grabbed the book from under Skipper's pillow and looked
at the front cover. It was labeled, Skipper's Private Journal! Classified! Keep Out!. It was a diary, but to Private, it
was a storybook. He sat down on the floor in front of the bunks and began reading it silently in his head. It
was filled with stuff that was great and stuff that was not so great. There was even a page about Skipper
dying his long, yellow eyebrows black and plucking them to keep everyone else from knowing that
he was part Emperor Penguin. He continued reading it. All was quite interesting to the young penguin, until he
came across different subjects in the book. It threw off the whole flow of the story. He looked them over
several times then began to realize that some of the stuff he had read was actually based on Skipper's life
experiences. " Wow," Private thought. " I didn't know Skipper secretly started a food fight while he was
attending the New York Penguin Military School Academy!" He read on, finding out more interesting facts about
his leader. Next, he stumbled across a page, which was written in a letter format, and read the name of who it
was to at the top left corner of the page. It was a letter to Marlene. Private gasped in shock. " No way,"
Private shouted out loud. " He wrote a letter to Marlene and didn't even send it! I wonder what it says."
Private scratched his chin with his flipper and began reading the letter. Skipper's voice had appeared in his
head and it began narrorating the written words.
" My Dearest Marlene,
You are by far the most strongest and independent female otter I've ever met and have gotten the pleasure
to know. Actually, you're the only strongest and independent female otter I've ever met and known. Anyway,
I'm sorry that I didn't realize this before, but it wasn't until that night we got stuck in the sewer. You were very
brave, smart, and saved me from drowning in the sewer water, which I now thank-you for. Marlene, I'm sorry
for calling you a helpless victim. It turns out; I was the helpless victim all along. Do you know what I'm trying to
tell you here, Marlene? If you don't, these next few words will help understand. You are the water beneath my
flippers and the center of my life. Whenever I look into your sparkling, beautiful brown eyes, my heart starts to
sing songs of happiness. Do you get what I'm trying to tell you now? I love you, Marlene. I'm actually in love
with you. I never thought I would ever fall in love again, until the first day I started talking to you. Do you
remember that day? I do. I even remember when Alice first let you out of the crate and into your habitat. You
know, I never really got a chance to properly welcome you to the neighborhood. Anyways, I know it's a little
too late for this, but welcome to the Central Park Zoo , when and if you get and read this
letter, could you please respond to me in privacy? I'm kind of afraid of what the team might think, after I told
them no romantic relationships allowed, except for Rico, but he has a doll for a girlfriend, so I'm not too
worried about that. Okay, back to the subject. I would really like to know how you honestly feel about me. I
can understand if you're uncomfortable with this and might not want to talk to me, again, but at least you'll
know why I acted around you the way I did. All those times I've been rude to you, argued with you, did that
corkscrew just to impress you into thinking I was a fun guy, smiling at you in the sewer and tapping your
cheek lightly, along with the statement I made about you that night. So, Marlene? What do you say? Will you
have the honor of being my girlfriend or just my best friend? It's your choice.
Love,
Skipper"
" Whoa," Private exclaimed, not even understanding what he had just read. " That was quite a long letter. I
wonder why Skipper didn't send this?" He thought for a moment. " Maybe I should send it to Marlene for him during break time. I'm sure Skipper won't mind." Private carefully began pulling out the page. Luckily, for him, the book was designed like a three-ringed binder. He separated the rings, that were aligned down the middle of the book. Moments later, Private completely removed the page from the rings and quickly shoved the letter under his pillow on the second to the last bottom bunk.
Soon, he heard Skipper hollering at him. " Come on, Private! We don't have all day! Everybody is waiting on
you now!"
" Okay, Skipper," Private chirped back, snapping the rings in the journal closed. He put Skipper's book back
under his leader's pillow and climbed up the ladder to the fishbowl entrance.
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Coming up next in Chapter 2. Trouble arrives, when Private goes to send the letter. Please stay tuned and find out more.