No answer. That was disheartening. Feeling a little paranoid, Gloria started turning around and around in her disorientation and growing fear. She was walking backwards when she tripped over something and fell to the ground. When she turned onto her right side to get up, she saw a face looking at her in among the jungle brush. "AAAAA!" she screamed out of sudden fright.
"Alex? There you are! Good Lord, Alex, you gave me a scare," said Gloria, putting her hand to her chest and breathing a sigh of relief. "I was lost, but- ... Alex?" The great lion didn't speak, but just lay there along side of her, staring at her blankly.
"Alex? Don't look at me like that! Are you all right?" she asked him, dragging herself off of his foreleg, which she had tripped over in the underbrush, and which felt unusually still. His open eyes didn't blink, and didn't follow her. "Alex?" she asked one last time in a fading voice. A feeling of dread rose inside Gloria as she nervously reached out to touch her lion friend. There was no response, no movement. Something was seriously wrong with Alex.
"Is he... oh- my- God!" she said to herself, drawing back and continuing to drag herself away. "Oh my God, it can't be!" Gloria stood and fell again, then got up and held on to a tree in a state of shock. "Melman!" she cried out. "Marty! ... Help!!" She looked around in all directions before being overwhelmed with fear and closing her eyes. In absolute panic she tried to scream, but little if any sound came out.
Then Gloria heard the sound of rushing water on the beach, and sea birds. Disoriented, she opened her bleary eyes, squinting to an early, brilliant sunlit day. "Whew!," she said out loud in great relief. "It was only a dream! I'm not lost, and we're all still here! What a horrible dream." Melman was some distance away tending a fire he had made while watching the sunrise, so he hadn't heard her calling out in her sleep.
"We should all eat together this morning," Gloria thought. "We've just gotta find Alex right away." She was so thankful the bad experience had just been a nightmare, and was very much looking forward to seeing Alex at breakfast, alive and well.
Lying in his hut, Marty gently awoke to the same peaceful beach sounds that pulled Gloria out of her bad dream. With head lifted but eyes still closed, he decided he would lie there for several more minutes before getting up for the day, meditatively listening to the ocean waves splashing ashore. "I just love the wild," he thought. But then he heard another sound coming from behind which was music to his ears... a breathing sound. Alex? It was indeed. His best friend had come back sometime during the night, and was lying next to him. Marty smiled with his eyes still closed, so glad to have his friend back, but then his peaceful trance was interrupted by a groan and a whimper. Now wide awake, Marty opened his eyes and turned his head around to see Alex roll over, and heard him whimper again. "Alex?" the zebra gently spoke to his friend. "I'm so glad you're back. Are you okay?"
"No," groaned the tormented lion.
Something was definitely wrong. "Bad dream?" asked the zebra with growing concern for his friend.
"Dream... ha! I didn't... even sleep at all."
"Aww, it's okay, Alex; I explained it all to Gloria. She just lost her temper; she knows it was just an accident."
"No... it's not that," moaned Alex, tearing up.
"What's wrong, buddy?" Marty asked, noticing that Alex's fur was dirty, unkempt and ungroomed. "Please tell me."
"My neck... it hurts... it just won't stop," cried Alex tearfully. "I can't sleep!"
The zebra got up, stretched, then bent down to his friend, looking him over. "My God, Alex, what did you do to yourself?"
Somehow, Alex had fallen from a high place and landed wrong; that was the most information Marty could get out of him for the time being. "I'm going to help you, buddy," he whispered to his unhappy lion friend. "Stay here and I'll be right back."
Marty galloped over to Melman, who was stoking the coals of his fire by poking at them with a stick. "Good morning!" he greeted the giraffe, in his usual, cheery, upbeat mood. Marty seemed to bring a positive atmosphere with him wherever he went, which was good medicine for Melman, as the giraffe often did the opposite with his hypochondria. Melman returned the greeting, but could tell something was up. Marty had been depressed and now all of a sudden he was perky and uptight for some reason.
"Something's wrong... isn't it?" Melman questioned. "What's going on?"
"Listen Melman, I need your help," said Marty, panting. "I don't have a fire going right now, and I need one right away. Here's a rock; I'm going to find a few more to bring to you. Please heat them in your fire for me, okay?"
"Hot rocks?" Melman asked.
"Yes. And then please bring them over to my hut when they're ready. Carry them using a makeshift net of several layers of those giant leaves- you know which ones I mean? I know you won't have any problem reaching them.""
"Sure, Marty, but-" Melman didn't even get his question started before Marty took off to look for some more rocks. He found some nice medium sized ones in the water, smooth and elliptical shaped. He dropped them off with Melman, and then galloped back to his hut to see what could be done for Alex.
"I'm back!" Marty announced as he returned to his miserable, whimpering lion friend. "Don't worry," he said, "Dr. Marty is gonna fix you up just fine. Roll onto your belly, please." Alex slowly and painfully pushed himself from lying on his left side to lying on his belly. Marty gently pulled Alex's tail to straighten it, then took a hold of the lion's quivering hind legs. "Try to relax, Alex," Marty said, pulling Alex by the hind legs to straighten out his body.
"Owww!" The lion let out a roar of pain as his body was pulled, and then lay there crying audibly.
"Alex?" Gloria said out loud to herself, sitting in the ocean waves on the far end of the beach. Though some distance away, she could tell it was a cry of pain. Alarmed, she started heading over toward the direction of the sound.
When Melman arrived with his delivery of hot rocks, he was glad to see that Alex had returned to them. But he was surprised to find Marty sitting straddled on Alex's lower back. "Not interrupting anything, am I?" said the giraffe, wondering what was going on.
"That isn't funny, Melman," Marty said.
"Sorry," he said, sensing something was wrong. "Here, I brought your rocks."
Marty felt the heat radiating from the pile of rocks lying next to him. "Oh, the rocks. Good! Thanks! These will do great. Could you please heat up a few more just in case?"
"Uhh... okay," said Melman, noting poor Alex's pathetic look and tearful face. Melman didn't know what to think. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked.
"You're doin' it," Marty answered.
Melman stared at Alex for a few seconds then left, stopping to pick up a couple of choice rocks on the way. He got back to his fire pit just as Gloria arrived there also.
"Good morning, Melman," she greeted her tall friend, almost out of breath from her brisk walk. "What's happening? Was that Alex I just heard?"
"Good morning, Gloria," replied the giraffe, "and yes, Alex is back."
"Why is he cry- ...what are those for?" she asked, noting the rocks Melman was holding.
"Marty wants them; he wants me to-"
"Well, is Alex all right?" Gloria asked with growing impatience.
"I don't know. He doesn't look very well."
"That's terrible!" Gloria's expression changed to disappointment. "I was hoping we could all have breakfast together this morning," she explained.
"I don't know what's going on yet Gloria, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Alex won't be joining us for breakfast," said Melman.
"Why not??" Gloria said emphatically as she turned away and started heading in the direction of Marty's hut. "Somebody's got to find out!"
"Wait!" Melman called after her. "Maybe you shouldn't bother him right now."
"I want to see Alex!" she yelled back, continuing to walk with determination.
"Alright you king of beasts," Marty said as he massaged Alex's back, "You gotta relax! Let the tension go!" He gently chopped at the lion's shoulder muscles, then ran his hooves up the lion's spine all the way to his head, kneading the muscles as he went.
"Owww!" yelled Alex again. Marty felt Alex's neck, carefully going over each vertebrae until... that was it! A lower neck vertebrae, or two, was out of place.
"No wonder you're in such pain, my friend!" the zebra concluded. One at a time, he picked up the smooth, heated rocks and placed them on the lion's neck, lining both sides of the spine. Some of them were buried deep under the lion's magnificent mane, which helped to keep the heat in.
The rocks almost burned against Alex's skin, yet at the same time, the heat actually felt good. The spasms began to diminish, and the tightness in his left shoulder and neck muscles softened. Marty continued his wonderful massage up and down the lion's back for several minutes, taking away tension and giving the rocks some time to do their job. Finally Marty said, "All right, Alex, you're ready." He laid down on top of the lion, reaching his right foreleg around the lion's neck, lifting his head slightly. Alex had a frightened, unsure expression on his face. "You're my best friend, Alex," said the zebra gently into the lion's fuzzy right ear. "You have to trust me now, okay? This is gonna feel wierd. Do you trust me?"
Alex felt extremely vulnerable and uncomfortable, but grunted an affirmative "mmm-hmm" reply to the question.
"Good," said Marty. "Now stay relaxed. Here we go..." Marty tightened his grip around Alex's neck, and placed his left hoof strategically on the troubled spot. Then he took a big breath and, putting his zebra muscles to work, heaved... then heaved again... and then once more. Click! Ka-Pop! Pop!
"AAAA!" Alex let out another roar as a momentary jolt of pain zapped him. Gloria was just about to Marty's hut when she heard the cry, and stopped in her tracks.
Then, Alex was in heaven. A wonderful tingly sensation rushed through the lion's neck and down his spine, all the way to the tip of his tail. The pain, which he had endured for the last 12 hours, was gone! And the heated rocks on his neck were putting him to sleep.
"How do you feel now?" whispered Marty into his friend's ear.
"Oh... Marty... I feel... wonderful!" he said through his teeth, not budging. "Thank... you! I don't... wanna move. Ahhh!"
"Great! You just lie here nice and still. I'll leave you alone for a while now so you can get some sleep."
"Thank you... Marty," grunted Alex through his teeth.
Just outside, Gloria stood wide-eyed, not knowing what was going on. In a way, she felt maybe she didn't want to know what was really going on, as her bad dream was invading her thoughts again. She could see two tasseled tails protruding just around the corner, a long tan one on the ground, and a black and white one twitching above it. She thought that looked odd. "Well, Marty's with him," she thought, pausing to contemplate. "Maybe Melman was right. Maybe I shouldn't be intruding right now. If something is wrong Marty'll let us know. I'll just leave and come back later."
However, concern and curiosity got the best of Gloria's better judgment. She decided to crash the party anyway, boldly stepping around the corner to make her presence known. Like Melman, she was surprised to find Marty lying on Alex's back. "Marty?" she said firmly, crossing her arms. "Just exactly what is it that you're doing there with Alex?"
The abrupt arrival scared Marty, taking him by surprise. His right foreleg was stuck underneath the heavy lion's neck and he scrambled in an unsuccessful attempt to sit up, stammering in response to the rashly asked question. He breathed in wrong and started to choke on a drop of his own saliva, coughing uncontrollably in between every other word. "Gloria? -cough!- Hi. -cough!- I'm... -cough! cough!- ...he's... -hack!- ...uh-"
"Alex?" she interrupted, noticing that he wasn't moving at all... just like in the bad dream which was still reeling fresh in her mind. "Marty?" she asked the coughing, tongue-tied zebra, her concern now turning to worry. "Marty, what have you done to him?"
Alex was so relaxed that it looked like he wasn't breathing. "Gloria?..." Alex grunted through his teeth without moving his jaw. "Is... that... you?"
"Oh my God! Alex! What happened?"
"Mar..ty...cracked... my neck," breathed Alex.
Gloria looked at Marty again, in disbelief, and then she noticed he was holding a rock.
The dream. The lion. The rock. It was all too much. Gloria freaked out. She started backing away, then turned around and took off towards Melman. Still trapped by Alex's neck, Marty called after her, but she kept running away.
"No! This can't be happening," she said out loud to herself as she ran. "Poor, dear Alex! This just can't be happening!!"
"What's wrong?" Melman asked as she approached, dreading the possibility of more bad news.
"Marty's flipped," she said, out of breath. "He bashed Alex over the head with a rock, and broke his neck!!"
"I don't believe it," Melman replied, shocked, with a confused look on his face. "But he did want these rocks for something..."
Marty, after great effort, finally freed his leg from under the snoozing lion's neck. "Crap!" he said to himself, standing up. "Now what's going on?" Marty began heading toward Melman's fire pit.
"I still don't believe it, Gloria," insisted the giraffe, holding his fire poker. "You said that-"
"Oh no, here he comes!!" spouted the paranoid hippo. "He's coming for us!! Run!! Run!!"
Normally cool and calm Gloria's state of panic was contagious, and Melman's heart rate began pounding with a tinge of fear. In the interest of self-preservation, he figured it best to run first and ask questions later. The giraffe took off toward the refuge of the jungle forest, passing Gloria and dropping his smoldering poker stick. Gloria, who was considerably slower, could hear Marty's hoof beats getting closer as he was catching up. "Wait up guys!," called Marty. Losing the race, Gloria picked up the smoldering stick Melman had dropped and hurled it at Marty, hitting him on the head (which was almost the same thing she had yelled at Alex for the day before). "Ouch!" Marty stopped in his tracks, stunned, then covered his head with his hooves to avoid a shower of stones that were also heading his way.
When it was safe to look up, he saw that his friends had deserted him and disappeared into the forest. "What did I say? What did I do?" Marty sadly asked out loud, puzzled and hurt by his friends' bizarre reaction. He walked over to the now untended fire pit and found two rocks heating in there, just as he had requested. He knocked them out of the fire with the poker stick that had been thrown at him, wrapped them in three layers of leaves, then headed back to his hut, confused and upset with a charcoal smear on his head.
Marty carefully replaced two of the cooler rocks on Alex's neck with the fresh hot ones he had brought. He gently stroked and petted the sleeping lion's mane, listening to him breathing peacefully amid the background sound of the ocean waves. "Well, at least Alex still likes me," he thought. Then Marty left to let Alex get some rest, and he wandered off into the forest by himself.