Chapter 5

At the docks of Zootopia, many different boats such as Cargo, Garbage trawlers, and Fishing boats sat tied up to the docks as the owners went about their business. One thing that the owners had to do and dreaded it was paying their taxes. Tax collectors were the most hated out of the bunch in Zootopia, and paying them was a great discomfort for many, for they lined their own pockets with the money they collected.

A loud tussle erupted near a tax collector's bench. A polar bear and an elephant were trying to make a certain deranged lioness pay, and when she didn't they grabbed hold of her.

"You have to pay us! It's the law!" the polar bear shouted as the lioness clawed at them.

"I don't have to pay money!" Mary Magdalene shouted. She then growled crazily again. "You want your money?!" she yelled as she pulled out a handful of coins out of her pocket and threw them at the elephant and the polar bear.

"Leave this one! She's the nutcase lioness whose been hanging around the slums." said the elephant, grabbing her and holding in a headlock.

The tax collector, an antelope dressed in a black suit and tie, nodded in agreement. "Alright," he spoke, writing down on a piece of paper as the elephant threw Mary to the ground. "How much does she owe us?"

"Nothing!" a loud and angry voice shouted. A large gorilla by the name of Simon Peter, or Peter for short, was coming over to the tax collector with a teed-off look on his face. Simon Peter was a gorilla with black fur, a grey face, and fiery blue eyes. He wore red and white soccer jersey with the numbers 01 on the stomach, blue cargo pants with black patches on the knees, and black boots.

He was followed by two otters named John and James. James was oldest and had brown fur and green eyes. He wore a white do-rag, a red dress shirt, and dark green slacks. John was the youngest, his fur was brown but slightly lighter, and he had blue eyes. He wore a blue dress shirt, and dark green slacks.

"And we don't owe you anything either!" Simon Peter continued, coming up to the tax collector's bench to shout complaints. "We didn't catch any fish, so we don't pay you! I'm not paying taxes for standing around and breathing air!"

Meanwhile, two elephant soldiers of Pilate who had heard the tussle came over to Mary Magdalene, who was muttering and collecting the coins she had thrown. When she looked up into their faces, they contorted into that of demons. She ran away, screaming in terror.

"Look, it's nothing personal…" said the antelope, whose name was Matthew, as he tried to restore order. "It's just part of the job. We have to take these reports back to Pilate."

"Yeah?!" Peter growled, moving his face closer to Matthew. "And does he know you're taking half the money we're paying, you traitor?!"

When James heard the pistol cock and saw one of the elephant soldiers aiming the silver barrel of the pistol at the back of Peter's head, he knew it was time to stop.

"Uh, Pete?" said James. "I think maybe it's time to end the crusade and get back to work."

Peter growled and moved away, pushing the gun barrel away from his face.

About an hour later after the tussle, Peter, James, and John sat in a sailboat, mending the fishing nets. "Yo Peter!" a voice shouted. Peter looked up and saw his Brother, Andrew, running towards him.

Andrew was the same gorilla that was baptized by John the Baptist at the Jordan River. He had black fur, a grey face, and brown eyes. He wore a green army winter coat, a white t-shirt, baggy pants that were copper colored, and black colored sneakers.

"Yo Peter!" Andrew yelled as he raced up to the boat. "That White Lion I was talking about is coming here! They say he's the son of God and that he's here to end this turmoil!"

"That'll be the day…" Peter rolled his eyes and got out of the sailboat to get in his own boat. He wasn't exactly big on his brother's love of religion and serving God, having heard all the stories about a Savior coming and none of them coming true in his sight. "It's not bad enough that he have to deal with all these tax collectors but now we have to deal with teachers whose heads are too big for their bodies!"

Jesus, being followed by a crowd of animals, came to the docks and looked around for a place to teach. Since the people were beginning to swarm him by the dozen, it was starting to get crowded and he needed some elbow room.

"John! James!" Peter shouted at the two otters, who sat in the sailboat and instantly looked up at him. "Tie up your boat and don't pay them tax collectors anything!" The otters both nodded at their orders and began tying up their boat.

Peter was about to get into his boat when he saw Jesus climbing into it and sitting down at the front of it. "Please push the boat out." He said politely to Andrew and Peter.

"What for?" Peter asked indignant.

"You want everyone else to come in with me?" Jesus replied, directing his hand towards the crowd of animals. Peter looked at them and a cross looked went over his face. Andrew chuckled.

"Come on!" he said cheerfully, playfully punching Peter in the shoulder and climbing into the boat. "It'll do you some good." Peter muttered something and climbed into the boat, which he and his brother pushed out into the water.

Jesus stood up in the boat with perfect balance and began his sermon. "What is the kingdom of God like?" he asked simply. "To me, it is like a mustard seed." The white lion pulled a mustard seed out of his shoulder bag. "Mustard seeds are so small that you can't see them. They're like specks of dust that the wind can blow away with ease." He put the small seed out on the finger of his paw and blew it away with his breath. "And yet, these tiny seeds can become…"

Jesus stretched his arms out for emphasis. "The greatest trees of all time! They are so big that many animals come and make their homes out of them!"

Peter, John, and James' eyes widened and Andrew smiled as they listened to the message and the truth started to pour into their hearts.

A little bit later, after the crowds left and it was just Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, they rested for a few minutes.

Jesus yawned and then thought about something. "Please push the boat out some more into the deep." He spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Out into the deep? Why in the world would I want to do that?" Peter asked.

"So you can let your nets down for a catch. Isn't that what fishermen do?" Jesus replied.

Peter looked at him as if he were making a joke. "Uh… hate to burst your bubble but fish don't come out in the sunlight. They hate it, so they spend their time down in the depths." Peter was definitely against the idea of fishing out in the day, but Jesus smiled in such a friendly way that Peter decided to give it a try. "But if you want me to do it, I'll do it…" He said as he and Andrew picked up paddles and started rowing to the deep.

….

"This is the dumbest idea I have ever done in my life…" Peter muttered as they continued rowing, now against the idea. Andrew just grinned at his brother. When they got to the deep end, they threw out their nets. As they waited, Jesus started twiddling with his thumbs.

"We're gonna be here for hours…" Peter muttered, not noticing that Andrew was looking over the side.

"Peter…" Andrew spoke; his voice starting to sound shocked.

"We could be here for days, or maybe even weeks…" Peter continued.

"Holy… Peter! Look!" Andrew shouted in shock.

Peter looked over at Andrew, who was looking over the side of the boat. "What is it, Andrew?" he asked. When Peter looked over the side... His eyes widened in shock! The nets were bursting with tons and tons of fish!

"Pull!" Andrew yelled, laughing. "PULL!"

Peter came back to his senses and started pulling, while Jesus threw off his shoulder bag and jacket and joined in on the pulling, laughing joyfully. "It's the mother lode of fish!" Peter laughed as tons of fish overloaded the boat. "It's gonna break the nets and sink us! We're gonna be paying the tax collectors for the rest of our lives!"

"James! John!" Jesus shouted, laughing. "Come over and give us a hand!"

James and John rowed as fast as they could and began helping with the fish, loading their own sailboat with the tons and tons of fish. When they got back, the tax collectors were so shocked at how much fish they had, that they didn't ask for the pay.

….

A little bit later, after the whole fishing episode, Jesus found Peter sitting on the curb a few blocks away from the docks. Peter's face looked sullen and when he saw the White Lion, he couldn't look him in the eye and just stared at his own feet.

"Leave me alone…" said Peter, his voice sounding hurt. "Master, I am not worthy of following you…" his voice broke a small bit. "I have done many sins against you… I can't be forgiven for what I have done… I deserve death…"

Jesus looked compassionately at him. "Peter…" he said, helping him stand up. "I forgive you of your sins and what you have done… from now on; I'm going to make you a fisher of men."

With that, Peter felt the weight of the world being lifted off his shoulders. Jesus motioned for him to follow, and he did. He would follow Jesus... but little did he know how his faith would be tested…

Author's Notes: So, I recently saw the movie "SING!" and one of the characters, Johnny, was a gorilla. So, I want to clarify that the gorillas in this story are like Johnny from "SING!", and are NOT like the gorillas from "Kung Fu Panda".

R&R,

Heroboy005