Disclaimer's: Guess who still doesn't own Jonny Quest?
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I woke up safe and sound in the room I shared with Katie. Today, we were going to the zoo and snorkeling if there was time. Even though we had to be chaperoned, we were still going to find a way to have fun. Me especially. I want to talk to a koala bear...
I got dressed and went down to breakfast. As always, I'm the last person up, simply because if I don't get at least 8 hours of sleep, you don't want to know me in the morning.
"Morning, glory," Race said. Funny, ha ha. That was an original play on words...
"Morning," I said, "What's for breakfast?" One other good thing about Australia, they have good old American food.
"Waffles," Jonny said, gesturing to his half empty plate, "And for us kids, ours have chocolate chips in them."
"Good," I said, "Start out the day with a sugar rush!"
We made it through breakfast without any major disputes and went back to our rooms to get ready for the first day of being around normal people that didn't involve tigers.
I put on a tank top and shorts, plus sandals and ran back down the stairs. As soon as everyone was ready, we were leaving. And as always, you'll never guess who held us up?
"JONNY!" I yelled, "Come on! You're the only one left!"
He came down the steps, taking his good old time. I had half a mind to pick him up and drop him down the steps. Race saw the look on my face and shot me a warning look. Needless to say (since I wanted to go see the koala bears. I think they're cute), I didn't use my powers. What good are they if you can't use them?
He got into the Ambassador's van (a nice normal vehicle) and drove to the zoo. It was about the size of the National Zoo in Washington DC. Where are those koala bears?
We all decided it would be best to walk around the zoo together at first, and then if we needed to split up, 4 to a group and 2 guards per group. That wasn't too bad. I just didn't want to be in a group with Race when I found the koala bears. I wanted to talk to 1. Maybe one of those Tasmanian devils, too. Most of the other animals, I could see at any zoo. I wanted to talk to the Australian animals now.
Most of the animals I saw that day, I had seen in other zoos. Still no koala bears...
The dolphins were nice. Still no koala bears...
I liked the birds. Still no koala bears...
The first 4 hours off the zoo were great... WHERE THE DOUBLE BLOODY HELL TO THE FOURTH POWER ARE THE KOALA BEARS? Do they hide them or something?
We stopped for lunch...
"Where are the koala bears?" I asked.
"They're in the jungle ecosystem," Mr. Smith said, "We'll be getting there soon. Along with the devils, lions, tigers..."
Sniff, sniff. Rishi was a GOOD tiger...
I don't really remember what I had for lunch. I just wanted to go see the koala bears... the Tasmanian devils, too...
We walked for about 10 minutes before we saw a cute little sign that said, "Jungle".
"Yes!" I said, "Koalas, here I come!"
"Why do you want to see those koala bears so bad?" Jonny asked.
"I've never seen 1 this close before," I said, "They look cute."
We FINALLY made it to the koala bears! They aren't as cute up close as they are from far away, but you probably aren't, either (unless you're Robbie), so none of us have any room to talk.
I picked a middle aged looking koala bear to try and talk to. I thought the younger ones might not have much to say and the old ones might be senile so, here goes...
Hello? I said. It looked at me. I got the impression of eating eucalyptus and climbing a tree, but that was it.
Hello? I tried again. It wasn't responding! Neither did any of the others! WTF?!?!?
"Hadji," I wailed, "They don't talk to you!"
He looked at me and said, "Most animals don't."
"Rishi did," He was a GOOD tiger...
"Tigers and other predators, along with dolphins and such are more intelligent then most plant eaters," Hadji said, "The carnivores have to possess a certain amount of intelligence to catch food. The plant eaters food doesn't run away from them."
What he said made sense, but still... Honestly! I wanted to talk to the koala bear, "Maybe the Tasmanian devil will have more to say."
The Ambassador and his wife, not to mention the guards were looking a little confused, but Race just shook his head and said, "On to the devils!"
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Hello? I called to 1 of the Tasmanian devils.
Blood. That's what I saw. Lots of torn up food. No words, just food.
"Hadji!" I wailed yet again, "He only thinks about his next meal! He doesn't talk either !"
"Maybe he's been spoiled by the zoo," Jonny said, "They feed him. He doesn't need intelligence."
"Damn this zoo," I muttered. Race shot me a look.
We moved on to the lions and tigers. I stopped to look into the cage of an albino tiger. He was so pretty!
Hello, little one. A voice echoed in my head.
That was definitely a tiger's voice. I looked at the albino tiger, Hello, are you talking to me?
Wonderful! the tiger said, I thought maybe you could thought speak, but I wasn't sure.
I guess there aren't too many who can, I said. At last, an intelligent animal! The tiger walked over to us and purred.
Race shot me a look, "Race, it wasn't my fault! It started talking first!" He shook his head.
My name is Calijah, the tier said, I am a male.
Thanks, I said, I'm new to this, so it's kinda hard to tell. Where are you from originally?
I'm afraid I do not know the names you humans call places, he said, I simply know it was my home, and life was simple, but good there.
I think that's all you need to know, I said. I noticed Hadji giving me a look, I'm afraid I must go, I said, My humans want me to come with them.
Good bye, little one, Calijah said.
Good bye, I said. At least this 1 was alive when I left it...
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The rest of the zoo was OK. We had enough time to go to the beach. We'd eat dinner there and then go snorkeling.
We ate at a little restaurant that the Ambassador has friends at. The food was really good. I had... Shrimp on the Barbie! (Not the doll, barbie as in barbeque.) Real Australian food...
We rented our equipment and rested our dinner bit before going in. We weren't allowed to go out too far and we need a buddy, but oh well! Water!
I was happy the second I got into the ocean. I out my mask on and went underwater. The fish are really brightly colored! Katie, Jonny, and Hadji were right behind me. We had agreed to surface every 10 minutes and talk about the fish and stuff.
"I like this water," I said, "It's clearer than other ocean water."
"It has a smaller salt content," Katie said, "Plus, there's less pollution. We have strict laws against dumping stuff anywhere near the coral reefs."
"Are the coral reefs around here?" Jonny asked.
"Yeah, come on," she said.
We followed her out farther towards the open ocean. It didn't take long before we found the reef. I've never seen so many fish or so many colors before! I even saw a turtle!
After about 2 hours in the reef with our equipment we swam back to shore. The adults took our equipment back to the store and we just fooled around in the water for awhile.
"Put me down!" I yelled. Again, getting dunked. The only thing different about this time was they put me down for fear of me using my powers on them. Ha!
It was another 2 hours before the sun set. The colors then were more brilliant then any of the underwater scenes. The adults called us out of the water, since it was about 9 o'clock at night. We watched the sunset as we dried off.
"It's pretty," I said.
"Not as pretty as you," Jonny said.
"Come up with your own lines," I said, "That one's getting kinda old. You flirt almost as weirdly as Race does."
"Hey!" Race said.
"Sorry," I said.
"You are pretty," Jonny said.
I shot him a look, "If you want to kiss me, do it. Don't ruin it with crappy lines."
Race burst out laughing. Jonny shot him a look and said to me, "You can't take a compliment."
"Actions speak louder than words," I shot back.
He leaned in and kissed me.
"There," I said, "That was better than, 'You are pretty.'".
He out his arm around my waist as we waked back to the van. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to the Embassy. I took a shower and went straight to bed. It had been a long day of stupid koala bears, pretty fish, and bad pickup lines...
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What do you think? I have to put some action in here involving Serd, or people might get bored. REVIEW with ideas, K? Thanks!
Sidenote: Robbie, since you said you didn't object to romance... Here you go!
Katie, am I doing a good job with your character?
Fay, my #1 fan! You seem to be the only person who really cares if I work on this story. If the next chapter doesn't come in right away, don't worry! It's summer, I have no life, I'll get to it! Thanks for liking this so much!
Ja ne! The Management