Chapter 4
"Oddities"
"All Sven told us," began Hans, "was that we needed to enter a vault of some sort to find 'Beaky the Pelican.' According to him, that vault shouldn't be hard to break into." "We should hope not," said Franz, "We could get arrested for this, right?" Hans took a shaky breath. "Yeah...this would qualify as illegal activity."
The two made their way to the nearby map. Hans pointed to the left corner. "This is it," he said, "The exotic birds are all in this exhibit." "But what if Beaky isn't in there?" asked Franz, "Sven told us that she's kept under high security. After all, who wouldn't want to steal a talking pelican? The zoo's made millions off of her!" Hans sighed. "Maybe," he said, "but we need to start somewhere." Franz nodded in assent.
The pair made their way to the east side of the zoo, passing habitats which housed the most unusual of creatures. On Franz' side was a large pool which bubbled and glowed with a soft, pink light. "It's beautiful," Franz remarked, "like the filling of a raspberry strudel." "I wonder what's in there…" Hans said, awed, as he stared at the dark form which was barely visible near the pool's bottom.
It was not long before Hans and Franz reached the exotic birds exhibit, housed inside an imposing glass dome. Near the entrance was a tall, metallic arch, which glittered gold in the sunlight. "It's as wide as our entire school!" cried Hans, in despair, "It's probably bigger than our school! How are we going to search it all?!"
As he said this, a booming voice permeated the morning's quietude. "And now for our main event...BEAKY THE PELICAN!" The voice was followed by a myriad of cheers and claps. Franz looked up slowly, facing Hans and grinning. "You were saying?" he quipped.