I'm not sure how many hours I spent avoiding the police and animal control. I could easily have fled and been miles away by now, but I was determined to try to find Glenne. I couldn't leave not knowing if she got away, if she was still hiding, or if they caught her.

Finally, animal control decided to disperse. I heard some of them talking about putting out a watch and setting up a perimeter around the city. When they left, I dropped down to the ground.

The woods were quiet as a breeze made the brush sweep the ground. I swallowed hard. "Glenne?" I called out softly. I moved forward. "Glenne, are you out there?"

Silence followed. I doubted she'd answer me even if she could hear me. For all I knew, she was long gone. An emptiness came over me that I couldn't describe. I'd lost . . . everything. It'd just been . . . ripped from me. No — I'd pushed it away. I was my own worst enemy. Never able to read others. Never able to think with all the lights on upstairs. Only able to see the destination without stopping to see the sights. Not being able to see the corals for the reef.

She was the only one to truly love me for me, and I treated her like she meant nothing.

I searched for her for maybe a few hours, scouting the nearby areas, but decided I didn't have a choice but to come to terms with the fact that she was gone. I found a nice area of brush and climbed under it. I think I passed out from exhaustion, both emotional and physical.

Morning came and I groggily woke up to the sunlight peeking through the brush into my eyes. I had slept some, but it was poor quality. I thought about looking around some more but, honestly, I felt pretty certain that Glenne was long gone by now. Who knows where. I decided it was probably best to just sulk the rest of my way to New York.

That's when I realized I had lost everything I had collected to get here. No clothes, no map, no money, nothing. I looked back at the gas station, but there were still a couple of policemen patrolling the area. It'd be too risky to try to sneak in there for a map, and I wasn't about to wait until nightfall. I needed something to focus on to get my mind off of Glenne, and getting to the Big Apple was my only other objective. I had come this far, and I had nowhere else to go. I can go the distance. I will go the distance.

I surveyed my options. I could try to sneak through brush and trees to find somewhere else I could obtain a map, but that could take a while. But traveling beside the road would increase my chances of getting caught. Hm . . .

I needed a quick way to get to NY. I couldn't just walk along the side of the road, even if I used camouflage. It would just take too long. But how to figure out who was going to NY so I could stowaway? I knew I needed to be heading east. I looked around and realized I must have been in some kind of neighborhood. There was a church on the side of the road called Crossview Worship Center. On the other side of the street there was a road that led to more houses. I sighed in frustration. I needed a ride . . .

I sank back as a large van passed by and turned onto the street, marked "USPS." It stopped at one of the houses and a woman stepped out, holding a box. She lay it down on the doorstep of the house and rang the doorbell before heading back to the truck. She went to the next house and put some papers in the mailbox at the end of its driveway. Then she proceeded to the next house.

I felt like a lightbulb turned on over my head. Why didn't I think of it! I could mail myself to New York! Of course, I would need supplies . . . I would need a box, obviously. And something to cushion me. I thought about bringing food, but I can go up to four days without eating on average without getting too weak. If I mailed myself first class, I would be able to last. I felt sad that I hadn't thought of this sooner. Maybe Glenne and I could've avoided this whole mess. But it was too late to think about that.

It was pretty ironic, I realized, that I was going to be mailing myself to the penguins when I had once tried to mail them away from me.

Okay, only one more problem. I needed to figure out where to get these items. My best chances, I thought, were to try to hitch a ride on the USPS van and hope I won't get caught. I noticed that beyond the house at the end of the street were more houses. I realized that these houses formed a cul de sac. Theoretically, the mailwoman should be headed that way to deliver mail to these houses soon. I waited for the road to clear and scurried across, then made my way to the circle of houses. I camouflaged myself to a mailbox and waited.

About ten minutes later, I could see the mailwoman approaching. I braced myself as she got closer. Two houses away, then one . . .

I waited patiently as she took an envelope from the mailbox above my head and put other envelopes in its place. As she started to drive off to the next house I grabbed onto the back bumper and pulled myself onto it, camouflaging myself to the car.

I wasn't prepared for the fact that the mailwoman wouldn't complete her route for another several hours, but finally around midafternoon the car pulled into a post office and parked. The driver got out of the vehicle and started going into the building, along with a couple other people. I waited for an opportunity and slithered forward, blending into the cement. I slipped into the door just before it closed and hid myself behind the trash can that was beside the door. It was a pretty quiet place. There were some people up ahead that were sorting mail. I slithered along the wall until I reached a room marked "PACKAGE ROOM" and slipped inside. Thankfully, the room was devoid of people at this time. I found an empty box and a bag of packing peanuts and went to the back of the room. First, I cut a small hole in the side of the box for air. Then, after making a nest inside the box with the packing peanuts, I grabbed a marker and wrote on the side, "Ship to: Central Park Zoo, Manhattan, New York." I thought for a moment and then added, "FRAGILE." I smiled at myself.

Now I just needed to postmark it. I took the box to the scale and set it on top, and then climbed inside. I hit the button marked "POSTMARK" and waited as it weighed me and printed out a label. I slapped the label onto the box and then grabbed some tape, then sank down into the box and pulled it shut, sticking one arm out to start taping it shut. Just then, I heard a door open and I panicked, pulling my arm into the box and letting the tape hang on the side of the box.

Two muffled voices started conversing about how to organize the mail so it would be ready for tomorrow's delivery. Then one said —

"Hey, what's this?"

Footsteps approached my box. One of the mailpeople sighed.

"Sharon probably half did her job again. I'm always cleaning up after her."

I heard the person rip the tape and finish packaging me and I smiled. The box lifted and I was thrown somewhere. I grunted as I landed and found myself frustrated. What part of the word "FRAGILE" eluded them?

I decided I may as well get comfortable. It was going to be a long ride.

— § —

Because, you bloody idiot! You were that person for me.

Back in London, before we even broke out of the zoo . . . I liked you. A lot. Before I knew it, I . . . I thought I was in love with you. At least I thought I was.

I figured as much. I tell you I love you and you have nothing. And now because of you, I have no way of getting home.

There's no future for me here anymore.

It had been several hours now, exactly how many I wasn't sure. It was hard not to think about my last encounter with Glenne, being all alone in this little box. Her last words to me kept repeating in my head. It was hard not to wonder where she was now. I only hoped she was safe.

I spent a lot of my time sleeping since there wasn't much to do in there and I had to be quiet lest someone hear me. I had no idea where I was now, but I know exactly where I am going, and I'm gettin' closer 'n closer every day. I'm almost there.

But finally, I was thrown onto yet another truck, and a bit later, I heard the door open along with some voices.

"– weren't expecting a package," the familiar voice of Alice said. I perked up as my hearts started to pound.

"Look, lady, my job is to deliver the package. I don't care what you do with it," the driver's voice responded.

"Whatever," Alice said.

The box lifted off of the floor of the mail truck, and the vibrations of Alice's footsteps reverberated through the box as she presumably carried me into the zoo. I suddenly realized a potential error in my plan. If she opened the box, how would she react?

A door creaked open and the box plopped down. I braced myself for her to open the box, but I just heard a sigh as her footsteps grew lighter. She mumbled something about it not being her problem. I let out the breath I was holding in relief. For once, typical Alice worked out in my favor.

I peeked through the small hole I had created for air. I was sitting on the floor in Alice's office. I reached an arm through the hole and pulled at the tape on the box until it ripped off and the box opened.

As I slipped out onto the floor of Alice's office, I froze for a moment. The familiar breeze from Alice's window air conditioner brushed my cheeks. I remembered all those nights I had spent with the penguins in this room, watching silly action movies.

The penguins.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 8:30AM. The calendar next to the clock indicated it was August 8th. It didn't feel like it'd taken me four days to get here.

But the zoo didn't open until 10AM. I could go see my penguins now.

My hearts pounding, I peeked out of the window. No one was nearby, so I gently opened the door and slipped out, camouflaging myself to a nearby trash can. I felt like I was going to puke.

It didn't take long to navigate through the zoo with so little people. I had to be careful whenever I passed a keeper feeding an animal, but they didn't notice me. Finally, I made it to the chimps' habitat. It seemed awfully quiet in there which was out of the ordinary, but I didn't pay it any mind. I was only a few habitats away from the penguins.

My hearts were pounding so hard I thought I might explode. I could see the edge of the habitat from my position, but nothing further than that. I was so close, but I was frozen in my tracks, terrified of what they'd say when they saw me.

I took a deep breath. I traveled half the world and half the country to get to this point. No turning back now.

I inched forward, careful to make sure no one was around. Once I was about twenty feet away, I darted forward involuntarily as a smile spread across my face, excitement taking over my body. I reached the edge of the habitat and –

My smile melted into a frown. The habitat was empty, aside from an empty fishbowl and a large plank of wood that said "EXHIBIT CLOSED" propped up in the center. I turned around to ask one of the other zoo inhabitants where they were when I noticed Alex's habitat. I moved forward and examined it.

There was a picture of Alex along with several stuffed animals of him in his habitat. There were several roses and burnt out candles. Another sign was hung up that said "Exhibit Closed."

I turned to look at Gloria's, Melman's, and Marty's habitat too. All of them had "Exhibit Closed" signs and tributes strewn about the habitat. I shook my head. This didn't make sense. Where was everyone? Where were my penguins?

A paper blew in the wind which got stuck on one of my arms. I was about to wave it off when I noticed the paper had the pictures of all the missing animals. I looked more closely at it.

It was a piece from a newspaper. Alex, Gloria, Melman, Marty, the chimps, and the penguins all had a picture on the front page of the newspaper, with the words "MISSING" written across the top. I was so confused. How do so many animals go missing at once?

I squinted at the paper and held it closer, but slowly managed to read the article written underneath the pictures, though it took time without my glasses.

GRAND ESCAPE!

One week ago, several animals including the world famous Alex the Lion, the King of New York, escaped from the world famous Central Park Zoo. The escapees were finally cornered in Grand Central Station. Animal rights activists convinced the zoo officials to have the animals sent to Africa where they rightfully belong. We are stunned to learn that the shipping freighter that was carrying the animals was reported missing today. Last night, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered together to mourn the loss of their beloved zoo animals. The question on everyone's mind: Where are they now?

I felt my hearts sink.

Everything I'd done was for nothing.

Losing Glenne was for nothing.

Traveling across the world for nothing.

Traveling across the country for nothing.

Everything. For nothing.

I didn't fight back when a zookeeper spotted me staring in disbelief at the penguin habitat, still clutching the paper.

I didn't fight back when they caught my neck in a catch pole and threw me in a crate.

I didn't fight back the tears when I broke down.

— § —

Note: The quotes in this chapter were: "I can go the distance," spoken by Hercules (portrayed by Roger Bart) from Hercules (1997); and "I know exactly where I am going, and I'm gettin' closer 'n closer every day. I'm almost there," spoken by Tiana (portrayed by Anika Noni Rose) in The Princess and the Frog (2009). And of course, the scene Dave stumbles upon when he gets to the zoo is a reference to the beginning of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008).