3 weeks later . . .
It took several weeks to sail from New York to Madagascar. It was a chilly morning when I was informed I was at my destination and to take my boat and leave the ship so they could continue with their delivery.
I lowered myself into my boat which was hanging safely alongside the massive cargo ship, bringing with me my last of three month's supply of food. I wasn't sure how long I'd be searching, and I was about to officially be on my own. I was a mixture of terrified, excited, and hopeful. I wasn't sure which thought terrified me more: finding them or not finding them. I supposed it depended on a lot of things. If nothing else, I hoped they were alive. They were tough, but could they survive a jungle?
Saying my farewells, one of the crewmen lowered my boat into the water gently. After I unlatched the ropes, the ship soon started moving on. I didn't stick around to watch it leave.
Turning my boat toward the massive island, my breath caught in my throat. It was now or never. And I didn't come this far to turn back now. I eased the boat forward, the engine whining softly but still loud enough to mask the sound of my hearts pounding.
The large baobab trees loomed high into the sky like the skyscrapers in New York, and grew larger as I neared the coastline. When I finally reached the beach, I found a rock sturdy enough to tie my boat to and stripped off my brown, mullet-like wig and clothing. I saw no reason to keep up the facade with no humans present. Besides, I didn't want to spook the wildlife. I had done some research on what sort of animals live here on this island while on the ship. The only one that really concerned me was this cat-like creature called a fossa. I really hoped I wouldn't run into one of those.
Wading through the last few feet of tide, I came to a stop, the ocean water rising and falling underneath me.
No matter how slowly I breathed, my hearts continued to pound. I stared into the deep jungle, its mysteries lying within. The sounds of the jungle slowly drifted toward me and became lost at sea. Taking another deep breath, I gathered my resolve and started forward, the ocean lapping at my arms as if trying to pull me back. The part of me that was gripped with fear wanted to let it. Sand stuck to my arms as I walked over the beach, but I ignored it.
In the near distance to my right, just before I entered the jungle, I noticed something half buried in the sand. It didn't look like it came from nature. I stopped and moved closer to the object.
When I was close enough, I realized it was part of a shipping crate. It was buried halfway into the sand in front of a grave-like hole. On it was written "GIRAFFE" in large red letters with a red arrow pointing down toward the grave.
Though it felt impossible for them to pound harder, my heartrates picked up.
They were definitely here.
And by the looks of things, hopefully not dead since the grave sat empty and untouched, seemingly for a while now.
I turned back toward the jungle and pushed inward, pushing back shrubs and branches that blocked my way. After several minutes of moving through the jungle, I swore I could hear music . . . and cheering . . .
Surely humans wouldn't be out here?
I slowed down and picked up my guard as I continued forward. So far, other than some bugs here and there and birds singing overhead, I hadn't seen much other sign of life.
Suddenly I became aware of a buzzing sound. I stopped and listened. Bees? No, it was too mechanical. My boat? No, it was coming from above and my boat was back where I'd come from. I looked up and screamed.
A rickety plane spiraled down from the sky toward me and I dove under a tree and hid my face in my arms. As suddenly as it came, the plane regained balance and shot back up toward the sky, its wind sending leaves, vines, and trees flailing wildly around me as I watched it grow smaller.
What in the world?
Realizing I was holding my breath, I exhaled and quickly climbed a tree. At its top, I could see the beat up old plane taking off into the distance, gaining altitude.
It puzzled me greatly. Where did that plane even come from? It was as if it had just taken off, but I knew we couldn't be near any airports, right? And I seriously doubted that the plane was even certified to fly. Even for the few moments I saw it, I could tell it was a wreck!
After about twenty minutes of wading through more of the jungle, when the music was at its loudest, I stumbled across a lemur colony. I stayed hidden in the bushes for a bit longer, watching. They were celebrating something, it seemed. What, I couldn't tell. Mustering my courage, I followed one lemur I noticed walking away from the rest into the jungle on its own.
Dropping down in front of her, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into the bushes, covering her mouth to hide her startled screams.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," I said a few times before she quieted. I slowly lowered my arm from her mouth and she tried not to hyperventilate. "What's going on here?"
She didn't answer at first, obviously still scared of me, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Look, I don't want to hurt anyone," I repeated. "I'm trying to find some friends of mine. I thought they might be here. I just need to know what's going on. Why is everyone celebrating?"
The lemur gulped and took a shaky breath. "We're celebrating because our King Julien and the New York Giants have successfully started their journey to New York."
My heartrates picked up again.
"Tell me more," I pressed.
"Several months ago the New York Giants arrived and scared away the fossa. They wanted to go back to their home called New York, but their boat was not working. So we fixed up a plane wreck for them to take as a token of our gratitude for our safety. Our illustrious King Julien and his right hand left with them," the lemur explained.
I nodded slowly, seeing the story start to piece together in my mind. But there were still some pieces missing.
"Was there anyone else here with the 'New York Giants'?" I asked.
The lemur nodded. "Six others. Four called themselves penguins, and two others were chimps. They left with the New York Giants. In fact, they piloted the plane."
My hearts dropped at her words. There's no possible way I came all this way, that I sacrificed so much time, that I had come so close, and I quite literally just missed them.
Pretty sure I could hear Life laughing again.
I lowered the lemur to the ground, feeling dejected. "Thank you," I said softly, letting her go.
The lemur slowly started to back away, but stopped. "Are you okay?" she asked timidly.
I met her eye, then studied the ground. "I'm not sure. I came all this way, and I just barely missed them."
The lemur still looked puzzled, but nodded slowly. "I wish you luck. I'm sorry." She turned and left.
I'm not sure how long I stayed in that spot. Eventually I found myself back on my boat, not even remembering the trek back.
I also don't remember how long I lay on the deck of my boat crying.
— § —
There's not much to tell about what I went through over the next few days. After I had snapped myself out of my slump, I realized one thing. Even though I'd just barely missed the penguins, at least one thing was confirmed to be true.
They were alive.
Sure, the news that I was too little too late again was upsetting. But when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming.
I had to be strategic in my next moves lest I miss them again in my next attempt. And with the state of that half-restored plane, I doubted that it would actually get them to New York. Though that thought unsettled me. I could only hope they had a solid plan for if they lost control of the plane. So, I set sail in the direction they went in. It took about twenty-six hours by boat, but eventually, I found myself in a bay on the coast of Africa, in a place called Mombasa, Kenya. It brought up memories of my time in Kenya, but I tried not to think about it.
Eventually I found someone who spoke English. He actually confirmed he had seen a plane fly by the day before. After doing some digging around town I came into contact with someone who dabbled in aeronautics, and he had a radar machine which tracked aircrafts within a hundred-mile radius. He was able to tell me that he had seen the plane pass by overhead as well, and noticed that about sixty-four miles northwest of here, its signal cut out. He explained this meant the plane was no longer in the air, and he hadn't picked up on any signals from it since.
The location of the plane's last signal was lost somewhere over a Wildlife Preserve. This meant it was unlikely any humans were around where the plane went down. I'd only hoped they'd either intentionally landed or survived the crash unharmed.
I spent another day resting up, ate enough to keep me going for at least a couple days, then booked myself on a tour jeep that was headed exactly where I needed to go. It's nice when things are convenient.
I barely listened to the tour guide as he droned on about the wildlife while we meandered down the bumpy dirt road. I was too busy bouncing my fake human legs anxiously, growing more and more impatient as we drew nearer to the wildlife preserve. I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to sneak off the jeep yet. I had deliberately sat all the way in the back, but there were still people to my right that may notice when I tried to escape. I needed to find a way to distract them when the time was right.
Finally, we passed through the gate into the preserve. I decided to wait until we were farther into the preserve before making my move. I had no idea where to begin looking, but figuring out where most of the animals were would be a start.
In the midst of my thoughts, suddenly the jeep lurched as the tires screeched on the dirt road. Everybody slung forward in their seats and a thud came from the front of the vehicle. Everyone on the jeep exclaimed in confusion as the driver ran off the jeep, claiming something was an accident.
Other passengers began filing off and I decided to follow. An opportunity had presented itself. I didn't know what the humans were griping about, but it wasn't that important to me.
By the time I climbed off the jeep, the humans had gathered in a semi-circle around what I assumed was maybe an animal that had been hit. I slowly began backing away from the crowd so I could make my escape.
A flash of black and white caught my eye through the window on the other side of the jeep. I paused and shook my head. It couldn't possibly be —
The jeep's engine roared to life, the radio started blasting, and the tires screeched to a start as the jeep accelerated backwards away from us. For just a moment, I caught another glimpse of something small, black, and white in the driver's seat.
It really was them. It had to be. Wild as it may be, there was no other explanation.
Where did they learn to drive?
The jeep screeched to a stop and surged forward, barely missing the crowd of humans. I leapt into the back window as it zipped by just as a rope was thrown from the front window. The animal that was hidden in the crowd of humans grabbed onto it and was hoisted into the jeep as it sped away, and I realized that the animal was a penguin.
To be precise, it was Private.
— § —
My hearts pounded in my chest as I sank down between the seats, trying to remain hidden. I couldn't just pop up now, it might scare them, and I wanted to make sure we were away from the humans first.
I breathed slowly, trying to calm down. As my head became clearer, I started to become more and more confused.
Why were the penguins stealing a jeep? What did they need a jeep for? Surely they weren't planning on driving to New York. I was certain they knew jeeps don't drive on water.
"Great work, boys!" I heard Skipper say over the sound of the radio blasting. Some clapping sounds followed. I see they never stopped the high ones.
"Did I do good?" Private's voice asked.
"You sure did, you little scamp!" Skipper's voice responded.
I felt kind of dejected at how much older they sounded. It had been about three years since the last time I saw them. It felt both like it had been a lifetime and like it was yesterday at the same time. They had grown so fast. I could only imagine the events that led them here, stealing jeeps from unsuspecting humans with the precision of trained military.
Sitting there on the floor of the jeep, pressed between the seats, I hadn't realized I'd started holding my breath. I was paralyzed with fear. I had come so far and I'd finally found them. I realized I wasn't only afraid of them realizing I was here, but I was afraid of confronting them altogether.
I didn't entertain the fear long. It was nerve-wracking, but I also didn't come all this way to wimp out now.
I decided to wait until they had stopped somewhere. Popping up now could distract them, and I already questioned their driving skills with how hard I had to fight to keep from sliding out into the aisle. It seemed like ages before we stopped somewhere overhang with trees. I heard the rustling of what sounded like a couple of monkeys or chimps and clanging of metal.
"All right, boys," Skipper's voice said. "Let's commandeer some more jeeps. We need as many parts as we can get. Higher mammals!"
"Yes?" called another voice. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint from where.
"Here's one of the jeeps. Get to work pulling this thing apart while we go hijack another," Skipper's voice demanded.
My hearts started pounding again. I wasn't expecting them to be surrounded by others. I decided it might be best to drop my human disguise. They may not be as reactive if an animal pops up instead of a human.
I quickly and quietly removed my wig and clothing and peeked out of the window. The penguins had already started moving away from the jeep and two chimps were closing in to set to work. I camouflaged myself and snuck off and into some bushes.
The penguins were talking when I caught up to them, planning their next hijacking. I needed to move quickly before that started.
I moved ahead of them and climbed a tree, then waited.
". . . think we did good, Skipper!" Private was saying. They were about thirty feet away now.
"That we did, Private," Skipper said. "But it's not over yet. We need more jeeps so we can get outta here."
Twenty-five feet.
"Too bad we couldn't just ask the humans for help," Private responded. "Then we wouldn't have to do all this work and take their jeeps."
"Private," Skipper started, "I would never ask anyone, let alone humans, for help."
I found myself agreeing with that. Twenty feet. My heartrates wracked my insides.
"I mean, besides," Skipper continued, "we've been on our own our entire lives. No one's ever had our back like we have."
"That's true," Kowalski agreed, "we've gotten ourselves through everything. We don't need anyone else."
I tensed as I processed everything they'd just said. Fifteen feet.
"I guess I agree," Private responded. "I just hate leaving those humans defenseless out in the wild."
"Ah, they'll be okay," Skipper assured him with a dismissive wave of his flipper. "Some other tour jeeps will be by at some point to save them. Or someone will realize when they never return and go looking for them. We may have never needed to rely on someone else for help, but humans are anything but helpless without each other."
Ten feet. I hadn't realized I was gripping the branch so hard, the bark was digging into my skin.
"I sure am lucky to have you guys on my team," Private said.
"It is I who holds the honor, sweet Private," Skipper responded, clapping Private on the back. "I appreciate you boys. With you three at my side I know we can achieve anything. There's no one else in the world I would ever trust with as much regard as you boys."
The other three penguins nodded in agreement and they exchanged high ones. Five feet.
I was incapable of moving, as if an invisible force was stopping me from following through with dropping down to greet them.
"All right," Skipper said, more sternly now. "Enough sap. Let's get moving, men!"
I found myself watching them walk away, still sitting in the tree. I didn't realize my jaw was hanging open until a flying bug was trying to make its way into my mouth and I shook my head out of my trance, causing it to fly away.
Dropping down to the ground, I watched as they continued to disappear into the tall grass of the Kenya Wildlife Preserve off into the distance.
No one's ever had our back like we have.
We don't need anyone else.
We may have never needed to rely on someone else for help, but humans are anything but helpless without each other.
There's no one else in the world I would ever trust with as much regard as you boys.
Their words rang in my ears like church bells.
Once the penguins were out of sight, I looked down and a puddle caught my eye. I hadn't realized how hard my expression had become. I had a swarm of feelings and sensations within me that I couldn't yet identify.
But, oddly enough, I didn't feel like I needed to cry. No tears welled up in my eyes. My hearts no longer pounded in my chest. My breathing was even and steady. It was such a strange sensation that I needed to sit with it and feel it.
Why wouldn't I feel the need to cry? I had traveled all of the world, moping and wallowing in my own pity, all the while missing them. I had finally found the stones to escape this cycle and travel thousands more miles to find them. All the while, they never even appreciated the effort I went through to raise them and keep them safe. They never appreciated the love I had for them. You heard them, they didn't even need me. In fact, they felt they never had. I had lost months of my life, Glenne, the love of the humans, and sacrificed everything for them.
And everything I'd done for them meant nothing.
What did I expect? To come here and have them fall at my feet, begging me to be in their lives again? Studying my reflection in the puddle, I realized maybe I just wanted to look in the mirror and see someone worthwhile.
But I was wrong. I see nothing.
Never needed to rely on someone else for help . . . ha! How laughable. Maybe I should've just let Harry and Marv have their way with them, then they'd be singing a different tune.
Suddenly, realization washed over me and my face relaxed. I discovered what the sensation was that I was feeling. Setting my hard gaze back in the direction of the last spot I'd seen the penguins, I exhaled deeply and lowered my brow in anger as one word began ringing in my head.
Revenge.
— § —
Note: The quotes in this chapter were: "But when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming," spoken by Dory (portrayed by Ellen Degeneres) in Finding Nemo (2003); "Maybe I just wanted to look in the mirror and see someone worthwhile. But I was wrong. I see nothing," spoken by Mulan (portrayed by Ming-Na Wen) in Mulan (1998).
