Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters, but I do own Hannah and her aunt.
Sirens went off and vehicles honked. People yelled and dogs barked. Hannah listened to all the noises from her open window on the fifth floor of her apartment building. She thought she'd be used to all the racket by now, but she still felt as confused and disoriented as her first day in the city.
She sighed and reached for her headphones. Music would drown out all the clamor. At least it would make more sense than the uproar below. Before she could plug in her MP3 Player, the sound of her door opening stole her attention and she looked up to see her aunt poking her head in her room.
"I'm heading to work, sweetie," she told Hannah, who nodded but said nothing. After a moment, her aunt went on. "I'll be home late tonight so I thought you could order some food. I left some money on the counter." Still Hannah refused to speak. Her aunt sighed and left.
Turning back to the chaos outside, she felt a fresh wave of grief hit her. She loved her aunt, but she missed her parents terribly. It's been six years since that dark, stormy night when they went out to dinner and got themselves killed in a car crash. The first couple of years she blamed them for leaving instead of staying home with her, but she was finally able to let go of the anger she felt toward them.
Now every time she remembers them, sadness and grief wash over her, so powerful that she can barely stand it. She thought with time it would go away, but it's still as fresh as if it was only yesterday that she found out that she'll never see her parents again.
After their death, she was sent to live with her aunt in Georgia, her closest relative. At first she had been there for Hannah and she was glad for her aunt. She had taken time for Hannah and they did lots of things together. But over the years, as Hannah got older, they grew apart; her aunt really got into her job and started to work more and more.
Then a new opportunity opened up and they moved to Manhattan, New York. They've only been here a few weeks but already Hannah's aunt has been working many hours and leaves Hannah alone all day with nothing to do. She knew her aunt loved her and she loved her back, but it would be nice to spend time with someone else once in a while.
The closest she's gotten to a friend is the occasional alley cat or passing squirrel, and she shared a secret with them that no human knew. She was able to speak the same language as any animal. She wasn't sure how she's capable of doing it; she's been talking to animals for as long as she could remember.
Even before my parents died, she realized, wondering yet again how it was that she was given this gift. But she reminded herself that it didn't matter how she was able to talk to animals. She just was and she was very thankful for that. Thanks to her gift, she's able to communicate with other creatures and has learned many things.
She looked out the window again and spotted trees past the buildings. Curious, she wondered if there could be animals in there that she could talk to and possibly befriend.
"Beats staying here alone," she said out loud. She decided to go check it out. Remembering to bring her headphones and MP3 Player, she left her bedroom and headed to the door. She passed the counter and paused.
"Some pocket money would be nice," she said, grabbing the money her aunt left for her, and as she walked out the door, she felt excited for the first time since moving to the big city.
It was a hot summer day and by the time Hannah got to the first of the trees she was panting from the heat and exhaustion. She had considered getting a taxi but she had decided on walking. She was regretting that decision now.
But as she entered the shade of the trees, she forgot to be tired. She looked around and saw a flicker of movement. It was a squirrel running up a tree. Curious, she walked over there. A bushy tail stuck out of the branches.
"Hey!" she called a greeting.
The tail vanished and a furry face appeared. The squirrel blinked at her, its expression emotionless.
"Hello," she tried again. "My name is Hannah. What's yours?"
The squirrel slowly blinked again. "Are you talking to me?" it asked in a monotone voice.
Hannah nodded. "I can talk to animals," she told him and his eyes widened. For a few moments neither of them spoke. Then she asked," So what's your name?"
"Fred."
"Well, hello, Fred." She smiled. "What are you doing?"
"Collecting nuts." He lifted an acorn to show her.
"Oh, okay." A squirrel collecting nuts; yeah, should have known that. Mentally she laughed at her stupidness. She looked around as she said," I just moved to New York. What's fun to do around here?"
Fred shrugged and didn't reply.
"Oh." Hannah shifted standing positions. Normally she loved talking to animals, even squirrels. But this one… He doesn't seem that interested in talking to me…
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Fred," she said politely. "But I'm going to go look around for a bit. I might see you later."
"Okay. Bye." He didn't move.
Awkwardly, the girl took a step back, then another. Turning, she walked away. She looked over her shoulder as she went, but Fred was still there. She was thankful when trees blocked her from view and she stopped feeling his eyes on her.
She paused and sighed. So, her first interaction with the wildlife here didn't go as planned, but maybe she can find more animals to befriend. Maybe she could—
Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a brick wall in the distance. She ran toward it and suddenly she was standing in the entrance to a…
"A zoo!" she exclaimed, joy filling her up. There'll be tons of animals in there for her to talk to and maybe even some she could become friends with!
She entered the zoo and immediately voices and other noises, both human and animal, hit her so suddenly that she stumbled backwards. She looked around, trying to make sense of all the sounds around her. She covered her ears, muffling some of the noise.
Then she remembered that she brought her headphones. Plugging in her MP3 Player, she put on her headphones and turned on a loud song. All outside noises were drowned out by the music and she let out a sigh of relief. She can listen to her music until she finds an animal to talk to.
She walked around for a bit, watching the animals in their habitats. She wasn't ready to take off her headphones yet, but she stayed at each exhibit for several minutes, taking mental notes as the animal ate or just paced their enclosures.
She lingered the longest at the lemur habitat. She watched as the three furry animals danced, and she removed her headphones to hear the music they were listening to. Over the loud beat, she heard the tall lemur say to the other two," Come on, shake your booties like you mean it!"
The ringtail wore a leafy crown, and he was obviously the leader. She watched him curiously as he danced around the other two, who moved slower as if they were tired. But the tall lemur seemed to have endless energy.
She was distracted from the lemurs by a loud, commanding voice behind her.
"Cute and cuddly, boys!"
Hannah turned to see a crowd gathering around a habitat. She walked over there and pushed her way to the front. She found herself staring at four penguins. There was something about the way they flapped around and shook their little behinds that interested her. They moved around, but unlike the lemurs, she didn't think they were dancing.
There seemed to be intent in their movements, like they've practiced this routine many times before.
The humans around the habitat "awwed" them.
"Watch this!" the littlest penguin said as it dove into the water and swam around.
The tallest penguin was hopping from foot to foot, making grunts, seeming to focus on what it was doing.
Two other penguins had also jumped in the water and were swimming around with the small one. Hannah watched them curiously. The more the penguins carried on with their antics, the more the people cheered them on.
Finally all the penguins hopped back onto the platform and faced away from the humans. They ended with a tail wag and the people around their habitat cheered and threw fish to them.
Ah, that's why they're doing that, she thought. To please everyone and get fish.
She had to wait for what felt like forever, but eventually the last people walked off, toward a different part of the zoo. Making sure the coast was clear, Hannah turned back to the penguins, who were murmuring among themselves as they feasted on the fish.
"Good job today, boys," a flat-headed penguin told them.
"Thanks, Skippah!" the small penguin said, grinning up at the other penguin.
Once again checking to make sure nobody was nearby, Hannah leaned into the habitat and waved at the penguins. "Hey!" she called. "Hey, penguins!"
They turned to her, eyeing her with suspension and curiosity.
"Kowalski?" the flat-headed penguin asked, turning to the tall one. "Analysis?"
"That girl seems to be waving to us," Kowalski said, seeming to be studying Hannah.
"Yes, I can see that," said the flat-headed penguin. "But why is she waving at us?"
"Maybe we should ask her?" suggested the small bird, and the others shot him a disbelieving look.
"Rico?" the flat-headed penguin turned to the last penguin, who was closest to the small penguin, and Rico, the one with a mohawk, slapped the little penguin on the back of his head.
"I'm waving to you to say hey," Hannah said, leaning even farther over the gate. "I can understand you!" She giggled at the shocked look on their faces. "I know, it's very surprising, but–" Suddenly her feet slipped and the next thing she knew, she was going over the gate and splashing into the water. Her head went under, but she resurfaced to find herself face to face with the flat-headed penguin.
"Get out of my water," he growled, glaring at her.
She was about to respond, when suddenly a plank appeared beside her and a human stepped onto the makeshift bridge. She reached for Hannah and pulled her out of the water. She dropped her, dripping wet outside the habitat. Then she climbed out herself and pulled back the board.
She leaned over Hannah, who sat on the ground. She wore a zookeeper outfit, and the look on her face told her that she was almost at her breaking point.
"Stay out of the habitats," she hissed in Hannah's face.
"I-I'm sorry," Hannah gasped, starting to shiver. "I-I slipped!"
The zookeeper muttered something under her breath. Then she reached for Hannah and yanked her to her feet. "Come on," she snapped. "We need to get you out of those wet clothes before you get sick."
With a heavy sigh, Hannah followed the zookeeper to the gift shop, where they found her a shirt and pants in her size. It was green with Central Park Zoo all over it, but at least it was dry. Hannah stepped into a closet to get changed, and when she stepped out, she was about to ask how much this was– and hoping her aunt gave her enough money– when she stopped and stared in shock at the person who was talking to the zookeeper who rescued her.
"Aunt Sarah?" she exclaimed.
Please review! Thank you!