Anna, Banana, and the Monkey in the Middle Read online

  “True,” I said, grateful she wasn’t making a big deal about it. If Sadie were in her position, she’d probably be pouting. If it were me, I’d probably be pouting too. But Isabel is easygoing like that. It makes being a trio way less tricky.

  Isabel headed up the aisle. “Monica!” she called to a kid in Mr. Garrison’s class. “Can I sit with you?” Monica hitched over and Isabel slid into her new seat.

  Sadie pulled a loop of yellow string out of her backpack and wove her fingers through it. “Let’s play cat’s cradle,” she said.

  “Meow!” I answered, and reached for the string.

  Chapter Six

  Bear-y Funny

  The bus ride passed quickly. At first I was worried that Isabel might be feeling abandoned. I leaned into the aisle to check on her and saw she had her nose in a book. But when she heard me say her name, she turned around and crossed her eyes to make a silly face at me, and I knew that it was okay.

  “We’re getting close!” Sadie said, pointing out the window. We whizzed past some giant banners with elephants, pandas, and tigers on them.

  The bus came to a stop in front of a tall iron gate. Everyone jumped out of their seats like a pack of kangaroos. I bounced off the bus with Sadie right behind me. We ran over to Isabel.

  “I thought of a riddle for you,” Sadie said to her. “What do you call a panda bear with no ears?”

  Isabel tipped her head to one side, like Banana does when she’s thinking. “What?” she asked.

  “A panda b!” Sadie said, sounding gleeful. She knows Isabel loves pandas.

  “Ha!” Isabel said. “That’s smart.” She and Sadie beamed at each other. I felt as pleased as Banana when she’s given a treat, seeing them getting along. If I had a tail, I’d have wagged it.

  I stared up at the marble lion that stood guard at the entrance. I peeked around the statue and saw the words WELCOME TO THE ZOO spelled out across the top of the gates. I couldn’t wait to meet the animals that lived behind them.

  I wasn’t the only one eager to get inside. There was excited chatter all around us as the last few kids spilled off the buses. I spotted a kid from Mr. Garrison’s class playing keep-away with Timothy’s hat and Timothy leaping for it like Banana does if you hold a toy out of her reach. One of the teachers, Ms. Chung, saw it too and gave the kid a stern look. He made a face like, What? and batted his eyelashes, pretending to be sweet and innocent. Ms. Chung crossed her arms. The kid handed back the hat.

  “Hey,” Isabel said in a hushed voice. “Have you ever seen Ms. Chung with her hair down?”

  I shook my head. So did Sadie. I’d only ever seen Ms. Chung with her hair wound up in a bun like it was now.

  Isabel leaned in closer. “Monica said she heard that someone saw it down in a braid once and it was loooooong. Like, all the way down her back. So long, she can probably sit on it!”

  “Wow,” Sadie said, staring at the teacher. “It’s like she’s secretly Rapunzel!”

  Isabel giggled. “Yeah, and she climbs down out of her tower every morning to come teach third grade.”

  “That makes her smarter than Rapunzel,” I said. “Climbing down yourself is way better than waiting for a prince.” My friends agreed.

  “I wonder how many hours it takes to wash it,” Sadie whispered.

  Isabel turned to me. “If you had a braid that long, you could use it as a leash to walk Banana,” she said.

  That was funny to picture. “And I wouldn’t need a quilt on my bed,” I said. “I could just sleep under my blanket of hair.”

  “You’d get a lot of tangles, though,” Sadie pointed out, practical as always. “No wonder Ms. Chung wears it up. Also, this way she won’t trip on it.” I grinned. Sadie is practical, but she’s also silly.

  We heard a sharp tweet and turned to see Mr. Garrison with a whistle in his mouth. He blew it again and everyone quieted down.

  Ms. Burland clapped twice. “Okay, my class, over here!” she called.

  I linked one arm with Isabel and the other arm with Sadie. We skipped toward Ms. Burland and sang out together, “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

  Chapter Seven

  Roaring to Go

  “First things first,” Ms. Burland said. “We’re going to learn a lot and have fun today, but remember, we are guests here at the zoo—guests of the zookeepers and staff, and guests of the animals. I expect you all to be respectful of your hosts and show them your best behavior.” Her voice stayed serious but she winked as she added, “So no monkeying around.”

  I looked over at Justin, but his eyes stayed on Ms. Burland. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood up straight.

  Ms. Burland kept talking. “If any of you get lost or separated from the group, I want you to go to the information booth in the main building. Tell them you’re in Ms. Burland’s class, and wait for me there. I will come find you.”

  I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, like Banana does when she’s impatient to go outside. I wanted us to get through the rules and instructions so the fun could begin!

  “But you’re not going to get lost, I’m sure, because you’re each going to pair off with a buddy,” Ms. Burland said.

  I heard the word “pair” and my stomach sank to my toes. Sets of two. Not again!

  “You are responsible for keeping track of your buddy throughout the day,” Ms. Burland continued. “And together you will be doing a project on whatever animal interests you most.”

  Sadie’s hand shot up in the air. “Ms. Burland,” she called. “Ms. Burland!”

  But Ms. Burland wasn’t even looking in our direction. “Your projects will include a class presentation and a written report,” she said. “Whatever animal you choose, I expect to see you working well together as a team.”

  Isabel looked worried, but Sadie looked determined. Sadie wiggled her fingers above her head and shouted Ms. Burland’s name again. Ms. Burland ignored her.

  “However,” Ms. Burland said, “there’s an odd number of you, so I need one group to be a set of three.”

  Yes! I put my hand up too. My heart pounded with hope. Beside me, Sadie waved her whole arm to get Ms. Burland’s attention. “Ooh! Ooh!” she said, sounding a lot like Chuck’s monkey impression. “We will, Ms. Burland!”

  Ms. Burland finally noticed us. “Okay, Sadie and Anna and Isabel, thanks for volunteering. You’ll be our special threesome,” she said.

  My breath whooshed out in a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Sadie had reacted so quickly. It would have been terrible for us to be separated all day.

  “Any questions while we wait for our guide?” Ms. Burland asked. I raised my hand again. “Yes, Anna?” she said.

  “Do we still get a word of the day?” I asked. Every morning in our classroom, Ms. Burland writes a word of the day on the whiteboard. It’s one of my favorite things about school. I love learning new words.

  “Suck-up,” our classmate Amanda muttered in front of me. Sadie glared at her and Amanda turned right back around.

  “I’m glad you asked,” Ms. Burland said. Her approval felt warm, like a sunbeam.

  Ms. Burland leaned forward like she was about to share a secret with us. “The word of the day is ‘scat’,” she said. “S-C-A-T. One of its meanings is go away! If someone is bothering you, you might tell him or her to scat.”

  “Scat,” I whispered toward the back of Amanda’s head. It was a fun word to say. And useful.

  “But scat has another meaning that we’ll be seeing a lot of today,” Ms. Burland said. “It’s also a word for animal poop.” She wiggled her eyebrows at us. “Sometimes when a tiger scats, he leaves his scat behind.”

  Even Amanda had to giggle at that. I bet now she thought the word of the day was cool.

  “Let’s all say it together,” Ms. Burland said.

  “SCAT!” we cheered. Some kids in the other classes looked over. I was proud that our class was the one having the most fun.

  A lady dressed in khaki pants and a b
lue collared shirt walked over to our group. She was carrying a long pole with a bright green flag at the top, and her shirt had the zoo logo on it. She looked very official.

  Ms. Burland introduced her to the class. “This is Leticia. She’s going to be our guide for the day.”

  Leticia gave us a wide smile. I liked her already.

  “Hi, everyone,” she said. “Welcome to the zoo. Come on and follow me inside!”

  Chapter Eight

  Drop with a Plop

  We followed Leticia and her green flag in through the gates of the zoo and down a tree-lined path. She turned and said, “First stop: the Elephant House!”

  We stepped inside. “It smells like horses!” Sadie said. I sniffed the air. She was right! The Elephant House smelled a lot like a stable—like sawdust and hay and manure. Isabel wrinkled her nose at the scent, but Sadie and I love horses, so for us it’s a happy smell. If Banana were with us, she’d probably want to roll in it.

  Even though I could smell the elephants, I couldn’t see them yet. There were too many people in front of us. I stood on my tiptoes and stretched my neck, trying to peek over Amanda and her buddy, Keisha. All I could see was one elephant ear.

  Isabel and Sadie slipped past Amanda and Keisha and Timothy and Justin. “Come on, Anna!” Isabel called.

  I dodged around the other people and ran to join my friends at the fence. “I saved you a spot,” Isabel said, motioning to a space next to her. But at the same time, Sadie said, “Anna, over here!” and pointed to a spot next to her, on the opposite side.

  I froze for a second, not sure where to go. Then I realized what Banana would do if she were there. I nudged my way in between my friends, creating a new spot for myself in the middle.

  I held on to the railing and looked into the pen. “Wow,” I said. “Elephants are enormous!” I’d known that they would be, but it was still amazing to see it. Their toenails were the size of baseballs. Their butts were as wide as a car, with skin even more wrinkly than my Nana’s. Only their eyes were small.

  Three of them stood side by side, in front of a big door. They were swinging their tails back and forth like Banana does when she waits by her food dish, hinting that she’d like to be fed. “I bet they’re hoping the zookeepers will come through that door with some food,” I said.

  I liked that there were three elephants, just like there were three of us. I wondered if the one in the middle had to worry about keeping both his friends happy, or if it was easier being an elephant threesome.

  “That one looks like he’s dancing!” Sadie said, pointing at the elephant closest to us. He shuffled his giant feet from side to side, swaying his whole body from the skinny tail to the long, low-hanging trunk. Even his ears were flapping along.

  “My little cousin dances like that when she needs to pee,” Isabel said.

  “Maybe they’re all waiting in line for the bathroom,” I joked. Just as I said that, the middle elephant pooped! My friends and I burst into giggles.

  “That one’s not waiting,” Sadie said. We laughed even harder.

  I heard Justin shout, “Bombs away!” and Timothy yell back, “Scat attack!” as another elephant pooped too. Ms. Burland definitely had chosen the right word of the day.

  “There’s plenty more where that came from!” a loud voice behind us said. “Come see.”

  Chapter Nine

  More Than Meets the Eye

  We turned. Our guide, Leticia, was holding up a large ball of something suspiciously brown. I had a feeling it was not a mud cake.

  Sadie let out a surprised yip. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, stepping back to move away from it.

  “If you think it’s dried elephant dung, then yes!” Leticia said.

  A couple of kids said, “Ew!” but Leticia didn’t look at all embarrassed to be touching it. “ ‘Dung’ is one of the words that zookeepers use when we’re talking about the animals’ poop,” she explained. “And we talk about dung a lot around here, especially in the Elephant House.”

  Leticia had definitely caught everyone’s attention. Keisha’s mouth hung open in an O, and even Amanda looked impressed.

  “Elephants are herbivores that love to eat,” Leticia said. “An elephant in the wild eats between three hundred and five hundred pounds of food every single day. And what goes in must come out. So as you can imagine, each elephant produces a whole lot of dung—over a hundred pounds per day.”

  Wow. I was glad I had Banana instead of a pet elephant. A pet elephant would need a lot more walks.

  “You can learn a lot about an elephant by studying its dung,” Leticia said. “It tells you not only what he’s been eating, but also how healthy he is. You can even look at his poop and figure out his age! The older the elephant, the larger his droppings. And scientists use the dung to study the elephants’ hormones and DNA.”

  Isabel said, “Cool!” just as Sadie said, “Gross!” They laughed and looked at me. I smiled but didn’t say anything. I thought it was cool too, but I didn’t want to agree with one of my friends over the other.

  Leticia held out the dung ball. It was just a few inches away from us. “Take a closer look,” she said to the class.

  Sadie shrieked and ducked behind me. “Anna, protect me!” she said, like she was a princess and I was the dragon slayer.

  Isabel stepped behind me too and said, “No, shield me!” just as dramatically, even though she’s never squeamish. I guessed she was just playing along. They giggled together and peeked out at the monster poop. I liked being chosen as their hero, but I also felt almost left out of the game.

  “I promise it won’t hurt you,” Leticia said.

  I leaned in to look. Leticia explained that since elephants mostly eat plants, their dung is mostly made of plants too. That means it’s not as stinky as a carnivore’s poop.

  Banana was not going to believe that this was what I was learning at the zoo.

  “You have a few more minutes to look around here, and then we’re off to the Ape House,” Leticia told the class. “We’ve got lots of other animals to visit today!”

  “Let’s check out the displays,” Sadie said, pulling me away from the elephants.

  But at the same time, Isabel said, “Ooh, look!” and tugged me in the opposite direction.

  “Ack!” I cried. “Wait!”

  Isabel and Sadie froze, each holding one of my stretched-out arms. I felt ridiculous.

  “You’re going to rip me apart!” I said.

  “Hey, good idea,” Sadie joked. “Pull harder, Isabel. Then we each get half!”

  Sadie and Isabel yanked on my limbs, pretending they wanted to split me in two. I knew they were just goofing around. It was funny.

  But part of me worried it was also a little bit true.

  Chapter Ten

  Three’s a Crowd

  All morning, it kept happening. Sadie and Isabel kept choosing opposite sides on everything. And I kept getting caught in the middle of it.

  In the Reptile Room, Isabel thought the snakes were beautiful, but Sadie shivered at the way they slithered and slid. In the amphibian area, Sadie said the yellow tree frog was cutest, but Isabel liked the tiny blue one best. I pretended not to hear when Sadie asked what I thought.

  In the Bird House, we made up a song about parrots. Isabel rhymed “birds of a feather” with “in all kinds of weather.” But Sadie wanted to rhyme it with “our jungle is better.” I said we should add another verse so we could sing it both ways.

  When Isabel turned left toward the tortoise, Sadie turned right toward the spiny anteater. When Sadie wanted to stare at the giraffes for longer, Isabel was eager to move on to the camels. When Sadie sat on a bench to watch the tiger prowl, Isabel stood near the fence. I ran back and forth between them and barely saw the tiger at all.

  I felt like they were playing a game of tug-of-war and I was the rope.

  Playing tug-of-war with Banana is fun. Sadie and Isabel playing tug-of-war over me was not. This was not how
I’d thought the field trip would go.

  Before Sadie and I met Isabel, I always went along with what Sadie wanted, or Sadie went along with me. It was easy for us to agree on things. Now that I had two best friends, it was more complicated. I couldn’t agree with them both, but I didn’t want to choose sides, either. I didn’t want anyone’s feelings to get hurt. I just wanted to keep everyone happy.

  Sadie and Isabel didn’t look unhappy right that minute, so I guessed I was doing an okay job. But it was like walking on a balance beam. I knew that if I wasn’t careful, I could fall off at any second. All it would take was one wrong step.

  We followed Leticia up a bamboo-lined path to where the panda bears lived. I squeezed Isabel’s hand. I knew she’d been waiting for this moment all day. But then I saw Sadie looking at my hand in Isabel’s and I quickly let go. I didn’t want to make Sadie jealous.

  I’d thought all panda bears were black and white, but the first sign we came to said RED PANDAS. I looked out into the treetops and spotted a fuzzy, fox-colored animal curled up on a branch, enjoying the sun. He had a long bushy tail and an adorable face.

  “I want one!” Sadie said. “Wouldn’t he look great in my room?”

  “He looks like my cat,” Isabel said. Isabel’s cat, Mewsic, is a gigantic orange tabby who’s even bigger than Banana. Isabel named him Mewsic because he loves listening when Isabel’s sister Maria plays the cello.

  Sadie tilted her head, studying the red panda. “Sort of,” she said. “He looks more like a raccoon, though. Right, Anna?” She and Isabel both turned to look at me.

  “He does look like Mewsic,” I said. Isabel beamed. Sadie frowned. “But with a raccoon tail,” I added. “So you’re both right.”