The Tiger King’s resentment towards humans clearly ran deep.
It was easy to understand why. He had been trapped in this cage for years, eating rotten meat and drinking dirty water, living a life worse than a dog’s. For the proud king of the forest, this was an unbearable and unforgivable humiliation.
I didn’t dwell on it. I went back to my dorm to rest.
The next day, I went to work as usual and found that there were many more employees on duty, and they were all cleaning. Truckloads of fresh food were being bro- ught into the park, causing a commotion among the animals.
Apparently, Mr. Green had gotten scared. To
I smiled and joined the cleaning crew.
ensure a peaceful festival, he had decided to cough up some money to make the animals more comfortable.
Three other colleagues were assigned to help me clean the elephant enclosure and bathe the elephants. But the elephants rejected everyone except me.
One young female elephant
waved her trunk at me, asking for a bath. It was SweetTrunk.
jogged over and stroked her trunk. “Hi, SweetTrunk. You’re so beautiful.”
She trumpeted softly and nuzzled her head against me.
The other elephants saw this and seemed to whisper among themselves. Soon, most of them had gathered around, eager for a bath.
The old elephant stood by the stream, munching on a cabbage leaf, watching me out of the corner of his eye. He was the king of this herd, the one who wanted to crush all the keepers.
I pulled a mangosteen from my pocket and tossed it to him..
The Elephant King caught it with a flick of his trunk and swallowed it whole.
I beckoned to him. “Want a bath?”
He hesitated for a moment, then walked into the pool on his own. He didn’t need my help.
I didn’t mind. I happily bathed the other elephants. They looked so cute all cleaned up. I had brought plenty of mangosteens, one for each elephant as a reward. They ate them with gusto and praised me in the chat.
Sweet Trunk: [Aww, Berry is the best! I want to give her a kiss.]
LittleNose: [‘ll kiss her first! I’ve already cleaned out my trunk!]
SmartElephant: [This is bliss. It feels like ten years ago, when my mom would spray me with her trunk to give me a bath… I think I’m going to cry.]
The elephants were singing my praises so loudly that animals from other enclosures started joining the chat, all curious about me. Some wanted to meet me, some wanted to try my mangosteens, and some even wanted to escape their enclosures to find me.
Amidst this harmony, only the Tiger King let out a disgruntled “Hmph.”
The Monkey King came to my defense: [Hey, Tiger, stop hmphing. You’re not a primate. You wouldn’t understand Berry’s charm. I’m already smitten with her. Her captivating smile, her heroic way of spraying water, the elegant way she ties up her hair… I can’t take it anymore, I love her!]
I let out a snort, which startfed SweetTrunk.
I quickly wiped the drool from my mouth and looked over at the monkey enclosure. Among all the monkeys, the Monkey King stood out. He was standing perfectly straight, a tuft of fur blowing in the wind, looking like a rebellious teenager who had just crashed his motorcycle into a septic truck.
[Wow, Berry looked at me! Does she love me too?]
The Monkey King was ecstatic, constantly fiddling with his tuft of hair.
The Other Animals: [Ugh!)
[Don’t ‘ugh‘ me! Give me some advice! How can I win Berry’s heart?] he asked.
DapperGoldenMonkey: [Bro, you need to be more aloof. With all your hooting and hollering, you wouldn’t even be able to find a mate on Mount Emei.]
[How do I become aloof?]
[Get a lip ring.]
[How do I do that?]
[Pierce your top and bottom lips together.]
