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                                                        A student authored novelette

                                      Introduction

Vagas is a native of Pondera. She was born there and has spent her entire life in the little town. It is a sleepy gathering of several thousand people near the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California. The residents are very different than in most California towns. They rarely hurry anywhere. They seem to have all the time in the world.

Most of the businesses depend on tourists and travelers passing through. There are always new faces, which will probably not be seen again in the stores and restaurants. Oddly dressed outsiders wander up and down the main street stretching their legs after driving all day. The two motels at the north and south ends of town always fill up as the sun begins to set each evening. Weekends and especially holidays are very busy times in Pondera.

The Pondera town zoo has always been part of Vagas’ life too, at least as far back as she can remember. She and Midori, her brother, have spent many wonderful days there watching the various animals.   

The Kilda Street Zoo isn’t a big zoo – like in a city. The entrance is on Kilda Street. There is a tall brown adobe type of wall across the front with evenly spaced windows on both sides of the opening where the ticket booth stands. There’s a sign on the front of the booth with the hours of operation and $2.00 general admission in big letters on it. Children under the age of twelve get in for $1.00. Kids under the age of six get in free. 

The ticket booth is one of those with a thick pane of glass with a round hole in it to talk through and a square cut-out near the bottom for collecting payment and dispensing tickets. In that booth is usually an elderly lady named Mary who has worked there selling tickets for as long as Vagas can remember. Old Mary, that’s what they call her, is kind and polite. She always remembers their names. She usually fudges and lets the kids get in for free until they are almost ten years old. She seems to like children.  

Vagas’ mother, Tamarra, usually brought Vagas and Midori to the zoo several times during the week when the weather was good. Their father, Toby, would take them on Saturday or Sunday if there was time. It wasn’t that the animals were so strange or exotic. It was that they were close enough to really watch and there were quite a few that were allowed to wander the zoo grounds. At times it seemed like one big petting zoo. The two children came to know the animals by the names the keepers had given them. It was a safe place. It was special.

Vagas remembers also that Rason used to come to the zoo. He was brought there by his mother, Zealda. It angered Vagas when she saw Rason taunting the animals in cruel or uncaring ways. Zealda saw what he did but would act as if it was all right or would just look the other way. Of course, Vagas knew it was not all right and she felt it was unfair that Rason’s mother didn’t teach him to respect and to enjoy the animals.

Even though Vagas, Midori, and Rason lived fairly close to each other, they had never become friends. There were just too many differences between them. Midori was the kindest person you would ever meet and Rason took advantage of him whenever they were together. Vagas was afraid that Rason would do something to get Midori into trouble.

Recently, the weather had been extremely hot. The usual rains that replenished the water supply for the town had failed to come this year. Everything was parched. The lawns were beginning to turn brown and wither. The people of Pondera were saving water in every way they could. There was little water left in the reservoir that supplied the town.

The well that provided water for the zoo still had a small amount of water that could be pumped out each day. It was becoming progressively sandier and might soon dry up. People were becoming very concerned.

It was no surprise to Vagas that Rason, encouraged by Zealda, would do nothing to help provide water for the thirsty zoo animals. There was a deep pond on Zealda’s property that was fed by a small stream all year. It was one of the few water sources in the area that could always be counted on. Zealda and Rason had a few animals on their land but there was plenty of water to spare. Rason refused to let the zoo take any of the water.

                        Vagas stopped by the zoo early Monday morning to see how things were going. She saw Mary in her usual place in the ticket booth. She waved as she approached and yelled a cheerful, “Good morning!”

                     Mary responded with, “ Good morning back to you.”, and smiled.

                     That smile was like a tonic for Vagas. It warmed her heart and lifted her spirits. She was really glad she had chosen to drop by this morning. Her visit had barely started and she was off to a great start.

                     (Write some more dialogue here to complete their conversation:)

                    Mary told Vagas that the truck had come earlier that morning to remove the penguins and seals. It was almost noon. Their exhibit had been closed in order to conserve water and save on the cooling costs. Refrigerating the the penguin exhibit was very expensive, she said.

                    Vagas understood the need for removing the animals but it saddened her. It was such a pleasure to watch the little penguins in their tuxedo-like coats diving into the frigid water, making tight turns, and playfully shooting to the surface and onto the floor of their pen.

                  Vagas knew she would miss them but also understood the necessity of it. Besides, the penguins and seals would be much better off and safer in a nearby zoo that had plenty of water. That was the most important thing – that the animals be safe.

                    Vagas waved to Mary in a goodbye gesture. She smiled and turned to enter the zoo. In spite of the dry spell, the trees were still green and full. They provided plenty of shade to the open patio just inside the zoo entrance. To the right was a large very tall cage for birds from South America. A similar cage stood to the left and was filled with North American birds of prey.

                   With the two bird cages near, the entrance was usually a pretty noisy place. It let a person know right away that they were in a zoo. The South American birds were a colorful bunch. The North American birds of prey were large, impressive creatures like eagles and hawks. At the moment things were fairly quiet because of the heat and the fact that they were still digesting their big morning feeding.

                  Vagas noticed right away that one of the Flamingos in the small pond in front of the Eastern cage, the one on the right, had a foot caught in the tubing that ran along the bottom of the pool. The water level in the pool was pretty low, and the sprinklers that usually sprayed continuously, were off. The bird was beginning to squawk loudly.

                    Vagas bounded down the sidewalk and around the cage. She knew that the zoo keeper, Mr. Coleman, would likely be in his office having lunch. As she approached to door to the zoo keepers office, she heard the hum of the little air conditioner under the window. Mr. Coleman had a habit of turning it off when he was out of the office. He was always very careful to conserve electricity. She knocked on the door.

                   Only a moment later, Mr. Coleman’s face appeared as he opened the door. “Vagas!” he said. “What a wonderful surprise to see you.”

                    “Mr. Coleman. Mr. Coleman.”, she blurted out breathlessly. “There’s a flamingo with its foot caught in the pond’s tubing!”  

                   “Not again,” he said. “The same thing happened twice yesterday. It’s because the water level is too low and the sprinklers aren’t keeping them away from the areas where the pipes come out of the bottom of the pool.

                     Mr. Coleman bolted out the door past Vagas and quickly disappeared around the hedge blocking her view of the bird cage. She very soon heard squawking and the splashing of water.

                     By the time Vagas was able to follow Mr. Coleman, the bird was free and making even more noise than before. Mr. Coleman was standing there with a satisfied looking grin on his face. Vagas heaved a sigh of relief. It appeared the flamingo was uninjured and only flustered by the experience of having its foot trapped.

                    “I’m so happy I found you in your office. That bird acted like it was really in trouble. I was afraid you wouldn’t be there and I had no idea what to do.”, Vagas said.

                    “I’m glad you found me too.” he said. One of the birds that got stuck yesterday had to go to the veterinarian with a broken wing. I’m so glad you saw what was happening and found me in my office. This has turned out to be a very good morning.

                    “I’d better go.” Said Vagas. My brother, Midori, said he’d meet me in the snack shop at 1:00 P.M. and in all the excitement I forgot about the time. It’s almost 1:00 P.M. now. She headed off west across the zoo grounds toward the snack shop located along the west side of the enclosure.

                    The snack shop had large glass windows and Vagas spotted Midori without difficulty. He was sitting in a booth near the entrance. His distinctive hair and large physical size made him easy to spot. He was pretty impressive to look at. She was amused to think that his obvious physical strength and size were almost completely opposite to his gentleness and kind personality.

                     “Hey, big ‘M’”, she said as she entered the snack shop door. “good to see you.”

                     “Yo sis”, he said, “what’s happening?” He was rapidly consuming a large plate of sausage, eggs, and pancakes. It was the daily special. Midori was making short work of it.

                     Vagas walked over to his booth, picked up a napkin from the table, and wiped a spot of egg yolk from his chin. She was used to mothering him but knew he was getting way too big to continue babying him. It would be tough. They were very close and had grown up that way.

                     After talking to Midori, Vagas felt much better. He was full of good ideas for helping with the water situation at the zoo. Most of them seemed practical enough to actually work. Even though Midori was younger she really trusted his judgment. He was someone she could always depend on.

                     She headed toward the rear exit at the north end of the zoo. There was a one way pass through gate that let visitors exit onto El Dorado Boulevard. The name was really misleading because the “boulevard” wasn’t any wider or fancier than any other street in Pondera.

                     Exiting the gate, Vagas started to go East toward Horn Park but changed her mind and reversed her course and went West toward the New Vista Youth Center. The center had a small computer center where Vagas could go on line and check out some of the ideas that Midori had suggested to her.