“RUN!” Someone in the distance shouts, candy hippos are on the loose trying to eat the zoo. They are big purple pink and light blue, also very sparkly but not friendly or herbivores. “Oh no” the frantic thought races and hits her head like an angry lion. Suddenly her eyesight starts dropping to the ground she’s falling, she trips, she screams but no one hears her the mouth of a hungry hippo closes in.
Then she awakes she’s tangled in her covers with her cat at the foot of her bed. She checks the time and IT’S ONLY 6:00?! She looks in the mirror, her hair is like a pineapple top, “bed head” she mumbles with a small smile. She thinks about her job as a zoo keeper as she combs her hair. And wait what’s that smell? Bubbles she left the dishwasher on and it’s overflowing! After she finally cleaned it up she read’s with her breakfast. Opal is a zoo keeper she lives on 3834 chestnut street and is known for her party’s, interest and knowledge of animals she is also really friendly opps now it’s time for work.
Opal is just heading to the desert section of the zoo when her phone rings she stops walking, and looks “oh man” she thinks because the message on her phone says meet her boss Jane in her office in 15 minutes from Jane to Opal.
She starts jogging toward the office building. It’s not easy to miss big green and covered plants. It’s heaven for birds and butterflies when she gets there her heart beating fast and not from the jog. She is REALLY nervous that she did something wrong thoughts race through her brain. Then 15 minutes is up she takes a deep breath and heads up the stairs. When she comes into the office boss Jane is sitting at her desk she takes a seat and says in a calm but slightly worried voice“hello opal today I want to talk to you about a critically endangered animal called the giant pandas. A group has been sited in a rainforest near china and because they are endangered we need to help them, will you go there and save them?” My heart beats in my ears and before I know what happened I say “yes.”
“Good,” Jane says, sounding relieved. Jane says we will leave at 11:00 am and then I set off to the reptile house.
It’s eleven o’clock and opal meets with her boss in the parking lot as promised. When she gets there her boss is waiting with a safari jeep, “time to go” Jane says. When I get in she moves to the driver’s seat and we take off on a bumpy, and long ride about two days. Opal got some extra study time and learned that pandas are herbivores, and their diet is mostly bamboo so she should collect some to feed the panda also she should bring boots because there will be sticky mud and water she will have to walk through. There is also danger because of the gorillas,alligators,and spiders. Next thing she knows she is at a tropical rainforest with lots of bamboo. “Time to go”says Jane, wait what, she thinks and says “but I thought you were coming with me!” “Oh no!” “I can’t the zoo needs to be taken care of” she responds “good luck” she calls, she almost sounds honest but opal is too shocked and hurt to care.
Jane gets into the Jeep, as it drives away opal watches in horror “oh no” she whispers to herself her voice hoarse as the dust rolls away.
As she walks through the jungle she realizes just how beautiful the jungle is, lush green leaves in every shape and size, a small trickling creek, flowers in every color big small round and sticklike, sounds of birds chirping come from every tree.Its plain beautiful as sudden charge bolts through her now more than ever she wants to protect it. As she walks she realizes she doesn’t know where to go, then she gets an idea she should find a bamboo forest so she looks at the map she packed and keeps heading towards the bamboo forest on the map because pandas eat bamboo, she sets out. Soon she comes to a sorta deep river. It was mellow and had a moss-like plant on it. She was about to get in when she saw one eyeball and a snout sticking out of the water plant. What is it she thinks about everything she learned and realized with horror what it is she whispers one word tasting sour on her tongue “alligator”.
She looks at her surroundings and see’s a sorta path made of rocks and wood. She knows its her only choice but her heart still races like a swordfish at full speed and her Stomach twist in ways that can’t be natural, as she takes her first step the wood wabals, she takes another step and wow the the rock is slippery with wet moss this happens over,and over, and over until she reaches the other side. “WOW! I can’t believe I did that” she thinks I thought it only happened in movies. She keeps walking then turns left she stays alert, as she walks she hears a huge growl gggggrrrrrruu mmpphh! She looks around alarmed, half expecting to find a huge mad and hungry animal but then she laughs it’s her stomach. She opens her back pack and takes out a sandwich and some cookies and lemonade. Yum yum in my tum she sits on a log and thinks it’s pretty late about 6:00 so she takes out the tent. After she sets it up she gets in her sleeping bag and drifts to sleep. She wakes up notices two things one she’s not at her house oh now she remembers she’s in a rainforest and two it’s raining hard that’s not good still she decided to set out but then she saw a lump about ten inches move in her backpack she carefully moved closer ready to jump back at the first indication of danger and when she opened it she saw redwood her gecko?! But he was at home then it hit her he must have crawled into her backpack pocket when she took him out. Oh no oh no this is bad I can’t go back now but he’s not safe,well I guess I have to take him with me. We walked and walked sometimes taking turns when I walked into something hard and tall ahh my forehead!
She screams in pain temporarily blinds her and when it’s over she feels a tender bruise on her forehead, she winces as she touches it and then realization hits her bamboo! She looks around and sees lots of bamboo but now it’s night so she must start in the morning, she sets up her tent and her backpack for redwood and drifts to sleep, she wakes up and hears loud snores she looks outside and is almost certain that her eyes are as big as dinner plates because outside there are three giant pandas sleeping right there.
After about five hours she is sweaty and feels as hot as a black panther in the desert,ug! Her walk will take maybe four days because the pandas are more lazy than a sloth, as she walks she notices blisters on her feet and one on her hand the only thing that keeps her going is knowing that the fate of three pandas are in her hands but soon one of the pandas falls with a thump! She rushes over and then realizes he’s sleeping?! She sits down and feels the need for a good big cry she’s about to stay in the jungle and never leave when she feels something furry rub against her leg she looks down and sees the baby rubbing against her she sits up and whispers “thank you”, she gets to her feet and starts walking after a longtime she sees a road emerge she starts sprinting then she gets WiFi and calls jane after about seven hours a pickup truck comes they lode the pandas up and drive back, as they drive she thinks about her adventures in the jungle when they come they set up a big habitat with lots of bamboo and then opal went home and baked cookies ? yum.
The end
Did You know that there are about
1,600 pandas in existence all living
In China’s bamboo forest which are getting
Destroyed by farming and new roads.
About the author
Iris Ewing was nine years old when she wrote this book. She grew up in San Francisco with her mom, dad and brother. She had a pet snake, gecko, cat and dog and loved them all. The school she went to was Live Oak School. Her favorite place to be is Colorado and nature. She as a kid knew more about reptiles then her dad had his whole life. Also she wanted to be a zoo keeper. Once she tamed a snake not to bite in 15 minutes.