Free Them

Chapter Six

"...And so, fellow zoo animals, what must be done for us to obtain a firm grasp on freedom from the strongholds of captivity? Escape. Escape, in a grand and glorious way. The humans must look at us and see that we deserve respect. They must see that we will not accept these metal bars any longer. Yes, we will all escape this zoo. But it is my greatest hope, that in doing so, we will also spark an unquenchable desire for freedom for all animals throughout this cruel world we live in! Can you see it? Thousands of zoo escapes around the globe, spinning the heads of every human who has ever locked us up. We will be the start of a revolution! But first, we must secure plans of our escape. That is why you are here. The first storm of the revolution will be a brainstorm. So all of you, how do you think we might escape?"

  "Well, I think you may be missing the obvious here," a Grevy's zebra spoke up. "Your bird friend. She had keys to all the exhibits. That's how we got out here in the middle of the zoo to begin with."

"Ah, yes, the keys, of course, but do you forget about the zoo gates? We can't just exit, it's locked up," Noodlebuckets replied.

"I can climb over them," said a very large spider. "Actually, I can do that right now and be on my way. Cool." He began to skitter off until Noodlebuckets reached out his tail in attempt to sweep him back. 

"Let's not get to hasty. We're in this together." His voice was a bit strained, nervous to already be losing an ally.

"I can climb them too. But I want to see what Noodlebuckets really has planned," called a tree frog.

"Yeah. Don't you already have one?" The hippo, Maria Eduarda frowned at the snake.

"Well, yes, I was just looking for your feedback-"

"Look." A jaguar stepped forward to face Noodlebuckets. "We're here for you to tell us what we have to do to escape. I've tried to get of here and failed, and now I hear that someone figured out a way for all of us. So, if you would just tell us the plan so we can leave, that'd be great." There was a murmur of agreement from many of the animals.

Waves of anxiety began to hit Noodlebuckets. This wasn't right. This was about politics and change, not individual escapes. 

"I don't think you all are seing the bigger picture. We need to set an example."

"What we need is to break out. Are you gonna tell us how or not? 'Cause you're wasting my time," Maria Eduarda sharply replied.

Javier glanced at Noodlebuckets. "You should probably tell them," he offered unhelpfully.

"Umm. Okay, guysss," Noodlebuckets began. He froze. No. Not this. Not now, please, no. The hiss he had let out paralyzed him. They were gonna think he was no better than a common snake now.  He opened his mouth several times, but failed to form coherent words to speak out of it. 

"What? You mean to tell us there isn't a plan?" The howler monkey's booming voice filled the silence.

"Waste of my damn time," muttered Maria Eduarda, turning to leave.

The spider skittered off, with the monkey, the zebra, and the jaguar following. The tree frog glanced at Noodlebuckets, disappointed. He frowned a little, and joined the rest of them. A pink fairy armadillo looked Noodlebuckets in the eye. "I get what you're trying to do here. Honestly, you gave a rousing speech. I just don't think you hit the right notes." They turned and walked out.

Only Charlotte, Hazel, and Javier remained. Noodlebuckets looked down in shame. 

"Hey," Charlotte said to him. "Can we talk privately?"

"May-...Maybe later," replied Noodlebuckets. "Now's not the best time." 

She nodded. "Come on Hazel." Hazel let out a discreet sigh of relief as they started for the chimpanzee exhibit.

Javier looked at Noodlebuckets. "I'm sorry. I thought you did great." He gave him a little half smile and glanced at the ground.

"Thanks," Noodlebuckets replied halfheartedly. What a leader I make. Great job, snake. You got 'em all to leave.