𝙕𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙮―𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

|Chap. 02 Answering the Door|

I sighed, standing in the kitchen making a pot of tea for me and my father. It had been like this for a while now. And at about this time every day, he would place chess with Chee-Chee even though we had no chess pieces. 

We had the board, but no chess pieces. So, instead he used the mice to do it. It was quiet here. Except for the different animals around. Animals. I could hear speak and talk and converse. Because my father taught me to. 

The tea kettled started to whistle as the animals in the living room started to go batshit crazy. I poured some of tea into a teacup, placed it on the tray, and carried the tray to the living room where the peacock was covering the window from view.

"It's no good. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the only human here. Just ignore them." Dad told the animals.

"There's no getting past the Kalahari snare, it's an ingenious design." Jip replied. "I think you just caught yourself a boy."

"Let me see. Wait, I don't wanna see. Just make it go away!" Chee Chee covered his head with his hands.

"Deep breathes, Doc. Dab-Dab's got your back." Dad-Dad rubbed my father's back.

I sighed and placed the tray on the table. "Papa, it's alright. Here. Have some tea. It'll calm you down." I handed the teacup over to him. But his hands were still shaking, so I took it out of his hands.

"Don't be afraid, John. It's just a boy. This is an opportunity." Polly told him from the other side of the window.

Polly was my mother's bird. And the only thing me or dad had left of her. Since everything else including her, was lost at sea.

"This is a nightmare!" Dad replied.

"This goes against Dolittle's rules." Chee Chee cowered.

"Why are humans against the rules again?" asked a lion cub.

"If you let humans too close you'll get hurt more than you would if you didn't let them at all. Isn't that right, Doc?" Jip replied before turning to dad.

"That's enough everybody. Back to our routine! [Y/N] is wonderful at that. We have a very full day." Dad said before Polly flew into the house and into his face.

"John, pull yourself together! You can't ignore people just because they're... people. What if they need help?" Polly asked as there were knocking on the door.

"Possum, play dead." Dad rolled onto the floor.

I sighed. "This is ridiculous. I'll answer the door."

"Thank you for your level-headedness, [Y/N]. It's very much appreciated." Polly nodded towards me.

I opened the door to see a boy and a girl. The girl wore a peach colored cloak and the boy had a satchel. "Ah! You must be [Y/N], Dr Dolittle's daughter. I was sent from Buckingham palace to speak with your father. The Queen sent me."

"Well, I'm not supposed to let you in, but if you said the queen sent you, then I must let you in. Because she's farther up on the totem pole than my dear old papa." And with that, I let both of the two in. 

Sorry this is late (12 hours or so late), but my internet cut off and I like to publish chapters  I've previously written on Google Docs on my laptop. You'll get a second chapter tonight at some point. Have a wonderful Tuesday!