Having a Good Belly Laugh and Losing more Lettuce

Mica was very happy to be back with her momma and dad. It had been a very busy and difficult first day in WorldWonder. So, reuniting with them and getting settled in their new home, on the back side of the goat enclosure, was a welcome change of pace. For the next couple of days nothing exciting happened. It was quiet and relaxing. Even though they were together, Mica spent very little time in her momma’s pouch, she was too busy playing with her new friend, King. Her momma and dad noticed and smiled about it but didn’t say anything.

It’s been three days since they arrived. Mac’s foot is better, and he is rejoining Mica, Momma, and Dad in their new home. Mica and King have become good friends.

Mac bounds around the corner of King’s house and bursts into the relative serenity of Mica’s comfortable new space, “MICA!”

Mica has already gotten up and eaten, but she prefers to take her time waking up, so she is not quite ready for all Mac’s energy.

“Mica, Mica, there are goats over there,” Mac says as he barrels into her. This is Mac’s usual way of showing affection.

Mica is annoyed, but also glad to see him. Still, she doesn’t like being rammed early in the morning and she says, “Owww, that hurt!”

Mac has already moved away and is currently getting attention from Momma and Dad.

King comes around the corner tentatively as Mac breaks free from Momma’s lingering affection. As King slowly approaches Mica from one side, Mac swoops in from the other and launches into a description of his abbreviated tour around WorldWonder.

“There is a huge pond with fish and Mr. Heetderks says we can’t jump across the stones, but I almost made it…but there are HUGE fish…and that toad is there just like Doc says. He says I should bring him to visit so I was jumping over to tell him, but I got wet…and Mr. Heetderks says we need to be careful climbing through the tree roots and the logs, but my foot is feeling a lot better... and did you see the tortoises?” Mac pauses to take a breath and stares at Mica with huge, expectant eyes and then continues, “They’re not dangerous but Mr. Heetderks says they like peace and quiet…and they can’t jump at all…and did you know there are goats in here…Oh!” Mac stops as he finally notices King standing beside Mica. Finally, he says conclusively, “You’re a goat.” And then looks back and forth between King and Mica.

“I’m King,” King offers politely, after a second, and then adds, “I’m glad your foot is feeling better.”

Mac is about to say several things but each time reconsiders, “Uhhh…do you…but how…” Finally, he says, “It’s, uh, it still hurts, but I can walk and jump. I just can’t land too hard.” And then with another pause he adds, “Why is your belly so big?”

King is very surprised and doesn’t know what to say but manages to twist his face into a very funny expression. Mica, who knows Mac well, is less surprised, and when she sees King’s face, she bursts out laughing. Then she turns to Mac and says, “That’s rude Mac, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“But it’s huge!” Mac protests, unphased by Mica’s rebuke.

Instinctively, Mica turns to investigate King’s belly and is about to defend him, when she notices that it is actually very big. She starts smiling but then sees King watching her and, embarrassed, she looks away quickly. Then King shifts his weight, apparently trying to investigate his own belly, and as he does, it pokes way out to the side.

This is too much for Mac and Mica and they both start laughing.

“What are you guys laughing about?” he asks. He looks back and forth causing his belly to flop from side to side. This only makes the situation more ridiculous and Mac and Mica double over with laughter.

King is truly confused about what they think is funny. Because King is a normally shaped goat as far as he’s concerned, and he doesn’t see anything funny about his belly. It’s just a normal goat belly.

Animals are shaped differently because they are shaped for different reasons. Goats, for example, have big bellies because they need them to be able to digest all the things they eat. Kangaroos, on the other hand, have big feet and tails because that’s what they need for leaping.

But these facts are completely lost on Mac and Mica who can hardly breathe from laughing so hard. Eventually, King starts laughing too. Unfortunately for this situation, when King laughs, he makes a funny honking noise and rocks back and forth on his legs making his belly slosh around like water in a tub and all three of them fall into a fit of laughter.

A few minutes later they are lying on the ground gasping for air. “My stomach hurts,” Mac says as he clutches his stomach.

“Me too,” King and Mica say in unison.

“I never really noticed how my belly looks,” King says as he chuckles a little to himself. “It does stick out a little, just like your feet,” he adds nonchalantly tilting his head in the direction of Mac’s feet.

Mac is not offended by this, because to kangaroos, having big feet is a source of great pride. And in celebration of King noticing, Mac rocks back onto his tail and pushes them up in the air to show them off. Normally, this would be a sign of aggression but, since King is not a kangaroo and Mac is very young, no one takes it that way.

“Why are they so big?” King asks genuinely curious.

Mac thinks for a second and then says, “For jumping, I guess.”

“Oh,” King accepts without argument. Then as he looks down at his own feet he says, “But I have small feet and I can jump all the way to the first shelf. My dad says goats are good at jumping. Why don’t I have big feet?”

None of them have a good answer for this question and the conversation moves on as Mac asks, “What shelf?” Mica speaks up, “King has steps in his house that lead to a high door. He showed me the first time

I met him. But it’s too far up for us to get to it.”

“Yeah,” King adds, “You want to see it?”

“Sure,” Mac answers, seeming very interested. And at that the three of them head off in the direction of King’s house.

It’s Not Right to Steal Lettuce

“I can get to the first shelf,” King says as they stand looking at the high door, “But I can’t get any further up.”

Of course, Mac often leaps without thinking so without any hesitation he hops to the base of the first platform. Before King can say anything else about how difficult it is, Mac gathers himself and leaps up to the first shelf. “That’s easy,” he says as he approaches the edge of the first platform and prepares to leap to the second and then does so very easily.

“WHOA!” King gasps. “That’s awesome!”

Mac moves to the edge of the second step and jumps to the third, and then the fourth and now he is on the top step. The light from the small, high door shines around him as he leans forward and looks through. He turns back to King and Mica and yells, “There’s a way out up here... come on!” And then without waiting for a response or offering to help King or Mica, he slips through the door and out into the light.

King and Mica look at each other and then back up at the door. Then King, who clearly does not like how easy Mac made it look puts a look on his face that can only mean one thing: if he can do it, I can!

And without saying a single word he waddles over to the first step and jumps up easily. Then, turning to Mica, says with a steely determination, “Come on!”

Without hesitating, King gathers himself and jumps on to the second platform. He lands squarely in the middle with ease. Ecstatic, he turns back to Mica who is about to jump to the first step and says with surprise, “It’s easy.” And then turns and bounces up the remaining steps effortlessly. Mica, who is filled with confidence from seeing her brother and friend get to the top, follows quickly behind and quietly agrees that it is easy. She meets up with King on the top step and they stand for a second looking into the light. There is a well-worn path leading through the door and around to the right. They hear Mac yell in from outside, “This is cool! You can see everything from up here.”

That is enough to get them moving, and King and Mica walk through the door together.

Once outside, the whole of WorldWonder is visible to them. Down below they can see Momma and Dad Kangaroo to the left, and Samuel on the right. Out a little further they see the aviary and to the right of that they can see the tortoises and way off in the distance in that direction is the Nature Center and the place where Mac got his bath. Straight in front of them is tall bamboo so they can’t see much beyond the tortoise enclosure but to a baby goat and two tiny kangaroos, getting to see from this vantage point is quite overwhelming.

They stand gawking at the expanse of WorldWonder for a minute, all three of them taken in by the scene. Finally, King says quietly under his breath, “Wow, no wonder my dad likes to come up here. You can see everything.”

They all quietly agree as they take in the view. And for several, still moments no one moves or speaks. Then, over by the tortoise enclosure there is some movement that captures their attention.

“What is that?” Mac says, seeming to speak for all three of them at once.

“I’m not sure,” Mica answers. As they watch, a small reddish colored squirrel, disappears behind the posts near where Mica remembers seeing Tommy. A second later the red squirrel emerges as it jumps onto the posts nearest to them. It has a huge piece of lettuce in its mouth. From behind the posts, they hear someone yell, “Give it back Stanley!”

The squirrel chuckles to himself and jumps down from the post. He lands on the mulch darting toward where Mac, Mica, and King are watching him. Just before he gets to the goat enclosure the squirrel turns sharply to its right and disappears under the giant philodendron leaves.

Mac, Mica, and King continue watching for a second and are rewarded for their patience a moment later when they see the squirrel reappear on the other side of the plants and run toward the exterior wall. It leaps onto a tree and spirals up the trunk effortlessly. The lettuce trails from his mouth like a pirate flag, as he soars from a low branch of the tree over to the exterior wall. There is a huge iguana sunning itself inches from where the squirrel lands on the wall. The sleeping iguana is startled awake and promptly falls off the wall. Then the squirrel leaps across to a branch on a tree outside WorldWonder, laughing the entire way and is gone.

“STAAAAANLEEEY!” comes a voice calling from inside the tortoise enclosure causing the three of them to turn back in that direction. “GIVE IT BAAACK!”

The scene becomes quiet as the three listen and wait. Mac looks back at the wall expecting to see the red squirrel reappear, but it doesn’t.

Then, Mica breaks the silence, “Who is that?”

“That’s Stanley!” King says, with obvious frustration in his voice. “He doesn’t live in WorldWonder, but he comes in a lot. He knows Tommy somehow.”

“I think I saw him taking lettuce from Tommy before, does he do that a lot?” Mica asks.

“Yeah, he likes to cause trouble,” King says.

Finally, Mac blurts out, “That’s not right! He shouldn’t do that!”

King and Mica, who agree that Stanley shouldn’t do that, are nevertheless startled by the strength of Mac’s conviction about it.

“Just because he can climb and leap and run so fast doesn’t give him the right to take that guy’s lettuce. We need to teach him a lesson!” Mac continues, obviously very upset by the injustice of the situation.

“But what can we do about it?” Mica asks, as she feels rather small in the face of so many uncertain things.

“I don’t know! Something!” Mac says stomping his foot. “Owww!” he yelps, having accidentally stomped his bruised heel in his frustration.

“I agree,” King says, quietly.

Mica looks at Mac and then over at King. She turns her head over to the wall where Stanley had just escaped with his stolen lettuce and then decides that Mac and King are right. She turns back, looks at both of them and then says, “I have a plan.”