Zoo

The boy had one green parrot and two white mice and a little white kitten with brown spots and a black dog.

“Clean up your room. Grandpa is likely to reach in an hour. What will he think of you?” his mother scolded him.

The grandpa arrived. He was very eager to meet his grandchild, whom he hadn't seen in ten months.

 “What is all this? Is this a zoo?” the grandpa was taken aback when he entered the boy’s room.

“Dadu, it’s not a zoo. It’s my room and in my room, my rules.”

“My room, my rules,” Grandpa mimicked the boy. “The zoo is as dirty as the zookeeper.” He shook his head and left.

But that night the animals behaved in a strange manner.

When the boy woke up, he was shocked to see the parrot droppings all over his bed. The kitten had chewed his school shoe. The mice had nibbled his school books, and the dog had torn apart his school shirt.

The boy was almost in tears. His grandpa came, “I thought I will have another look at the zoo.”

The grandfather felt sorry for the boy.

“What happened? Why did they create this mess?” the grandfather asked softly.

“Perhaps they were unhappy.”

“Why?”

“Perhaps they didn’t like the way you greeted them yesterday. They all like to be loved.”

“I don’t hate them. I was just making fun of you. I love them. Believe me.”

The grandpa looked at the animals. He smiled and waved at them. “I love you all, boys. I love each one of you,” he said to the animals in a sweet voice.

By evening everything was back to the normal. The boy and his grandpa were playing with animals.

“You are a nice zookeeper and you have a nice zoo,” the grandpa pinched the boy’s chubby cheek.

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A post for A to Z challenge.

Today’s letter Z

You may like to read my earlier post here Years Gone By