Birds of a Feather

Where's my cigar?" said Bonzo, the alpha male chimpanzee with his exceptionally large domineering appearance. "Bonzo needs his cigars!", he howled with an irritated tone in his voice and pounded lightly on his chest to further emphasize his displeasure. The other chimps in the exhibit didn't dare to approach him during these commonly occurring tantrums.   

Bonzo was a pampered chimp who had gotten use to receiving everything he wanted. He had hastily knuckle-walked towards the cool shade under the big tree nearby. He chomped on another cigar, blowing the tobacco smoke upwards from his lips. It evaporated through the translucent leaves where he spotted Paulie's distinguishable silhouette hopping on thin branches. 

Paulie was a curious toucan that resided half-way between the confinements of the Zoo and the outside world of the vegetated park surrounding it, free to move as he pleased. He had turned his large yellow bill sideways towards Bonzo waiting below, staring back at him with his wide pale-blue eyes. Paulie's coat was so vibrant, he would easily get spotted by the animals where he went.

"I found these skinny ones?" Paulie chirped allowing the thin damped cigarettes to fall from the tip of his beak over to Bonzo's extending palm.

"That work for Bonzo." Bonzo grabbed it and simmered down as he stored them in a small stockpile under the wooden-steps the zoo had built. None of the other chimps would tamper with his collections but then again, none could smoke them either.

This repulsive habit of smoking stemmed from Bonzo's previous eccentric owner.

Paulie was admired throughout the park, considered the unanimous zoo liaison, though technically he wasn't a resident any longer. He lived between the two realms of captivity with his mammalian, reptilian and avian friends and a much more natural environment, free to explore the outside world while minding the few predators that lurked.  

Paulie didn't need to worry about hunting for food with friends in high places. His only real dangers were when the darkness settled in, and when the Great Horned-Owl named Enid flew by looking for unwary prey. She was a crude reminder that the outside world wasn't entirely safe and there was always a bigger predator to look out for.

Despite this, Paulie enjoyed his liberties lounging around and communicating with the other animals inside the four walls. He had befriended the majority of them throughout the years and took pleasure in the trade system he had set up. In exchange for certain fetching requests from the apes, he would get reciprocated with fruits.

*****

"Here comes the most exotic pigeon in the park" laughed one of the zookeepers who guided around several business men in formal suits and some veterinarians who seemed to be visiting the zoo for the first time.

Paulie flew back to the big tree in the chimp's enclosure where he found Bonzo had squatted by another ape grooming his hair.

"Bonzo we had a deal." Paulie squawked raucously. 

Bonzo ignored him and chewed on his delicious banana peel shaving the strings from the skin with his sharp canine teeth.

"Bonzo!" Paulie squawked louder and more repetitively.

"cree-op cree-op cree-op", The Zookeeper and his guests enjoyed Paulie's singing from the tree as they observed his strange interactions with the primates.

Bonzo finally rolled over on his side from the soil and hooted over to another ape, a smaller male named Kanzi came out from playing by the swings. Paulie hadn't met this ape before and hadn't realized his interesting history. Kanzi was raised for a time by a renowned linguistics psychologist but they ultimately halted the lessons when other chimps grasped the ability more effectively.

Paulie fluttered nervously steering clear from the strange ape closing in. He watched Kanzi turn over to the front gate to the humans and waved over to the cheerful zookeeper and onlookers gazing intently at his every gesture.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is an extraordinary welcomed opportunity to see my good friend Kanzie here speak sign language. He's one of the few primates in the world who can communicate with people. It's remarkable how far he's come. Apes do share 99% of the DNA with humans, so it's not surprising how quickly they pick up new things".

The zookeeper smiled waving his hand to Kanzi very slowly to acknowledge him. "Isn't that right, Kanzi!?" he said. 

"Who. Is. New. Animal?" Kanzi hooted in high pitched tones while gesturing with his hands to the direction of the ventilated crate hauled by the group of staff members nearby.

"Ah, wow!" The zookeeper got excited from the curiosity of Kanzi noticing the crate.

"New animal to this home. Like you! Hair like you!", signed the zookeeper and turned to his eager and overtly excited guests.

The zookeeper continued the rest of his tour, guiding his entourage down to the large cats enclosure. 

Kanzi then turned to Paulie and Bonzo and proceeded to translate what the human had said. Paulie enthusiastically sang and thanked him over and over.

"Thank you, Kanzi! Thank you!"

Kanzi acknowledged him with his soft panting and playful sounds.

"So you're the ape raised by the humans then? What was that like?

"Kanzi misses my two mothers", he said. "My best memories were with them, playing outside of my small home. Kanzie loves to go out" he said, as he sped off to play on his makeshift hammock.

"How about you big-beak?" Bonzo grunted while starting to flick the wheel of the lighter and burn yet another of his intact cigars that Paulie had smuggled in as contraband.

"Well, Bonzo. I know they rescued you from some owner in Dubai and you're probably better off now. But, I just can't survive inside these small spaces. It's not for me. I don't like limitations to how high I can soar, where I can sleep. Here, I serve a purpose. I can go as I please, enjoy the most spectacular views. Meet different animals in the kingdom...".

"So dumb!" howled Bonzo. "Bonzo misses the Sultan. Bonzo likes being the King of his own domain, in the safety of inside. But outside, Bonzo something more".

"What about the wild?"

Bonzo stood quiet for a moment then panted and tossed a banana peel towards Paulie but missed.

"What's next for Big-Beak anyways?" 

"I'll call the attention of the zoo animals and welcome our new guest at night" said Paulie.

"I'm so excited!" Paulie was ready to meet the new animal, he spent the rest of his day in the sun wondering what it could be. He hoped for one of his own creed, an Emu or another Ostrich would be delightful. If not a feathered creature, Paulie also enjoyed conversations with the old tortoise who were magnificent storytellers of the past.

Paulie finally soared up landing on the top-end of a higher elevated ash tree.

"Paulie. Paulie, be careful". cooed one of the pigeons flapping its wings sporadically and nervous. He appeared anxious and scared. "It's Enid. She's been spotted. The owl. A friend of mine". He huffed and puffed. "Said he saw her gliding by the flamingo ponds." 

Paulie could only focus on the zookeeper guiding his group through the park. He noticed them by Mei's exhibit. She was the ginger-haired panda from the Chinese zoo who lived there in solitude preferring the company of her own, but tolerated Paulie coming by. She was lonely though. Paulie thought it peculiar watching the humans spend so much time by her, watching and observing her.

*****

Later that night, Paulie pecked his beak on the wooden trunk of the tree to alert Bonzo laying by the females. He howled out to Kanzi again. Kanzi eagerly walked over to join his toucan friend on the adventure.

"Good to see you again, Kanzi".

"Kanzi is happy to be out".

Paulie and Kanzi continued on to the area they housed the mysterious animal. Both of them managed to get inside and found the crate. Paulie quickly hopped on top observing the symbols on the labels. He quickly identified the characters looked like paint brush strokes and the red circle symbolized its origins.

He hopped over to his primate companion's shoulder and made their way confidently around to peak through the other end of the crate to finally meet them.

"Moshi Moshi", said Paulie over to a small furred animal inside that quickly turned startled seeing a lanky ape with a strange bird on his shoulders.

"Ahh!" yelled the red panda elevating himself from his hindquarters and raising his fluffy claws in the air. He fell backwards as he lost his balance.    

"Please don't eat me!" he yelled.

"Nobody is going to eat you Mr. Red Panda. What is your name?"

"Yojimbo." he huff-quacked in a low pitch.

"Yojimbo-SAN". He tilted his head low.

Yojimbo seemed like the typical mildly-mannered creature with white ears, snout, eyebrows and cheeks, the rest of him was red. His elongated whiskers stretched pass his fluffy cheeks. He kept his bushy striped tail to the front of him as he curled up where he munched on the leaf pile in the corner of his temporary habitat.

"Perfect, Yojimbo-san! I'm Paulie and this is my friend Kanzi here, we've just met earlier today. We are here to guide you to meet the rest of the animals and introduce you. We don't usually do this as most animals are hard to get to, but coming from so far away, it really is an honor, Mr. Yojimbo-san." said Paulie he guided him to get out across the park.  

The three of the animals continued out in the darkness of nighttime though the park lights were shining bright. Security guards were nowhere in sight as they went through to visit the Lions, the Gorillas and the other mammals in the area.

They went inside another building where they met the snakes peaking through from their Plexiglas and slithering their tongues out to greet them. As the three of them walked outside, Monkeys and apes were on their trees witnessing them pass by like audiences in a parade. They tossed leaves in the air and kept their howls to a bare minimum. 

"Everyone. Please say Hello" said Paulie.

"Please try to properly greet by bowing your heads in reverence!".

"When will this end?" Yojimbo whispered.

"You don't like the ceremony?"

"It's embarrassing" said Yojimbo hiding behind Kanzi.

"Welcome! Greetings!" the other animals cried out.  

They walked around the different cages, and enclosures and aviary domes. Each of the animals were happy to meet Yojimbo and welcome him to the family.

"You probably have no idea why you're visiting, do you Mr. Yojimbo?"

"Not a clue, Paulie".

"I have one more animal to introduce you to..." Paulie lead excitedly fluttering over in advance. Yojimbo ran on all fours, while Kanzi followed closely behind.

"Yojimbo-san, This is Mei."

The two panda's introduced themselves and interacted for a few minutes while Paulie watched with glee. After a few minutes, he guided him back to his room. Paulie then lead Kanzi back to his enclosure too.

"Goodnight Kanzi"

"See you tomorrow, Paulie".

Kanzi walked over to his chimp family while Paulie flew himself over to the the familiar tree again. He looked down at the sleeping apes, eager for the next day. Paulie positioned his long bill to rest on his back while he hung on the high branch to sleep.

Then like a sudden wave of a wind breeze, from the manifested shadow in the distance and two glistening eyes, Paulie was swept abruptly from the branches. 

"Enid!!" Paulie cried out. "Is this it?"

"How wonderful it is to finally hold you in my talons, little one." said the Owl, she clenched her claws deep into the toucan's body squeezing tightly. 

Paulie squirmed, but could not release himself from her grip. He looked up gliding along helplessly with her carrying him to the darkness all he could see was her horned outline.

He finally accepted his end, but he would never forget the experiences and memories he created and left behind. It was a trade off and Paulie had no regrets. He had served his purpose and lived his life as he wanted.

"I have hungry mouths to feed" whispered Enid as she watched the little bird take his final breaths, she assured him. "Your life and death was meaningful". She said in a comforting tone as she flew off into the dense trees further into the wild where her nestling's would survive another few days.