This is a continuation of last week’s story, which you can find here.
When Bubblegum the flamingo, a week after she escaped from the zoo, heard the sound of fellow flamingoes, she immediately changed course. Weary, she found herself rushing through bird enclosures of the Aviary, searching for the flock that was making all of the noise. Almost to freedom, Bubblegum thought, as she went in for a landing in the flamingoes’ pond.
Instead, Bubblegum hit the enclosure’s netting hard and bounced, falling 20 feet to the ground onto the hard pavement. Confused and defeated, she barely registered the chatter of the flamingos.
“Was that a drone? Are they finally making flamingo drones?”
“I think it was someone’s scarf.”
“Can someone stop eating shrimp and go look?”
Bubblegum closed her eyes and lay on the ground, hoping that something would save her from the embarrassment of the moment. She felt so defeated. It seemed that Rusty’s taunts were accurate—she was a zoo bird and couldn’t make it out in the wild.
“Excuse me, are you a toy or a real Flamingo?”
Bubblegum opened her eyes and saw a bright pink flamingo staring at her.
“It’s alive!” the bird yelled back to her flock, causing all of the birds to rush over. They expertly picked up the netting and used their beaks to pull Bubblegum inside.
The pampering began. Some birds fixed Bubblegum’s feathers, while others fed her a seemingly infinite supply of shrimp. One of the birds snuck out of the enclosure to get ice from the penguins to put on Bubblegum’s neck bruise.
As is tradition, all of the flamingos were named after shades of pink. The flock included Strawberry, Coral, Watermelon, Ballet Slipper, Magenta and Taffy.
After nursing Bubblegum back to health, Taffy wanted answers. “So what’s the deal? Where’d you come from?”
“Well,” Bubblegum began with a sigh. She didn’t want her new friends to find out she was a moron. “I left the Midtown Zoo to strike out on my own.”
You made it from midtown?” Ballet Slipper asked. “That’s a huge accomplishment. We never go to midtown alone. How did you survive?”
“First, I found a lake and had to battle a flock of geese,” Bubblegum said. “Then I found a koi pond. I managed to get a fish, but a woman with a broom chased me away. Then I rested on a rooftop, and a giant bird tried to attack me, so I fled here. It’s been a busy week.”
“What made you leave the zoo?” Strawberry asked.
“A new flamingo at the zoo told us stories of his daring adventures. He told me that I couldn’t hack it outside of a zoo. He was so brave, and everyone there loved him. However, he didn’t like me.”
“Sounds like nothing more than a lawn ornament,” Taffy said. “What were his stories?”
“He said he fought off a hawk by pretending to be a lion.”
“Hey, that’s my story!” Rosewood yelled.
“He set the record for flying the fastest around Flamingo Island in the Caribbean.”
“What? I don’t know who that bird is, but he sure didn’t. That was me,” Strawberry said.
“He said he starred in a production of Swan’s Lake—the first flamingo.” Bubblegum said. Ballet Slipper shrieked and started knocking over decorated lanterns in the enclosure.
“Calm down, calm down,” Taffy yelled. He seemed bemused by the story. “Was this bird’s name Rusty?”
When Bubblegum said yes, the flamingos burst into laughter.
“What?” Bubblegum asked, turning a darker shade of pink.
“Rusty is a zoo flamingo,” Taffy said. “He came here from the Downtown Zoo after eating rust flakes from a gate in the enclosure. That’s why his name is Rusty. He got sick and ended up here. He was a disaster. He was afraid of ice cream and frankly was just an idiot.”
“It can’t be the same guy,” Bubblegum said, very confused. Everyone at her zoo fawned over Rusty. Was he a liar? “He told us that he was injured fighting off a hawk.”
“He got scared by a butterfly and fell on a rock,” Rosewood said, and everyone laughed again.
“We should go down there and ridicule him,” Rosewood said.
“I’ll fight him right now,” Ballet Slippers yelled. “Swan Lake style.”
“We should do whatever Bubblegum wants,” Taffy said.
Bubblegum thought for a long moment.
“Let’s eat shrimp,” Bubblegum said, and the flamingoes cheered. Whether she was buying time or settling into her new home, she was just glad to be around fun flamingoes. They listened to her stories, and she learned from their stories. It was wonderful. To be understood was far better than being in the city alone or an outcast at the Midtown Zoo.