The Animal Kingdom continued to flourish and over time, many more animals came to live there. There was Raffy, the reindeer, who was a gentle soul. All he wanted to do was have his meals on time. Each day, when Torty began the lunch preparations, Raffy would sit at the table with his plate. He was there, as soon as the clock struck twelve.
Then there was Fluffy Bunny, so called, because he like to fluff his fur out and nibble on carrots in the sun. A tiny monkey also came to live, but he spent most of his time in the trees in the garden, and the rest of the Animal Kingdom hardly knew he was there.
A pangolin landed up at the house. All he did was walk in circles all day long and followed Lolo around, if he could see her. He was a sweet and simple soul, happy to munch on some leaves and keep walking. His best friend was a hedgehog, who had made his den under the stairs. The two of them would chat together sometimes and stayed out of the way of Squee’s pranks.
But what about Lolo’s parents? Lolo had been living at the Animal Kingdom for almost a year now and had given up all hopes of ever being able to return home. However, back in the city, Lolo’s parents continued to look for their little girl. They had had flyers put up everywhere of pictures of Lolo asking for anyone with information to contact them.
One morning, Hoofoo had gone to the market to buy some stuff for the house. As he came out of one of the shops, one of these flyers caught his attention. He stopped and read what it had to say and when he saw that it was about Lolo, he hurried home, all thoughts of shopping forgotten.
“Lollloooo” he shouted as soon as he entered. Lolo had been doing some schoolwork and she ran downstairs to see why Hoofoo who was normally very quiet was shouting up to her.
Hoofoo had brought one of the flyers that had been lying on the pavement back home. He handed it to Lolo now, who read it silently. Tears started to flow down her face, when she saw that it was about her. So her parents had not forgotten her!
“What do we do now? How do I get in touch with them?” she asked. “Let us go to the market right now and find a phone booth to call them from!” said Hooffoo. All the other animals had gathered around to see what all this was about. They all hugged Lolo and wished her all the best.
Lolo and Hoofoo set out to the market and found a phone booth in one corner that they could use. Lolo dialed the number on the flyer with shaking hands. It rang for a while, before a woman picked up. “Hello, yes who is it?” she said.
“Mom? It’s me – Logan!” replied Lolo. “Oh my God! Logan, is that really you?” exclaimed her mother, hardly able to believe her ears. “Where are you? How are you?”
“Mom, I am fine. I am in the Southern Market. Can you come and get me?” replied Lolo.
“Yes, yes, of course! I will call your father and we will come immediately!” said her mother. “Please wait there.”
And so Lolo and Hoofoo waited patiently for Mr. and Mrs. White to come get her. About twenty minutes later, a large white car drove up and a pretty woman in a pink dress, and a man in a business suit got down. The woman came running as soon as she saw Lolo. They hugged and kissed, both of them crying. Then the man picked Lolo up in his arms and kissed her. “We are so glad you are alive and well! Where have you been all this while?” asked Mr. White.
“I have been living with my friends. Hoofoo here is one of them” said Lolo pointing to the calf who had been shyly standing by.
“Moo! Helllooo” said Hoofoo, breaking the rule of not speaking in human tongue before grownups.
“But you can talk?” exclaimed Mrs. White. Lolo smiled and explained why animals did not talk before humans. “It is all so amazing!” said Mrs. White who could hardly believe the adventure her little girl had had.
And then Mr. and Mrs. White bundled off Lolo and Hoofoo into their car and took them back to their house. At the house, Lolo told them all about how she had gotten lost and started living at the Animal Kingdom.
“We must go and look at this wondrous Animal Kingdom you speak of” said her father.
“Mooo!” said Hoofoo. “I don’t mean to be rude, but please don’t tell anyone that we animals live together in a house. Humans would just come and try to take us away and we do not want that! They would try to make us talk and be cruel to us…”
“Of course, we understand. We promise not to tell anyone, but please let us visit!” said Mrs. White. “We would like to thank all the kind animals for taking care of my little girl.”
And so that was that! Lolo went back with her parents to say goodbye to the Animal Kingdom. They all cried and hugged her, Squee and Chikoo both not wanting to let Lolo go.
Mrs. White took lots of gifts of food for each little animal and they all liked the kind woman who was Lolo’s mother. Kolu tugged at Lolo’s arm and cuddled up against her for one last time. And then it was time to say goodbye. The animals waved off the White family, feeling sad and happy at the same time for the little girl who was finally returning home.
As promised, the Whites kept the secret of the Animal Kingdom, not telling anyone about its existence. They continued to visit over the years, helping the animals when they fell sick or got injured. Lolo grew up and became a vet – a doctor who treats animals and she married a man who loved animals as well.
The Animal Kingdom continued to thrive. The original animals were mostly gone, but there were other animals living there. Of the original lot, only Kolu remained and he would come running every time Lolo visited, playing with her, as they used to do when they were children.
If you ever go to the forest, and see a house nestled in the midst of the trees, you just might catch a glimpse of the Animal Kingdom as well…
Note: The image has been sourced from Google Images.