Discovering My Love for Animals
This story takes place at the North Carolina Zoo in the summer of 2014. I was eleven years old and I had just graduated fifth grade. It was a tremendously hot day and even though it was only a two-hour-long drive, it seemed as though we had been riding in the car for ages. Our small family car was loaded with my parents, my little brother, my baby sister, and myself of course. Dad said that we were going on a surprise trip for finishing off the school year so strong. As we approached what seemed to be our destination, I saw a huge sign that read "North Carolina Zoo.". It ruined the surprise but I suppose it was about time I found out where we were going anyway. As we parked our car my brother and I quickly unbuckled our seatbelts and raced to the front seats where our parents were. My mom got out, opened up my door for me, and a wave of hot, humid air rolled over us all. It was enough to take your breath away! Walking to the entrance with much anticipation, Dad turned to my siblings and I while saying, "Surprise! We are at the Zoo!". Even though I already knew, I still acted surprised. After weaving through tons of parked cars and rowed of people, we finally reached the entrance. We walked through the gates and entered an entirely new world.
Every corner was bursting with excitement! There were animals as far as the eye could see. Although the sun was beaming down on me, I was eager to see all the habitats and that took my mind off of the heat. First, we decided to go to the aviary habitat. There was this huge building full of birds that you could actually walk through! As we walked in, the walls seemed to come to life. The brightly colored birds lit up the sky and their chirps filled the air above us. They came swooping through branches and soaring all throughout the building. One even came down from their perch high above to take food from my hand! Next, after leaving there we went to my favorite habitat out of them all; Africa. Africa was my favorite habitat because it was the one that held the giraffes. Walking through the Africa habitat we heard bold roars from lions and amusing screeches from baboons. My excitement grew as we reached the giraffes. I grabbed a handful of food as the zoo assistant guided me in feeding them. I reached out as far as I could and stretched my arm as far as it would go until I felt the warm, slimy, touch of its tongue. I will admit it was gross, but I didn't care. I was amazed at the enormous size yet gentle touch of the creatures. They were already my favorite animal, but this further implemented my love for them. Lastly, we went to the North America Exhibit, but not for long. I saw a quick glimpse of the massive grizzly bear and then noticed soft drops of rain falling onto my skin.
I looked up to the sky expecting the raging sun, and I was surprised to see that it looked quite gloomy. In the blink of an eye, it started to pour rain. My parents quickly grabbed my siblings and me, and we ran for shelter. It was somewhat amusing seeing everyone in the zoo dart for a dry place. Luckily for me, we coincidentally ended up right beside a creamery. After a ton of begging, my mom eventually gave in and bought ice cream for my siblings and me. As we were on our way out of the zoo, completely drenched from the rain shower, I looked back in complete awe. Gulping down my last bite of ice cream I smiled to myself and reflected on everything that happened that day. This was quite possibly the best day of my life. This is where everything really clicked for me. Just being in the presence of these animals brought me so much happiness. It was then that I realized I loved animals so much that I wanted to work with them for the rest of my life.
Works Cited:
North Carolina Zoo: https://www.nczoo.org/visit/about-zoo
Comments
Post a Comment