The Talkative Tiger Read online

  “I’m worried about giving my talk. I get really nervous when lots of people are looking at me.”

  Meep scampered up the bed and sat in her lap. “Don’t be scared. You always have lots of people looking at you when you make that funny sound with your voice.”

  Zoe frowned. “What funny sound?”

  “When you make it go all squeaky, like this…” Meep started making a highpitched wailing sound.

  “Shhh!” Zoe giggled. “You’ll wake Mum! When do I ever make that sound?”

  “You do it with your friends at school.” Meep started wailing again, quieter this time.

  “Do you mean singing in the school choir?”

  “Yes! You do that in front of lots of people, don’t you?”

  “But when I’m singing in the choir I have all my friends with me. When I give my talk I’ll be all on my own.” Zoe’s tummy started fluttering again.

  “You won’t be on your own,” Meep said with a yawn. “I’ll be with you.”

  “Thanks, Meep.” She kissed the top of his head and lay down. Meep curled next to her on the pillow. As Zoe stroked his silky fur, she finally started falling asleep. The thought of having Meep with her was comforting. But he wouldn’t be able to help if she forgot what to say.

  The next morning after breakfast, Zoe hurried back to see Teddy. She couldn’t wait to find out how he was settling in. As she and Meep made their way along the winding path into the heart of the zoo, Meep stopped and tilted his head to one side.

  “Listen,” he said.

  “To what?” Zoe looked at him, puzzled. She couldn’t hear a thing.

  “It’s so quiet,” replied Meep. “It’s never this quiet.”

  Zoe frowned. Meep was right. Normally, the zoo was full of noise as the animals all woke up. But today the monkeys were still curled up asleep in their trees and there was no sign of life from the elephant enclosure either. Zoe looked over to the sea otter enclosure. Nina, Alex and Sasha were floating on their backs in the water, fast asleep too. Zoe wondered if she’d gotten up too early by accident. But over in the distance, she saw the zoo gates opening to let the first of the visitors in. Why were the animals still asleep?

  One of the animals wasn’t asleep though. As they got closer to Teddy’s enclosure, she saw a blur of stripy fur and the sound of his chatter broke the silence. He was talking to the trees in his enclosure. Zoe laughed as she heard him tell one of the trees that he was going to call him Mr Leaf Head.

  “Hello Teddy,” she called, using her paw-print pendant to let herself into the enclosure.

  Teddy came racing over, chattering away.

  “What’s he saying?” asked Meep.

  “He’s telling us all about what happened last night,” replied Zoe. Teddy nuzzled his head against her leg and she knelt down to stroke him. “You saw Mr Silver Face looking down at you?” She frowned.

  Teddy nodded and gave a little bark.

  “Oh, that’s your name for the moon!” Zoe giggled.

  Teddy grinned and yelped happily.

  “There were silver holes in the sky?” Zoe smiled. “Is that what you call the stars?”

  Teddy nodded his stripy head.

  Just then Mr Pinch came marching along the path towards them. As usual, his uniform was very smart and his shiny shoes gleamed in the sunlight.

  “Uh-oh!” said Meep. Meep didn’t like Mr Pinch because he was always grumbling about the animals making a mess.

  “Excuse me, sir,” called a man standing by the sea otters’ enclosure.

  “Yes?” replied Mr Pinch.

  “I was just wondering why these sea otters are still asleep?” said the man. “I wanted to see them play.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with sleeping animals,” replied Mr Pinch. “A sleeping animal is a tidy animal!” And with that he carried on his way.

  Bertie the elephant trundled over to the fence between his and Teddy’s enclosure.

  “Good morning, Bertie,” Zoe called.

  Normally, Bertie trumpeted cheerily when he saw Zoe but not this morning. His head hung low, his ears flopped beside his face and his trunk trailed on the ground.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Zoe, going over to the fence.

  Bertie gave a sad little squeak.

  “Oh no! Why didn’t you get any sleep?”

  Bertie gave another squeak and pointed his trunk at Teddy, who was now splashing in and out of his pool.

  “Oh dear,” said Zoe.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Meep.

  “Bertie didn’t get any sleep last night because Teddy wouldn’t stop talking. That must be why all the other animals are so sleepy too.” Zoe put her hand through the fence and patted Bertie on the trunk. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a talk with him.”

  Zoe hurried over to Teddy, who was chatting away to himself by the side of the pool.

  “Teddy, Bertie just told me that you were talking a lot last night.”

  The tiger cub nodded and chattered even faster.

  “It’s lovely that you’re so excited to be here but night-time is meant to be sleep time.”

  Teddy scampered over to the front of his enclosure and started yowling at the man watching the sea otters.

  “What’s he saying now?” asked Meep.

  “He’s saying that he thinks that man looks like a tree and he wants to call him Mr Tree Trunk Legs,” giggled Zoe. With the man’s brown trousers and green top, she could see what he meant.

  Teddy came bounding back and yelped excitedly.

  “It’s great that you have so many ideas to talk about.” Zoe smiled. “But maybe you could not talk about them when the moon and stars are out?”

  Teddy nodded and promised, then raced over to the pool and jumped in. Every so often he lifted his head out of the water and called out something.

  “I really don’t think you’ve just seen a mermaid,” giggled Zoe.

  “What’s he saying now?” asked Meep as Teddy called over again.

  “He wants to know if he looks like a sea otter,” explained Zoe. “Yes, a very stripy sea otter,” she replied.

  And a very talkative one too! she thought to herself.

  If only Teddy could give her talk – he’d never run out of things to say! She checked her watch. Great-Uncle Horace had called a meeting at his house about the endangered habitats event and it was about to start. She picked up Meep and said goodbye to Teddy. Her stomach twisted a little as she started to walk.

  I hope I can do a good talk, for Meep and the other mouse lemurs’ sake!

  Great-Uncle Horace lived in a big old house on Higgins Hill, overlooking the zoo. As Zoe walked up the hill, she saw some of the zookeepers setting up rows of chairs in front of the house. A huge banner had been laid out on the grass. The words on it read: ENDANGERED HABITAT DAY. Each letter had been painted in a different colour of the rainbow. Normally, Zoe got excited whenever there was a special event at the zoo, but not this time. She looked at the rows of chairs and pictured them full of people staring at her. Her tummy churned.

  Great-Uncle Horace came hurrying out of the house with Kiki on his shoulder. He was holding a clipboard and his round glasses were perched on the end of his nose. “Hello, Zoe!” he called. “What do you think of our presentation space?”

  “I think it looks great,” replied Zoe. She could hardly tell him it was one of the scariest things she’d ever seen! Meep didn’t seem at all worried though as he scampered around the chairs.

  “Are you ready to start work on your talk?” asked Great-Uncle Horace.

  Zoe nodded. “I know some things about mouse lemurs already. They come from an island called Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. They live in forests, and their habitat is in danger of being cut down.”

  “That’s right,” said Great-Uncle Horace, looking serious. “It’s important to let people know about it. Now, if you would like any more facts, I know there’s a book on lemurs in my library.”

  “Thank you.” Zoe hur
ried down the huge hallway of Great-Uncle Horace’s house. Meep raced in behind her and scampered up the bannister of the wide staircase.

  “Wheeeeeeeeeee!” he shrieked as he slid back down.

  “Come on, Meep,” giggled Zoe, “We’ve got work to do.”

  She went through one of the doorways off the hall, into Great-Uncle Horace’s library.

  The tall walls were covered with shelves full of books, all arranged alphabetically. Sure enough, there was a book on mouse lemurs on the shelf of books beginning with M. Meep jumped up and down with excitement when he saw the picture of the mouse lemur on the cover. Zoe took the book over to a large desk by the window. She flicked through the pages, writing interesting facts about mouse lemurs in her notepad. Meep hopped up on to the desk and watched her work.

  “Did you know that the word lemur means ghost?” she said.

  “Why? Am I a ghost?” asked Meep.

  “No! It’s because lemurs have such big eyes. People thought they looked like ghosts,” Zoe grinned.

  “Woooooo! I’m a spooky ghost,” cried Meep, running around the desk waving his paws.

  “Don’t try and scare me right now, Meep. I’m already nervous enough!” Zoe glanced out of the window at the rows of chairs on the lawn.

  “Sorry,” said Meep, scuttling over to nuzzle her.

  Zoe hugged him tightly. “That’s OK.” She thought of all the mouse lemurs in Madagascar who had lost their homes. She had to give her talk, no matter how scary it felt. She had to do something to try and help. Zoe looked back at her notepad and started planning her talk, deciding which facts she should use and which she could leave out.

  Once she’d finished, she went back outside. Great-Uncle Horace was helping Mark set up a stall about Teddy and other endangered tigers.

  “Hello, Zoe, did you find what you needed?” he asked.

  “Yes, thanks.”

  “I’ve got a great idea,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “Why don’t you practise giving your talk to us?”

  “Yes, go on, Zoe,” said Mark.

  Zoe’s heart sank. It didn’t sound like a great idea to her. It sounded like a really scary idea! But at least she’d only be giving her talk to two people. “OK,” she replied, her heart pounding. But before she could begin Great-Uncle Horace clapped his hands loudly.

  “Attention please!” he called to the other zookeepers. “Zoe would like to practise her talk.”

  “Go Zoe!” cheered Jess as the zookeepers all sat down on the seats. Zoe’s face flushed red. She looked down at her notebook and took a deep breath.

  “Mouse lemurs are from a place called Mada-madagascar,” she stuttered. “Madagascar is close to – close to Africa.” The sun suddenly felt very hot and Zoe’s mouth went dry. “The mouse lemur is—”

  “Can you speak up a bit?” called Kieran, the kangaroo keeper.

  “Yes, sorry.” Zoe tried to raise her voice. “The mouse lemur is now an endangered species because – because…” She tried to turn the page in her notebook and it dropped to the floor.

  “I think that maybe Zoe needs a little more time to prepare,” said Great-Uncle Horace. “How about we all take a break? I’ve set up some drinks and snacks in the kitchen, please do help yourselves.”

  The zookeepers hurried off inside the house.

  “Are you OK, Zoe?” asked Great-Uncle Horace once they’d gone. “I know you know this stuff. You said it to me earlier!”

  Zoe nodded. “I just get really nervous when there’s so many people looking at me.”

  “I know it can be scary, but you’ll be great.” Great-Uncle Horace patted her on the back. “Whenever I feel nervous talking to a big group of people, I just imagine that they’ve all got bowls of fruit on their heads. Then they’re not nearly as scary.”

  Zoe grinned. She wasn’t sure if this would help with her talk though. Picturing her audience with bowls of fruit on their heads would probably make her laugh! Her smile faded. If she laughed, she’d mess up her talk and then no-one would give any money to help the mouse lemurs or the tigers or any of the other endangered species.

  She just had to get this right!

  Zoe and Meep headed off down the hill and back into the zoo. Talking to Great-Uncle Horace about being nervous had made her feel a bit better. She wondered if she should ask the animals’ advice too. As they reached the meadow at the edge of the zoo, she spotted Cleo the zebra, grazing. Zebras always seemed so calm, maybe she would be able to help Zoe not feel scared. As Zoe approached the fence, Cleo trotted over to greet her.

  “Hi Cleo!” Zoe stroked the zebra. “I need your help.”

  Cleo neighed and Zoe told her all about the talk and how scared she was feeling. “What do you do when you need to feel brave?” she asked.

  Cleo gave a gentle whinny.

  “You shake?” Zoe stared at her in surprise.

  Cleo nodded and then she started shaking her whole body.

  Meep burst out laughing. “She looks like a wobbly jelly!”

  Cleo gave another whinny.

  “Shaking like that helps her get the fear out of her body,” explained Zoe.

  It did sound like a good idea but Zoe couldn’t imagine what would happen if she started shaking like a jelly at her talk! Maybe she ought to ask another animal for help. She patted Cleo goodbye and set off along the path. As the nocturnal house came into view she decided to pop in and see Hugo the hedgehog. He always loved to be helpful.

  The nocturnal house was so dark after the bright sunshine outside that it took Zoe a moment to see properly. She went past the bats and Suki the chinchilla until she got to the final enclosure. Hugo was sitting by a log nibbling on a piece of apple. As soon as he saw Zoe and Meep he shuffled over, squeaking excitedly.

  “Hello, Hugo,” said Zoe. “I was wondering if you could help me.” Zoe explained about feeling nervous about her talk and Hugo squeaked again.

  “What did he say?” asked Meep.

  “He says that when he gets scared, he curls into a ball,” replied Zoe.

  Hugo rolled up tightly until his face disappeared and he was a ball of spikes. Then he poked his nose out and squeaked hopefully.

  “Yes, that was very helpful, Hugo,” replied Zoe. But although she’d love to curl up in a ball to hide from her audience, she’d never be able to give her talk like that. She wouldn’t have any spikes to protect her either!

  They said good-bye to Hugo and went back out into the sunshine.

  “Who are you going to ask next?” asked Meep.

  “I think I’ll ask Bertie,” said Zoe. Elephants were so big and strong, surely he’d be able to help her.

  When they got to the elephant enclosure, Bertie still looked really tired. Zoe explained why she needed his help. Bertie flicked up his trunk and trumpeted loudly.

  Meep shrieked and covered his ears with his paws.

  “He says that trumpeting loudly always makes him feel better,” explained Zoe.

  “Well, it makes my ears feel sore!” muttered Meep.

  “Thanks, Bertie,” said Zoe. But she wasn’t sure if yelling her talk at the top of her voice would really help. She didn’t want to give her audience sore ears! Then she heard Teddy chattering away to himself in his enclosure.

  “Let’s ask Teddy,” she said to Meep. “Tigers are so brave, I’m sure he’ll have something to say.”

  “He always has something to say!” chuckled Meep.

  As Zoe used her pendant to enter the enclosure, Teddy came bounding over. He yelped excitedly about the visitors he’d seen and what they’d been wearing and which ones he’d liked the best.

  “Do you ever feel scared, Teddy?” asked Zoe as she crouched down beside him.

  The little cub tilted his head and thought for a moment. Then he whimpered sadly.

  “Oh, it must have been so scary losing your home.” Zoe gave him a cuddle. “What do you do to make yourself feel brave?”

  Teddy stood in front of her, his head raised and his chest puffed, ro
aring proudly.

  “Yes, you look very brave, standing so tall,” replied Zoe. She stood up straight and puffed up her own chest. It did make her feel a bit better. “Thank you, Teddy. That helped a lot.” When she gave her talk, she’d have to remember to be brave like a tiger.

  Later that night when Zoe got into bed, all of her fears came rushing back. Even though she’d spent the evening practising her talk, she was still really worried she’d mess it up.

  “Good night, Zoe,” said Lucy, poking her head around the bedroom door.

  “I can’t sleep,” said Zoe.

  “Oh dear.” Lucy came and sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you want me to tell you a story? That always helped you fall asleep when you were little.”

  “Yes please.” Zoe closed her eyes and Meep snuggled up beside her.

  “Once upon a time there was a girl called Zoe who lived in a zoo…” Lucy began.

  And as her mind filled with her mum’s story of animal adventures, Zoe finally relaxed and fell fast asleep.

  The next morning Zoe woke up feeling a lot better. As soon as she’d had breakfast, she and Meep set off to help get things ready for Endangered Habitat Day. When they arrived at Higgins Hill, Zoe gasped. It all looked so lovely! The brightly coloured banner was draped across the house and each of the stalls had been decorated with pictures of the endangered animals.

  “Good morning, Zoe! Good morning, Meep!” called Great-Uncle Horace from a small stage in front of the rows of chairs. As usual, Kiki was perched on his shoulder.

  “Good morning, Great-Uncle Horace,” Zoe called back.

  “Could I practise my talk on you?” asked Great-Uncle Horace. “I have some interesting facts about tigers I think you’ll like.”

  “Ooh, yes please!” Zoe sat down in the front row and Meep hopped on to the chair beside her.