Alex

Central Park Zoo, Manhattan

10:13PM } July 21, 2014

I don't think words could describe how nervous I felt.

Now that I'm looking back on this, I... I feel like I should have been a better friend to Marty - because he's helped me so often to see the bright side of my problems and it had gotten to the point where I didn't think he had any issues of his own. He always appeared excited to talk to his two human friends (Tessa and El, he said their names were?) and to entertain the people with his tricks, so...! It was difficult to imagine that he would be upset by, well, anything! Plus, the knowledge that I wasn't great at solving others' problems didn't help in the slightest. But despite my concerns, I was willing to give it my best shot, you know?

If my pep talk at least made him a bit happier, then that was good enough.

Bearing this in mind, I took a slow breath to calm my nerves - before I folded my arms behind my mane and laid back to look up at the night sky. "Ahh, what a day. I mean, just really, really I mean I tell you, it just doesn't get any better than this, you know?" My eyes then lit up with excitement. "Ooh! It just did, even the star's out. Not going to find a star like that in the wild,"

Marty, however, wasn't impressed. "Helicopter," Huh? Cue the aforementioned rotorcraft to fly away, prompting me to bite back an annoyed growl. Gosh darn it, I got all excited! Okay... What else I can talk about, in order to cheer him up?

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for an idea to come to mind and I lifted my head up to face him. "Marty, buddy, listen. Everybody has days when they think the grass might be greener somewhere else," Really? That's what you've come up with?!

"Alex. Look at me," The zebra responded, as he slid off his treadmill. "I'm ten years old, my life is half over," No, it's not. You're still here, man! "And I don't even know if I'm black with white stripes... or white with black stripes," He slumped down next to me with a sad sigh. "Not only that, but I have to wait months for Tessa and El to come back from Australia,"

Hearing this, my eyes lit up with interest. Ask him about them, Alex. Do it! "When do you think they'll be back?"

"Just before September,"

"Oh! I mean, that's not long, right?" I tried to reassure him. "Two months from now? They'll come back here in a flash!"

"I wish I could believe that," Marty responded solemnly. Uh oh. "They were both really excited about it, too. They've promised to tell me all about it, show me photos," Aww...!

"That's nice of them," I commented with a pleased grin.

"Yeah, it is," My best friend agreed, slowly feeling more at ease. Cue an amused chuckle, and... "You know, I think you might like El," Oh?

"Why's that?" I asked in a curious manner, pulling myself up into a sitting position.

"I don't know," He innocently shrugged. "I just get the feeling that if you guys started talking, you'd get along," Hm? Maybe, you're right? That's if she's who I think she is? "And in case you were wondering, she has the, er, ponytail," A-ha! Bingo!

"Oh! Well - if I get the chance to meet her when she comes back, I look forward to it," I said, moments before my smile begun to fade. Oh no. "I just wish she was brave enough to talk to me before, you know?"

Marty flashed me a concerned look. "Yeah well, she's probably got her reasons for that," Okay... That would be fair enough. But still, I don't bite. "You could maybe give her some time and she'll talk to you, when she's ready?"

"Sure, sure," I answered kindly, as the two of us fell into a comfortable yet uneasy silence. Right. Okay, Alex. We're gradually making progress with turning Mr. Grumpy Stripes back into Mr. Happy Stripes. What else could cheer him up? ... Come on, dude! Think! Thankfully however, another idea was quick to pop into my head - and a hopeful grin slowly spread across my face. Alright, here goes nothing.

"Marty," I cooed mischievously.

"Yeah?"

"I'm thinking of a sooong,"

The zebra gave a tired sigh. "Alex, please. Not now," Oooooh, no. No, no, no, no, nope. You are gonna love this song, man. I guarantee it.

"It's a wonderful song, buddy," I told him. "You must be familiar with it, by now," I don't think I gave him a chance to protest, because I was off drumming my fingers against the wall within seconds. "Da da da da da!"

"Oh no,"

"Da da da da da!"

"Oh no, you don't,"

"Da da da da da!"

"No, no, no - I'm not listening!" He tried clamping his hooves over his ears, as I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Lalalalalalalalalalala!"

"Start spreadin' the news!"

"I don't know you!"

"I'm leaving today!" I continued to sing, whilst I twirled around the closest lamp post in an excited manner. "We are a great big part of iiiiiit!" Cue an unimpressed Marty to roll his eyes amusedly. "Come on, you know you know the words. Two little words,"

Upon hearing my words, the zebra ultimately gave up. "New York," YES! We then wrapped our arms around each others' shoulders and sung as loud as we wanted! "New Yoooork!"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Hey, I'm sleeping here!" An angry voice suddenly yelled. "We're not all nocturnal, you know!" Yeah, so?

"Hey, I'll knock your turnal right off, pal," Marty was quick to counter him. Oooooh, nice!

"Yeah, you and what army, stripes?!" Our acquaintance shot back aggressively. Uuuuuh, me?! Throw in Melman, Gloria, El and Tessa, too - that makes an army!

"You mess with him, you mess with me, Howard!" I taunted the snake, watching several lights from the other animals' pens turn on with sheer delight. I then turned back to address a happier Marty with: "See? Mr. Grumpy Stripes! We make a great team, the two of us,"

"We sure do," The zebra agreed. "No doubt about it,"

"So, what are you going to do? Just go running off to the wild by yourself?"

"Nope,"

"Good," Hey, looks like I got through to him and I worried for nothing. Awesom—!

"You and me. Let's go,"

I glowed at him with shock. "What?"

"The wild! Come on, you and me together!" Marty beamed at me excitedly. Wha—! Are you serious right now?! "It's a straight shot down Fifth Avenue to Grand Central. We'll grab a train, we'll head north. We'll find El and Tessa," Oh wait, you're joking. I mean, we don't even know where Australia is. "We can be back by morning. No one will ever know!"

"You're joking," I laughed. "Right?"

I could have sworn that there was a brief silence, before my best friend gave an amused chuckle. "Yeah. I'm joking, of course I'm joking. Give me a break! Like we're going to get a train," Oh, phew!

"Oh!" A relieved sigh. "Don't do that, you really had me worried there,"

"Oh, well," He yawned. "I guess I'll hit the sack,"

"Yeah, me too," I replied happily. "I'll need to rest my voice for tomorrow. It's Seniors' Day, you know? Have to roar extra loud. Give them a little jolt! You know what I'm talking about?"

"Good night, Ally Al!" The zebra bade a fond farewell, as I climbed into my pen with a content sigh and clapped twice to turn on a red light. My peace was unfortunately short-lived, when the sounds of a bird cooing greeted my ears rather loudly. Are you kidding me?! "Oh. They forgot to turn off the ambiance again!"

"Don't worry! It's cool," Marty was quick to reassure me, before he trotted over to the speaker closest to his pen. "You know, I got it," After a good old kick, the bird was shooed off and soon enough, we could hear distant police sirens wailing. There we go. Cheers, bud!

"Ah," I sighed, before laying down and gradually allowing myself to fall asleep. "Much better,"

Annnnd bring it on, Seniors' Day. I'm ready for ya!