He is Enchanted

I’m Having a Great Time

Despite many visitors today, they still had plenty of room to walk in small groups because the zoo has an area of approximately 140-hectare. 

They decided to change position; Roman, Liana, and Miles walked in the front while Odette, Niall, and Ethan walked behind, and far behind the six of them, Mrs. Pearson, Mr., and Mrs. Oakland ambled, a tortoise would even laugh at them. 

Naill walked in the middle of Odette and Ethan. Ethan didn’t leave a gap the size of one person between him and Niall like he did with Liana before. In front of Ethan was Miles holding Roman’s hand while Liana helped her father open the map to read it. 

“There is a bear enclosure on the right. There is a camel enclosure on the left,” said Roman, turning his head to the right when he said the word right, as well as turning his head to the left when he said the word left.

“The talking parrot show started at 10 o’clock,” said Odette half shouting, “Each attraction lasts about 30 minutes to 1 hour, seal and penguin attraction at 11 o’clock, there’s also a theater called forest life, humans and animals will play the theater at 11 o’clock.” 

Roman immediately found the three places that Odette mentioned; The parrot show ‘The Talking Parrots,’ the seal and penguin show ‘The Arctic Show,’ and the theater “Where the magic tree grows by the forest fairies.” 

“We can take the path to the left to the camel enclosure. Then there will be another desert animal enclosure like an ostrich. We Will pass the lion enclosure and see the talking parrots show. After that, we went to the snake enclosure before going to The arctic show, and we could see a marine animal enclosure or go to the bird enclosure. We’d have walked too far if we had gone to the theater first. 

No one is against Roman’s plan. “The last theater show will be at 6 p.m, and we can save it at the end. Maybe they will add some pretty lights of wonderful effect for closing the show,” said Odette. 

Niall was already pulling Odette’s hand to bring her closer to the camel enclosure. Ethan’s eyes stared into the eyes of a camel’s while chewing grass. That camel looks lazily at the people surrounding the enclosure; the presence of humans does not surprise that camel. It may be become his routine, having a meal while being watched by a human. 

Miles let Roman’s hand go, then ran towards the camel enclosure, his shoes squeaking with each short but energetic step. 

A few seconds later, Niall followed his brother, and he ran with his short legs. Ethan laughs, then patting Odette on the shoulder while pointing at the twins with his chin. 

“I’m going after them,” Ethan said. Without waiting for her response, Ethan chased them both. It was easy for Ethan, thanks to his long legs and wide step. Even before the twins reached the camel enclosure, Ethan was already behind them. 

Odette was shocked after knowing that the twins were no longer where they were supposed to be, but she felt relief that Ethan had caught up with them. She called her sister and father, who were still looking on the map. They walked closer to the camel enclosure to where Ethan was standing behind Miles and Niall. The twins were busy talking to the camel as if he was going to reply, ‘It’s also nice to meet you, what a sweet human, you have to eat a lot so that your body becomes strong like the two humps on my body.” 

Liana stood beside Ethan, patting the twins on the shoulder, telling them that she and Ethan were standing behind them. Meanwhile, Roman and Odette are still arranging this trip. 

“Why do you want to go to the zoo?” 

Ethan turned his head to find Liana smiling at him, her face full of expectation that Ethan would explain it. 

Ethan laughed awkwardly. “I don't want to go to the zoo, you know, at that time, I was nervous and out of nowhere mentioned about going to the zoo,” he answered, but Liana demanded more explanation.

Liana seems to understand other people’s body language quickly, proving that she easily knows Ethan hides things.  

“I’ve never been to the zoo,” he smiled while rubbing the back of his neck. Liana furrowed her brows, confused.

“Never been to the zoo?”

Ethan nodded. He looked serious. “Back then, when I was in elementary school, on every first day after a school holiday, my friend always told me about their holidays. All my classmates have been to the zoo, but I’ve never been there. It made me want to know more about what kind of place the zoo is.” 

Liana looked around. “This is your first time? All of this is the first time for you?” 

Ethan nodded without looking hesitant, and then his eyes fell on his parents and Mrs. Pearson, who was standing under a tree about 100 meters from where Ethan and Liana were standing. Liana followed Ethan’s gaze and found the same thing; the three of them were waving their hands in front of each other's necks, with annoyed faces. They were having a not-so-great conversation. 

“I asked to go to the zoo, and their response is exactly what they are doing now,” said Ethan, then he raised his hand, he snapped his four fingers, leaning slightly to his left side, then folded one hand on his stomach as a place for his other hand, then he waved his hand in front of his face. 

“For God’s sake! This weather could ruin my makeup. Let’s find a bathroom. I want to reapply my makeup.” 

Liana laughed aloud while hitting Ethan on his shoulder, and it could be a problem if they knew Ethan was making fun of them. Ethan stood up straight again while laughing, and he also worried that his parents would see him make fun of them. There would be a war for about seven days if they saw Ethan mocking them. 

Their laugh continued even when Miles was tired of seeing the camel, Miles hugging Liana, and she hugged him back and stroked his hair, followed by Niall, who held Liana’s hand. 

The four of them decided to go to Odette and Roman, who finished their discussion. Odette seems to be checking the schedule to make sure she didn't make any mistakes. While Roman was looking around, Ethan didn’t know what he wanted to see.

Roman welcomes the four of them. To be more precise, Roman welcomes the twins who bump their bodies into Roman’s leg and begins to tell him about the camel they saw earlier. Then that old man’s gaze turned to Ethan,  to which Ethan smiled back. 

The twins stopped at each animal enclosure that they found interesting, but they seemed to get bored quickly seeing those animals eating, sleeping, yawning, or staring back at them. But they stood for a long time in front of the lion enclosure, watching the king relax and yawn in his favorite place. 

“Why is there a pond in their enclosure? Are there fish in the pond? Are they haunting the fish when the lion feels hungry?”Miles asked. Ethan shook his head. 

“Do you know what happens when a cat is put in a tub of water?” 

Naill raised his hand, then Ethan let him answer. He didn’t need to do that. “Cats are afraid of water.” 

Ethan pointed his index finger to Niall. “That’s right, and the lions are bug cars, aren’t they? The lion was also afraid of water, so the water prevented them from climbing the fence.” 

The twins' eyes lit up at Ethan's answer. While Ethan was proud of his knowledge even though he never went to the zoo, Ethan placed his hand on Miles’ shoulder. 

“Have you ever heard that water can ‘burn’ something?” 

This question caught Miles and Niall’s attention, can water burn something?

“What are you talking about, dad?” said Liana, shaking her head. 

The twins' faces filled with surprise, and then Roman put on a fake surprised face. Adults would find it stupid, but Miles and Niall, who saw it, would think that their father looks like their kindergarten teacher, who was surprised when one of the children managed to answer a challenging question quickly while the other children were confused. 

“You can water the plants right now, and because the weather is hot, it could harm the plants. It will ‘burn’ them.” 

There is one more thing, which burns. It does not even need anything to make it burn.

Ethan. 

Ethan glanced at Roman, who was laughing loudly in front of him. Ethan threw a pun at Roman’s shoulder. “You're so annoying!” 

While Liana and Odette demanded an explanation from Roman with their eyes, Roman was too busy protecting himself from Ethan, and then he grabbed Ethan’s wrist to make him stop. 

Ethan pulls his wrist from Roman’s grip as soon as it feels strange for him. 

After being satisfied seeing the king of the jungles, Miles and Niall bowed to the lion, like a soldier bowing to their king to ask permission to leave. They even walked back and still cast their eyes on the lion, who was licking its belly. 

It seems that they watch too many fantasy movies, especially about the medieval era or ancient Roman empires. 

But let them be, let them play with their fantasies. 

The next thing to do is wait for The Talking Parrot show area to open while looking at the zebra enclosure across The Talking Parrot area. 

Since Roman’s making fun of Ethan in the Lion enclosure, Ethan hasn't been willing to look directly at Roman eyes, and he focuses on talking to the twins about how the zebra can get the black and white stripes all over their bodies. Why do they get it? And why not give it to a giraffe or an elephant. 

Roman took this opportunity to explain to Liana and Odette, and he whispered while glancing at Ethan to make sure he didn’t hear their conversation. 

“Yesterday, I saw him watering the plants when I came home from work.”

Odette almost laughed. Liana covered Odette’s mouth with her hand to prevent that from happening. At the same time, Roman put his index finger on his mouth while hissing like a snake. A mischievous snake. 

There was an announcement that the door to the show "The talking parrots" had been opened. For those curious zoo visitors, who could enter through the door on the left of the building, there was already an officer dressed in a friendly parrot costume who would greet them at the entrance, ready to welcome anyone who passes through the door.