‘zoologist’ mumbled to himself as he disappeared into a dodgy store.
He was no zoologist! I felt ashamed of myself for betraying my only companion. I had to
save Jade.
The merchant scurried into a chamber. I followed him in. I entered a large rectangular room
and hid under the sofa. He soon fell asleep, snoring from the exhaustion of finding animals all
day. I had to act fast. I crawled out of my hiding space and searched everywhere. I came to a room
with a ‘No Entry’ sign on it. This had to be the room I was looking for!
A stink of rotting food and excretion choked me. I held my breath. A large number of cages
were arrayed in the room. I saw snow leopards, Gobi bears, jerboas and Golden eagles. Jade was
nowhere to be seen. I searched and finally found it hiding in a dark corner, trembling with fright.
I removed its chain and comforted it.
Just then, the merchant strode into the room. “Training time!” he announced. I hid behind a
trampoline, peeking through the holes. I saw the merchant whipping the Gobi bears, forcing them
to jump through hoops. I couldn’t bear the cruelty anymore! I decided to free all the animals.
After the training, the merchant locked them in their cages and went out. I saw a bunch of keys
hanging on the wall. I tiptoed over and grabbed them.
I panicked. There were many keys! I picked the shiniest one and tried it on the first cage,
but it didn’t work. I tried the rusty one. ‘Click!’ the lock opened. One by one, I tried each key
to open the cages. The animals were starting to get restless. As I opened the last cage, I heard
footsteps approaching.
“What are you doing here?” the evil merchant roared.
“Run for your lives!” I hollered. The animals immediately ran as if they understood my
command. The merchant blocked me.
“You dirty little crook, I will catch you!” Out of nowhere, Jade appeared and bit the merchant’s
leg. He yelled in pain. I grabbed Jade and fled.
The memory of the merchant abusing the animals changed me. I quit my job to work to
protect endangered species in the Gobi Desert. It is more fulfilling than being a miner! Jade now
lives peacefully. If you happen to see a dinosaur in future, don’t be afraid. It is perhaps the last
dinosaur on Earth.
