Pengu's Adventures in New Zealand Book 1

Part 1: The Story: Chapter 1: Life

Dictionary:

Invisible Barrier (Barrier): glass

5 sticks: five fingers

Peachwaddlers: people

Flippers (When used on peachwaddlers): hands

Paddle: Flipper

My name is Pengu. I live in New Zealand. My owner Kabdsxy is transcribing this for me. She is using a little blue penguin translator but might stumble on some words. I'm going to tell you and Kabdsxy the story of me, Pengu.

I started behind an invisible barrier of Wellington Zoo. My mum Penny and my aunt Flaps were behind a separate barrier doing tricks for fish. I was too young for that, so I was with my dad, Blue Little-penguin III (or Blue); my sister, Squeak; my cousin, Gill; my uncle, Quill; and my grandma, Franny.

I always wondered about what was beyond the barrier since our view seemed so limited. So, when my mom and my aunt came back holding fish in their beaks, I asked them about it. Penny said it was magnificent, the water was much bigger and peachwaddlers would slap their 5 sticks on their flippers together to show awesomeness.

Flaps said that you would get fish if you did something correct. I thought it was manipulation, so I never wanted to be fed a slimy fish for jumping out of the water like mother and aunt did but I didn't say that.

One day I woke up and some peachwaddlers were watching me through the barrier. That made me even more annoyed and I wanted to escape even more. They laughed at me when I slipped on a puddle! Rude! And they were happy when I dove under the water. I love praise, but I don't need the raw kind.

The peachwaddler keeper gave us some fish. Mashed up they were! I bet a peachwaddler chick couldn't even eat that. It wasn't like we were unintelligent beings, but I ate it anyway because I was hungry. As I ate, the peachwaddlers looked at me and they turned their mouth into a circle and made some "Ooh!" sounds. Then it was show time. The keeper left and another keeper came in. They stole me, Squeak, and Gil.

They put me in a bucket with Squeak and Gil. When they took me out, I was thrown in a pool of water. The water was cool and clear. The keeper showed me a blue ball and she threw it. Gil and Squeak chased after it. Me, on the other hand, went to explore the big pool.

"You know if you don't bring the ball over you don't get fish." Gil chirped.

"I know!" I was grumpy. These peachwaddlers treat me like I was a ... a piece of food! So, you know I was going to escape now. Too bad I wasn't a peachwaddler. I didn't have the 5 sticks to grip on the sides of the pool. I bet I looked funny. Hilarious even.

Finally, I climbed out. I would like a fish, but that meant I needed to go in again. So, I did it a different way. I snuck up on the keeper and when I was close enough to jump on her, I squawked, "I'm robbing you! Give me all your fish now!" The keeper looked startled and fell into the pool. I grabbed the bucket that smelled like sardine with krill, and it toppled over, and I gobbled some fish looking biscuits up. The keeper grumbled something. I laughed but Gil looked grumpy.

"We did all the hard work, you climbed up and ate all of it!" He growled. Penguins don't growl, but it seriously sounded like one, so I tossed Gil and Squeak some fish biscuits. The keeper climbed out of the pool and cleaned up the remaining fish biscuits and she shooed me into the pool. I jumped up and flapped my little wings, but I still fell in. Gil laughed at me. I nipped him using my beak.

"What do we do now?" Squeak asked. I tried shrugging my shoulders, but I didn't have any, so it looked like I moved my head. Squeak laughed. I solemnly looked at her.

The keeper took us back to the barrier and gave us new water. I drank a drop and hurried inside the cave where I sleep so I didn't have to be swarmed by a bunch of peachwaddlers watching me. I took a quick nap and dove into the water. Inside there were some krill they would dump into the water for entertainment for the peachwaddlers. It was my favorite thing. I don't really like fish.

Anyway, I sped through the water and ate all the remaining krill. A peachwaddler chick screamed and cried so a keeper dumped some more krill into the water for me. Quill and Flaps joined in eating. Boring.

So, I spent the rest of the day eating, swimming, napping, eating, swimming, napping. Wasted every day. And next, I was not going to stay at the zoo.