Mr. McCurdy said. “Did you have a nice little nap?” “It was good, but I don’t think it was that little.” I’d slept for close to two hours. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.” “Napping is good. But you still look tired,” Vladimir said. “Go back to sleep if you wish.” “I’m fine,” I said. I probably would still be sleeping if one of the roos hadn’t tried suckling my nose. It was a rude awakening — my eyes had popped open and I’d found myself eyeball to eyeball with a kangaroo. I now understood why my mother had thought they were rats. For a split second when I opened my eyes I’d thought my nose was being gnawed by a gigantic mouse. After I removed my nose from its mouth, I’d gotten up, given them both another bottle, and then gone looking for Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir. I’d finally found them huddled behind a small storage shed. “So did you finish the pens for the new cats?” I asked. “We put the lion in with other female lion,” Vladimir said.
