Kyle looked around and realized he didn’t recognize any of the people around him. He didn’t see Mrs. Wallace or Miss Gina or any of the kids from his class. He had stopped to look at a peacock’s pretty tail and they’d gone and left him behind.
He sat down in the grass next to the giraffes and pressed his hands into his eyes. He didn’t want to cry. Big boys didn’t cry. But he was scared and didn’t know what to do. What if they left the zoo without him? What if mommy didn’t know where to find him? What if he got in trouble and they didn’t let him go to kindergarten anymore!
“You okay, kid?”
Kyle looked up. An older boy had knelt down next to him. There were more kids standing behind him. Kyle shook his head. “I was looking at the peacock and now I can’t find my teacher,” he said softly.
“Come on, Jordan,” a boy said. “We’re going to miss the tour of the movie studio.”
“You guys go ahead to the car. I’m going to help the kid find his teacher.”
“Someone else can help him.” a girl said. “We didn’t drive all the way to L.A. for Spring Break so you can play superhero.”
The boy stood up and kissed the girl on the cheek. “I can’t leave him here. He’s scared. And nobody else has stopped to help him. It won’t take long to help him find his class.” He shook his head. “And I’m not a superhero.”
Kyle thought the boy was nice enough to be a superhero. He’d seen one of them on TV last night, the one with the purple cape and the green ring. The man could make really cool things with his ring. Kyle wished he had a ring like that.
The other kids left. The boy reached down to take Kyle’s hand and pull him to his feet. “Come on, kid. We passed a group of munchkins a few minutes ago. Maybe you belong to them.”
“We were going to see the elephants,” Kyle said. That’s what Mrs. Wallace had said before he stopped to look at the peacock.
The boy looked around. “I think the elephants were in the direction they were headed.” Then he leaned over to look at Kyle. “What’s your name?” the boy asked.
“Kyle.”
The boy smiled. “I’m Hal.”
Kyle smiled back at him. He wasn’t afraid anymore, because Hal was going to help him.
They walked down the hill, Kyle tightly gripping Hal’s hand, past the cheetahs and ostriches and deer with funny horns on their heads. Hal was walking fast and Kyle’s legs were getting tired. He stopped. “I can’t walk that fast,” he sighed.
Hal knelt down next to him and patted his shoulder. “Hop on, then.”
Kyle smiled and wrapped his arms around Hal’s neck so the boy could lift him up and carry him. Up high, Kyle could a lot. He saw a polar bear and a lion and way far away he could see the elephants.
They met Miss Gina near the elephants. “Kyle! There you are! We’ve been looking for you!”
“He was looking at a peacock and got lost,” Hal said. He helped Kyle slide down to the ground.
“Thank you so much for bringing him back, young man,” Miss Gina said. She took Kyle’s hand and patted his head. “Kyle gets distracted so easily.”
Kyle turned around and waved. “Bye, Hal.” He was sad he had to leave. He really liked Hal.
Hal waved back. “See ya around, kid.”