The story so far: Rafiki, a gorilla at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, has been turned into a human for one day. And it seems he’ll have company on his adventure.Rafiki was not the only one the man named Nicholas had visited. He had also offered his unique gift — being human for a day — to Malaika the elephant, Uhura the giraffe and Bomani the meerkat.

Now all four stood outside the entrance of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, marveling at their transformation. No one else was around; it was still hours before the zoo was to open, and the parking lot was empty.

Uhura looked like a model — tall and slender, with remarkably long legs and short, blond hair. Malaika was nearly as tall, but she was more of a plus-size beauty. Rafiki was sturdy, muscular, with a wide nose and dark eyes. Bomani was the shortest of the four and appeared the youngest, with a long nose and darting eyes.

“This is soooo weird,” Bomani said as he eyed the others. “Just so weird.”

Rafiki turned to Nicholas.

“What do we do now?” he asked in a deep voice reminiscent of James Earl Jones.

“Now you explore,” Nicholas said. “You’re wearing clothes, which I realize is something new for you. You have I.D., you have money, and you have knowledge — I’ve instilled sort of a basic Human 101 class into your brains so you can pass as human.”

“But where do we go?” Uhura asked. “What do we do?”

“Where you go is down the hill,” Nicholas said. “At the bottom, you’ll find a place called The Broadmoor. There you’ll find transportation — a bus, a taxi, whatever. What you do then is up to you.”

“You couldn’t have had had a ride waiting for us here?” Malaika asked a little crankily. “A limo? A magic carpet? Why we do we have to walk?”

“Consider it a chance to get to know one another — and to get used to your human legs.”

 Nicholas had been smiling, but now he turned serious.

“One thing,” he warned. “You must be back here, at this spot, by the time the moon is high in the night sky. Your transformations will fade by then, as will your duplicates.”

“Got it,” Bomani said. “Back tonight. Will do. Can we get going? It’s cold out here.”

“Yes,” Nicholas said.

And he was gone.

DID YOU KNOW?Rafiki, Bomani, Malaika and Uhura are the real names of animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Rafiki means “friend” in Swahili.

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