The story so far: Four animals from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo — Rafiki the gorilla, Malaika the elephant, Uhura the giraffe and Bomani the meerkat — have become human for a day. Replicas of a sort have been put in their place at the zoo by the mysterious Nicholas.

Heidi, a primate keeper at the zoo, studied Rafiki through the glass.

She had no way of knowing it was not the real Rafiki, that it was merely a magical substitute. But she knew Rafiki well enough to know that something was off.

It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on. He was eating well enough, getting around like normal. But the other gorillas weren’t interacting with him as much as usual.

And there was something about his his eyes. There wasn’t the usual curiosity, the intelligence. There was just a blankness, as if a film had developed over his eyes.

She’d keep an even closer watch than normal on him, she decided. And a citation on the daily report was definitely in order. If things still seemed off kilter in a day or two, she’d alert the vet staff.

•••

In the elephant yard, Lucky and Kimba were steering clear of Malaika  — or what was trying to pass as Malaika.

“Why isn’t she talking to us?” Lucky asked Kimba.

“I don’t know,” Kimba said. “It’s like she suddenly changed overnight.”

Kimba picked up some hay with her trunk and stuffed it in her mouth.

You know, it’s funny,” she said between bites. “When Malaika got here and told us about her past, about being in the human world and being on TV and in the movies, I figured she’d be stuck up. Too good to talk to us ordinary elephants.”

“Well,” Lucky said, “speak for yourself as far as the ordinary. You may forget, but I am, after all, a world-famous artist.”

“How could I forget?” Kimba said. “You remind me all the time.”

To be honest, Kimba did admire Lucky’s paintings, which she did with her trunk and the help of the keepers. But she was definitely tired of hearing about it.

“The point is,” Kimba continued, “Malaika never did have that star attitude. She was eager to be our friend from the start, even when we weren’t so sure about her. So what’s her deal now?”

“I asked you first,” Lucky said. “And quit eating my food.”

DID YOU KNOW?Lucky, an African elephant at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, really is an artist. Her work has been shown in galleries, the Colorado Springs Airport and City Council chambers. Her medium is water-based tempera paint.

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