The story so far: Rafiki the gorilla and Bomani the meerkat, residents of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, have been turned into humans and have befriended a young boy, Micah.

Rafiki knocked on the door of Micah’s house. His aunt, Nancy, answered.

“Sorry to bother you,” Rafiki said. “We know you wanted us to leave, and we did. But we brought a present for

Micah and wondered if we could give it to  him. Or you could give it to him for us.”

“I wish I could,” Nancy said. “Micah’s missing.”

“He’s probably just out rescuing another cat,” Bomani suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Nancy said. “We had kind of an argument after I made you go away. I think Micah might have run off.”

“We’d be happy to search the neighborhood, see if we can find him,” Bomani said.

“That would be great,” Nancy said. “I’m sorry for before, but you can’t be too careful. I’m going to get on the phone, talk to the parents of some of Micah’s school friends, see if they’ve heard anything.”

•••

Rafiki and Bomani looked up and down the street.

“Now what?” Rafiki said. “It’s not like either of us have great tracking skills. I wish Elson the lion was here. Or maybe one of the wolves.”

“Well, as the prey part of the predator and prey thing, I’d just as soon not have them here,” Bomani said. “But you’ve got a point.”

Rafiki buttoned his coat. Afternoon was sliding into evening and, with the last shards of sunlight vanishing, the day’s chill had intensified. They would need to get back to the zoo before long. But Rafiki, thinking of his own child, didn’t want to leave with Micah missing.

“Wait a minute,” Rafiki said. “I think we can get some help.”

He looked up at a squirrel sitting in the same tree they had rescued Micah from earlier.

“Hey, you,” Rafiki said.

“Hey, what?” the squirrel asked. “And the name is Sheldon.”

“Sorry, Sheldon,” Rafiki said. “Listen, we’re looking for someone.”

Rafiki described Micah. The squirrel, sure enough, had seen him and pointed them in the right direction. At  the corner, a Boston terrier wearing a festive, red-and-white-striped sweater guided them further. Another block down, a crow perched on a fence post had also seen Micah.

Bomani looked up at what was now the night sky. They needed to find the boy soon.

Photo by