The story so far: Rafiki the gorilla and Bomani the meerkat, residents of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, are exploring the city after becoming human for one day.

On the bus, a fascinated Bomani played with the zipper on his jacket. Down, up, down, up.

He felt his nose, his ears, the top of his head. He looked at his hands, turned them over, pulled the sleeves of his jacket down to study his arms. He pulled off his shoes and socks and wiggled his toes, drawing stares from others on the bus.

“No fur,” Bomani said. “Kind of creepy, don’t you think?”

Rafiki, sitting next to Bomani, ignored him. He gazed out the window with wonderment as the city raced by.

The bus stopped at a long light, and Rafiki noticed a man standing in the median. He had a long, ragged gray beard, wore old, tattered clothes and had a faded-green backpack by his feet. The words “help a vet” were scrawled on a cardboard sign hung around his neck.

The Broadmoor already seemed like a world away, Rafiki reflected. He watched as the driver in the car next to the man gave him a quick, nervous glance, then stared straight ahead, waiting for the light to change.

 The light turned green and the bus roared ahead, leaving the man behind.

•••

Rafiki and Bomani, with the mission of seeing how and where the humans lived, got off the bus in a neighborhood in central Colorado Springs. They walked along, peering at the mostly modest homes. Christmas trees twinkled in many windows. In one yard, a giant inflatable Santa waved to them.

The question was, what now? Did they go up to a door and knock? What were they going to say? “Hey, if you’ve been to the zoo, you’ve seen our home. So how would you like to show us yours?”

They were walking down the sidewalk when they heard a voice shouting.

Rafiki stopped Bomani, holding him back with a massive arm.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Hey, can you help me?” the voice called

Rafiki and Bomani looked up and down the street, confused. There was no one around.

“No!” the voice called. “Up here!”

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