The One and Only Ivan

“No, Ruby,” I say. “This is your prison.”

poking and prodding

The lady comes again. She brings an animal doctor with an awful smell and a dangerous-looking bag.

He spends an hour with Ruby, poking and prodding. He looks at her eyes, her feet, her trunk.

When he’s done with Ruby, he enters my cage. I wish I could hide under Not-Tag like Bob.

Instead I do a nice, loud chest beat, and after a moment the doctor retreats.

“We’re going to need to put this one under,” he says.

I’m not quite sure what he means. But I strut around my cage feeling victorious anyway.

no painting

No one asks me to paint today. No one asks Ruby to perform.

There are no shows. No visitors, unless you count the protesters.

Mack stays in his office all day.

more boxes

I wake up from a long morning nap. Bob is on my belly, but he isn’t asleep. He’s watching the ring, where four men are placing a large metal box.

It’s me sized.

“What’s that?” I ask, still blurry from sleep.

Bob nuzzles my chin. “I believe that box is for you, my friend.”

I’m not sure what he means. “Me?”

“They brought in a bunch of boxes while you were sleeping. Looks to me like they’re taking the whole lot of you,” he says casually, licking a paw. “Even Thelma.”

“Taking?” I repeat. “Taking us where?”

“Well, some to the zoo, probably. Others to an animal shelter where humans will try to find them homes.” Bob shakes himself. “So. I guess all good things must come to an end, huh?”

His voice is bright, but his eyes are faraway and sad. “I’m going to miss your stomach, big guy.”

Bob shuts his eyes. He makes an odd noise in his throat.

“But … what about you?” I ask.

I can’t tell if Bob’s just pretending to sleep, but he doesn’t answer.

I gaze at the huge, shadowy box, and suddenly I understand how Ruby feels. I don’t want to go into that box.

The last time I was in a box, my sister died.

good-bye

When George and Julia come that night, George doesn’t get his mop or his broom. He gathers up his tools and belongings while Julia runs to my cage.

“This is my last night, Ivan,” she says, and she presses her palm to my glass. “Mack fired my dad.” Tears slip down her cheeks. “But the zoo lady said maybe they’ll have an opening there in a while, cleaning cages and stuff.”

I walk to the glass that separates us. I put my hand where Julia’s is, palm to palm, finger to finger. My hand is bigger, but they’re not so very different.

“I’m going to miss you,” Julia says. “And Ruby and Bob. But this is a good thing, really it is. You deserve a different life.”

I stare into her dark eyes and wish I had words for her.

Sniffling, she goes to Ruby’s cage. “Have a good life, Ruby,” she says.

Ruby makes a little rumbling sound. She puts her trunk between the bars and touches Julia’s shoulder.

“Where is Bob, anyway?” Julia asks. She looks around, under tables, in my cage, by the trash can. “Dad,” she calls, “have you seen Bob?”

“Bob? Nope,” George says.

Julia’s brow wrinkles. “What’s going to happen to him, Dad? What if Mack shuts down the whole mall?”

“He says he’s going to try to keep it open without the animals,” George says. He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I’m worried about Bob too. But he’s a survivor.”

“You know what, Dad?” Julia gets a gleam in her eye. “Bob could live with us. Mom loves dogs, and he could keep her company, and—”

“Jules, I’m not even sure I have a job yet. I may not even be able to feed you, let alone some mutt.”

“My dog-walking money—”

“Sorry, Jules.”

Julia nods. “I understand.”

She starts to leave, then runs back to my cage. “I almost forgot. This is for you, Ivan.”

She slips a piece of paper into my cage. It’s a drawing of Ruby and me.

We’re eating yogurt raisins. Ruby is playing with another baby elephant, and I’m holding hands with a lovely gorilla.

She has red lips and a flower in her hair.

I look, as I always do in Julia’s pictures, like an elegant fellow, but something is different about this drawing.

In this picture, I am smiling.

click

The door to my cage is propped open. I can’t stop staring at it.

My door. Open.

The giant box has been moved, and it’s open too. The humans have pushed it up against my doorway.

If I walk through my door, I enter their box.

The zoo lady, whose name is Maya, is here again.

Click. Yogurt raisin.

Click. Tiny marshmallow.

Click. Ripe papaya.

Click. Apple slice.

Hour after hour, click after click.

I look over at Ruby. She waits to see what I will do.

I touch the box.

I sniff the dark interior, where a ripe mango awaits.

Click, click, click.

I have to do it. Ruby is watching me from between the bars of her cage, and this box is the way out.

I step inside.

an idea

After I leave the box and step back into my cage, I get an idea, a good one.

I tell Bob he can sneak into my box with me and live at the zoo.

“Have you forgotten? I’m a wild beast, Ivan,” he says, sniffing the floor for crumbs. “I am untamed, undaunted.”