Marooned... in my own little world. Marooned... and floating on an inner tube. It was my sanctuary and no one could take that away from me. Marooned... alone and yet not alone.
As I lay there on my back, floating in the water, staring up at the clouds I am not alone. Familiar shapes start to form and my first adventure begins. Today is an exciting day, one of my favorites. I am up in the clouds playing with animals. I am a zookeeper and my zoo is very active today. I have some new animals in my zoo too. Ones that are extinct and ones that are shy. Lizards and snakes, spiders and even a beetle.
A huge butterfly begins to take shape and I climb up onto its body and it begins to flutter around the rest of the zoo. We fly high above the giraffe's necks as they stand tall. We move past the elephants taking their morning bath. Mama elephant baths her baby, making sure to wash even behind the ears with a poofy blast of cloud.
Next we soar above the bear cage. A frisky baby bear plays with its' mothers' stubby tail. The tiny bear rushes back and forth as she waves it too and fro. She watches with contentment as her child finally cuddles up to her and passes out from exhaustion. She licks its' head and draws it close to her as if to tell the other bears that this little creature is hers.
My butterfly is beginning to tire from my weight. I don't want it to stop, I am having fun. My zoo is a special zoo, and I don't get to see it from this view very often. I don't want to burden the butterfly so I allow it to land.
It drops me off on the top of a mountain and then melts into the sky the way it came. Up on the mountain's edge I can see my whole zoo. Of course we have monkeys and I can see they are up to no good as usual. One monkey has made it to the top of a tree and is trying to swing to the edge of its cage. It grabs and grabs for the edge but can't quite make it. I am glad it is secure in its cage. The world is not a safe place for a mischievous monkey.
Off to my left are antelope and deer. They lay under shade trees out of the suns reach. It is hot for them today and the flies and gnats swarm above their heads. I can see ears twitching to shoo them away. It doesn't seem to bother the deer and the antelope that they have to shoo flies away all day. They are content to sleep on the soft grass that is their cloud.
Over on my right are the water animals. Those are my favorite. I could watch the otters all day swimming in their tank. I see an otter scoop up a shellfish in the water and use a rock to open it wide, and then devour the contents. Pieces of the uneaten shellfish float in the water and other otter are soon gathering to eat the scraps. They are such playful creatures.
Behind me I can see birds of all shapes and sizes. With wings that span the length of my whole body. I have birds from all over the world and their colors number as the stars.
It is about now that I wonder how I am to get off this mountain. The butterfly has long since disappeared as quickly as it came.
As I am looking at the birds, it is as if one of them has read my mind. I see a form take shape and it comes to my rescue. I will be taken home by beautiful swan. Its long graceful neck feels like silk as I climb on to its' back and smooth its feathers before I sit. Big huge wings stretch out pass the mountain edge and soon we are gliding to the ground. Back to my sanctuary of the marooned inner tube.
I hear the dinner bell calling me and it is time to leave my travels for today. I will return tomorrow, and I look forward to a having another grand adventure.
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