Penguins of Madagascar: The Haunted Zoo

Burt saw the kid dangling precarlessly over the edge of his and the other elephants' habitat. The other elephants weren't too concerned, but Burt was. The kid's mom was talking to the lady next to her, not paying attention to her toddler. He was preparing himself for whatever would happen next. He wouldn't dare to look away until the mom put the kid on safe ground again. Honestly, what was wrong with some of these humans? Why do they think it's okay to let their small children dangle their feet over several meters up? Don't they know how dangerous that could be?

Suddenly, the thing he feared most happened. The mom lost her grip on the child and the kid began to fall. Burt's eyes widened with terror. No! He was about to run over and catch the child with his trunk when the mother scooped him back up just in time and held him tight, away from danger. Burt sighed with relief. He sighed again when the mother put the kid back in his stroller and moved on with her friend.

This reminded him of a similar event that happened years ago when he was little himself. He then froze again as he remembered when it happened. It was fifteen years ago. Counting the extra days once every four years, that would mean tomorrow was the fifteenth anniversary of the incident. He began to panic, trumpeting loudly over and over, bringing attention to all of the humans, even the elephants in his enclosure.

"Burt, calm down!" Said one of the elephants. "Why are you freaking out?"

"Don't you guys know?" Burt asked. "Don't you remember what happened fifteen years ago tomorrow?" Both elephants just looked at each other. "Oh, come on you guys! I know you two remember."

Alice then hopped inside of the exhibit. She held up her hands.

"Whoa, calm down, big guy!" She said. "Whatever it is, you need to calm down. You're making a scene!"

Skipper, Kowaski, Rico and Private were just smiling and waving for the flashing cameras when they heard the trumpeting. Normally, they wouldn't mind, but it was happening over and over. They knew then that something was wrong.

"Mommy, what's going on?" A frighted little girl asked. "Why are the elephants going crazy?" The mom looked down at her.

"I don't know, sweetie." She just told her.

"Skipper?" Private questioned, looking at his leader. "Something wrong?" Kowalski thought about this.

"I wonder…" He said out loud.

"I'm sure the elephants will tire themselves out soon." Skipper assured the youngest penguin. "Just smile and wave at the nice people. The cameras will start up again." Kowalski then walked towards the entrance to their house, The penguins noticed this. "Kowalski? Where're you going?"

"I'll be right out, Skipper." The tall penguin said to him. "I have to check on something." But this confused Skipper even more.

"Are we going in to check up on him?" Private wanted to know. Skipper looked at him, smiled, and placed a flipper on Private's side.

"No." He said to him. "Kowalski said he'll be right back and I trust him."

"Okay. I trust him too then." Rico nodded.

"Yeah, yeah!" He agreed. They all turned back towards the humans.

Minutes ticked by and Kowalski still wasn't back yet. This truly worried Skipper.

"I'm going down to check up on Kowalski." He told the others. "You guys stay here and you know."

"But Skipper," Private began. "...he said that he was going to be right back, Don't you trust him?"

"I do trust him, Private. But it's been, well, I don't know how long. It's been a while. I'm just going to see if he's ok."

"Okay. You do that, Skipper. Rico and I will hold the home front until you come back." Rico nodded.

"Yeah!" He agreed. Skipper smiled.

"I appreciate that gentlemen." He was about to go down when Kowalski ran outside. "Kowalski! Why were you AWOL for so long for? I was just about to go in to see if you were okay." Kowalski looked at him.

"Sorry, Skipper. But I found out some horrible news and I wanted to make sure if it was accurate."

"What news exactly?"

"Let's just say it's that time of year again." Private grew excited about this.

"Christmas?" He asked. Kowalski gave him an annoyed look.

"No, Private. Christmas usually happens when snow is everywhere and that's not the case." Private looked disappointed.

"Oh."

"Just say it, man!" Skipper ordered Kowalski.

"Ok." Kowalski spoke. "Tomorrow is the 15th anniversary since Balram's been shot and killed." The penguins gasped.

"Egad!" Skipper cried out. "Are you sure about this?" Kowalski nodded.

"Positive."

"Um, I have to ask." Private began. The penguins all looked at him. "I know Balram's a white tiger that got shot and now haunts the zoo one day a year, but remind me again, why was he shot?"

"Animals that were nearby claimed that he was shot for no reason at all." Skipper explained. This confused Private even more.

"For no reason at all?" Private echoed. "Why?"

"They said that when a small child fell into his enclosure, he was trying to comfort the crying little one. But the humans saw this and panicked. The zookeepers shot him. But not with a special gun that makes an animal sleepy. It was a real gun that kills."

"Goodness!" Private cried out. "Why did they do that? Didn't they see that he meant no harm?"

"Apparently not. Humans do not seem to see eye to eye with us animals. If they did, Balram might still be alive today."

"How tragic!"

"How tragic indeed."

"Poor tiger. We should do something though. Not all of the zookeepers were around when it happened, so they shouldn't be punished for it and everybody else at the zoo. In fact, this haunting' s been going on long enough. It's time they should forgive and forget."

"Knowing your murderers is nothing you should forget, Private, or forgive. But you're right. It has been going on long enough. If the humans have any common sense, they should have learned their lesson."

"That's right."

"But sadly, there's nothing we can do. The damage is already done. He's coming tomorrow to haunt this place whether we like it or not." Private frowned.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. It's a pity through."

"That it is, Private."

That night when the zoo was closed and locked up for the night, the penguins were enjoying their nighttime swim around their habitat. That is when Skipper saw Marlene scurry past them. He hopped out of the pool, so did the others.

"Where are you going, Marlene?" He asked the otter. Marlene looked at him.

"Burt was freaking out earlier." She told them.

"So we heard and we know why."

"And I think this haunting and scaring the humans have been going on long enough."

"That's what I think too." Private piped up. Marlene ignored him and continued. "And I think I know what to do. So I'm going to go out there and…"

"Wait, hold up." Skipper interrupted. "Go out there? In the wild, beyond the zoo?" Marlene nodded.

"The wild is out there, beyond the zoo, so yes."

"Don't you remember what happens when you go out there?"

"I have to do this before he haunts the place, Skipper. So I don't have time for…"

"You turn into your feral self, Marlene. You transform into a savage beast and go crazy." Marlene looked at him like he was crazy and burst out laughing.

"Skipper," The otter began. "You're cute, but I I can take care of myself. I'm a full grown otter."

"As much I like to believe that,..." Skipper started. "I cannot. You going out in the wild, turning into Beast Mode, and us and even the humans dragging you back here each time, proves that you don't have control over it."

"Skipper's right, Marlene." Private stated. "I've seen your 'wild side'. It's not a pretty sight." Rico nodded in agreement.

"We're only doing this because we are your friends and we care about you." Kowalski told her. "We don't want anything bad to happen to you. You may think you can do this, but sometimes it's best to listen to others' advice, like right now."

"Guys," Marlene spoke. "...that's really sweet, but…" She then thought about this and sighed. "Okay." The penguins were happy about this.

"So you won't go?" Private asked, hope in his voice.

"Do you guys know how to talk to the dead?" All of the penguins were confused about this.

"Sweet, naive Marlene." Skipper said to her. "I love...I mean we love you, not in the romantic sense of course, but you have obviously lost it. You can't talk to the dead, no one can."

"But you can, Skipper. I've seen it with my own eyes. The humans have this ritual that they do where they can."

"I don't get it, Marlene." Private said. "How do you see the humans make this ritual when you can't control yourself when you're a beast, no offense?"

"I'm still self aware of my surroundings."

"I guess that makes sense." Kowalski stated. "I mean we don't 100% know what's going on in Marlene's mind when she's beyond the zoo."

"That's right." Marlene agreed. "You don't, and I'll appreciate it if you just go by my word instead of just judging me without any concrete evidence."

"Okay." Skipper said. "We'll try to not be too judgmental of you in the future." Marlene smiled.

"Thank you Skipper, that's all I want."

"Anyways, we'll go with you, but why are you wanting to talk to the dead? Who do you want to talk about?" Private was about to ask something of Skipper, but chose not to.

"I want to talk to Balram to try to convince him not to haunt the zoo tomorrow."

"And you think that you can do that?" Private wanted to know. "You barely know him. He was long dead before you came here. In fact, I don't know much about him ether."

"It's worth a shot." Marlene said with a shrug, "Communication is key after all. Plus, considering you all just learned about this, I bet no one talked to him from the grave before."

"She got us on that, Skipper." Kowalski told him. "He might not stop if he's not talked to. We won't know if we don't try."

"You're right on that." Skipper agreed. He looked at Marlene. "It'll be risky if you go out there, Marlene. But at the same time, someone has to talk some sense into Balram, but you are the only one that knows of this and possibly will know where to look. As stated before, we'll go with you and make sure that you're safe." Marlene smiled.

"Okay. Follow me then. We have a limited amount of time to get this done " So the penguins followed the otter beyond the zoo. Private still wanted to say something to Skipper, but once again, chose not to.

The penguins caught up to Marlene. They were on top of a small grassy hill looking above a cemetery.

"What are we doing here?" Private wondered out loud. Marlene didn't answer. She just ran down towards it. "Not again." The penguins once again took after her. "Where is she taking us, Skipper?"

"Who knows?" Skipper said to him. "But this is the only way we'll find out, by following her." Private sighed.

"Right, I suppose." Marlene stopped to scan the cemetery. Skipper stopped with the other penguins to look at her.

"What are you doing, Marlene?" He questioned.

"Trying to see if the humans are doing it." The penguins all gasped in shock, except for Private who was confused.

"Marlene! I didn't know you were that kind of otter. Private's here." Marlene turned to him.

"Not the dirty kind!" She said. "I meant doing it, you know,..."

"What are the humans doing?" Private wanted to know.

"...some kind of ritual."

"Oh!" Skipper spoke. "That kind of doing it!"

"Awkwarrrddddd!" Rico stated.

"What?" Private asked. "Won't anyone tell me what is going on?" But he was ignored. "Hello? Anybody?"

"Since there are no humans doing that ritual,..." Marlene began. "I guess I'll have to try to memorize it."

"Do you remember?" Skipper wanted to know. Marlene ushered him to be quiet.

"Let me think." She thought this through. She snapped her paws.

"AHA! That's it!"

"What's it, Marlene?" Skipper questioned her. "You know, we can't tell what you are thinking every time so you have to tell us." Marlene pondered out loud again.

"I wonder…"

"Wonder what? Marlene, it's either you got it or don't. What is it?" The otter looked at him.

"Do you know where Balram is buried?" Skipper was caught off guard by this question.

"What?!" He asked. "How the heck should I know?"

"You're right. I don't know why you would know something like that. It was stupid of me."

"It wasn't stupid." Private said to the otter. "You didn't know. It was as simple as that." Marlene smiled at Private. Leave it to him to think the best in everybody and dismiss their flaws, Private smiled back.

"I can help you guys." They heard someone say. They turned around and saw a raven perched on a branch.

"You know where the zoo's deceased animals are buried?" Marlene asked.

"Sure." The raven answered. "In the zoo's cemetery."

"The zoo has a cemetery?" Kowalski questioned.

"You didn't know? Typical. This is what it's like when you live on the outside; you get to see a whole lot more."

"Then show us, creepy bird." Skipper said to the raven.

"I will. Oh and my name is Ely." Ely started flapping and flew off. The other animals followed him.

"Uh, Skipper?" Private asked him as they were waddling. "How does Ely know about the cemetery and what exactly is a cemetery?"

"I'm smart, and I don't even know the answer to that." Kowalski said. "I'm so ashamed that this bird is smarter than me."

"Don't worry, guys." Skipper said to his friends. ""All will be answered soon enough. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so, Skipper." Private spoke. "I don't like it when I'm confused."

"Here it is." Ely stated as they entered a small cemetery. "The zoo cemetery. This is where all of your deceased friends are. Sorry to be so morbid there, but it's true. That and it is who I am." He changed the subject. "Anything else before I fly off and possibly not see you guys ever again?"

"No." Marlene said to him. "That should be good enough. Thanks, Ely. We can take it from here."

"Then whatever you are trying to do, good luck!" And with that, he flew off. The zoo animals all bid farewell to him and shouted their thanks.

"So, now what, Marlene?" Private asked her. "We're at the cemetery, so what's the next step?"

"Well, when the humans did their little ritual, they all held hands and were surrounded by fire." All of the penguins were confused once again.

"Fire, Marlene?" Skipper asked. "How in the world are we going to get fire?"

"Follow me." Marlene walked away.

"Follow you? But we just got here. Marlene!" He sighed when he saw Marlene was ignoring him and just going off. "Follow me, boys. We better see what Marlene wants." And so they all followed after her.

"AHA!" Marlene cried out as the animals were in front of a hotel bonfire. People were roasting marshmallows and having their s'mores. This confused the penguins.

"Is this the fire you were talking about?" Skipper asked Marlene. "Because the humans are using it. They got to it first."

"Skipper's right, Marlene." Private stated. "We can't steal their fire. And even if we do, it'll freak them out and they'll call other humans to take us away and back to the zoo." Marlene looked at the flightless birds.

"Guys," She began. "We're not going to take the whole fire. Just bits of it. But you're right. The humans will freak out and call other humans. That's why we need a distraction." She looked at Private. "And you're it, Private." Private frowned.

"Knew it. I knew you guys wouldn't let me handle fire."

"You nailed it on the head, Private." Skipper agreed. "And we need a cute distraction. And this is the perfect opportunity to." Private sighed.

"Very well." He then looked determined. "I love my cuteness."

"That's what I like to hear." Skipper said.

"Yeah!" Rico added.

Private went out from hiding after Marlene told him and the others about the plan. A teenager looked up from her phone and gushed.

"OMG, Mom!" She cried, getting her phone ready to snap a picture. "Look at the cute penguin!" More of the humans looked and stopped at what they were doing to marvel at the small bird. While they were all by him, Private's friends all grabbed skewers and lit them by the fire. When they were done, they walked back.

"Private." Marlene whispered to him. "We're done. You can stop being distractingly cute now." But when Private refused to stop posing for the humans, Marlene sighed and dragged him away by the flipper. Confused people watched as an otter was dragging away a penguin.

"So," Marlene said as soon as the animals were out of sight from the humans. "We go back to the graveyard and start the ritual." The penguins nodded and followed her.

"We're almost back to the zoo and Marlene hasn't gone into her savage beast form yet." Skipper observed as they were nearing the zoo.

"It's just like she said before," Kolwaski stated. She had proven that she got it 100% controlled."

"Thank goodness too." Private chipped in. "I didn't want to have to handle that, or ever again really."

"Yeah." Rico agreed. Marlene then stopped in her tracks, puzzling the penguins.

"Marlene?" Skipper questioned out loud. "We have to go. Why did you stop like that? Come on, the sooner, the better." But Marlene didn't budge. "Marlene?" Skipper put a flipper on the otter. Marlene then turned around, forming at the mouth. Murder was in her eyes. The penguins gasped. Marlene was in her feral form!

"I guess we spoke too soon." Private observed.

"Guess she didn't have it under control as she thought." Kowalski observed. Skipper sighed.

"And we were so close to the zoo too." He said to no one in particular. Marlene growled at the pengiuns and lunged at them. They all screamed as they ran away from her.

"Somebody needs to take away her fire." Kowalski said. "She's in no condition to carry fire."

"I agree." Skipper agreed. He looked at Private. "Private, grab her fire." The younger penguin was shocked to hear this.

"Me?" He questioned out loud. "You're going to let me handle fire? Something that might burn my flippers off?"

"Yes, Private." Skipper told him. "All of us have too much fire ourselves. We can't have any more. We're almost back. Just promise to be careful."

"I promise." Marlene lunged at Skipper again. Skipper once again screamed and ran away. "Private!" Private nodded.

"Right!" He waddled towards the otter and took the skewers out of her paws. Marlene glared at him.

"Now, RUN!" Skipper shouted at Private.

"You don't need to tell me twice." Private said and ran off as Marlene chased after him. Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico all waddled after them.

As soon as they were back on zoo grounds again, Marlene went back to normal. The otter was confused.

"What happened?" She wanted to know.

"Yay!" Private cheered. "You're back to normal, Marlene!" Marlene frowned.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, Private. I thought for certain that I had it under control."

"That's okay, Marlene. The main thing is that you're back to your sweet, normal self and nobody got hurt." Marlene smiled at that. The other penguins caught up to them.

"Okay, Private." Skipper said to him. "Since Marlene is back to her usual, non-crazy self, you have to return the fire back to her now." Private was disappointed.

"Aw, really, Skipper? I thought you trusted me enough to carry the fire back to the graveyard."

"I do trust you." Skipper assured him. "But now that Marlene is back, she can do it again. I just don't want to burn your flippers off." Private sighed in defeat. He gave the fire skewers to the otter. "Here, Marlene. Glad that you're feeling like yourself again." Marlene grabbed them from him.

"Thanks, Private." She looked at the others. "And don't feel bad. Skipper is just looking out for you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now let's raise or talk to the dead or whatever." So, off they went back to the graveyard.

"Now," Marlene began as they huddled in a circle back in the zoo's graveyard. "We may not have everything for the ritual that the humans had, but hopefully we can still make it work. Now we all stand in a circle like we are now, hold flippers and paws, and close our eyes. Let me do the talking." Private looked at Skipper who was next to Marlene.

"Ooh!" He cried with delight. "Skipper is going to like holding onto your paws Marlene."

"Ooh, la, la!" Rico chimed it.

"Can it you guys!" Skipper snapped at them. "That is so immature!"

"Sorry, Skipper." Private said, but he wasn't sorry at all. They all held flippers and paws and shut their eyes.

"Balram." Marlene spoke out loud. "We are all here to talk to you and try to convince you to stop your haunting of the Central Park Zoo tomorrow. Do you hear me? You must stop your haunting of the…" Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up and blew the fire away. Kowalski noticed this by opening his eyes.

"Uh, Marlene," He began. "I think you already know this, but the fire went out." The others also opened their eyes and saw that the fire was out too.

"Where did that sudden wind come from?" Private wanted to know. "It wasn't windy until seconds ago."

"Tell me," Said a deep voice. "Why do you want me to cease my haunting of the Central Park Zoo tomorrow?" The animals all looked around. There was no other animal in sight. They were the only ones in the graveyard. "TELL ME!" The wind picked up again, only this time, it was much stronger. All of the animals soared backwards toward the stone wall. When they all looked up again, they all gasped. There, standing in front of them was a glowing albino tiger.

"Balram?" Skipper questioned. "Is that you?"

"Hold it!" Kowalski said. "Hold everything! That can't be Balram. He's dead."

"This is his ghost." Marlene exclaimed. "We wanted to talk to him beyond the grave, remember?"

"I do remember." Kowalski admitted. "But I'm a penguin of science. And science says that ghosts don't exist. I'm sorry, Marlene, but I was just playing with you, but this is going too far. I'm putting my foot down and putting a stop to this fantasy before it's too late."

"This isn't a fantasy, Kowalski." Marlene told him. "This is Balram's ghost. He's standing or floating rather right there."

"Marlene's right." Skipper agreed. "Open your eyes, Kowalski. If that's not Balram's ghost, then who is in the graveyard with us?"

"I don't know, Skipper," Kowalski said to him. "But despite albinos being rare, that could very well be another white tiger standing in front of us. It's not a ghost and I refuse to say that it is because it's not."

"Want to bet?!" The tiger let out a big growl and pounced at Kowalski. Kowalski screamed as the others ran away. The tiger went right through him. Kowalski gasped.

"The tiger went right through me! There's only one explanation for this." He screamed again."IT'S A GHOST!" Skipper slapped Kowalski across the cheek.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" He ordered. "We know he's a ghost. We were expecting it."

"Oh, right, Skipper. Sorry, couldn't help myself." Marlene stepped up to the tiger ghost.

"Balram," She began. "I know you are hurt for what the humans did to you all of those years ago. You were only trying to protect that kid, but the humans saw you as a threat. It was a great misunderstanding and you couldn't make them see that. It's not fair, I get that, I really do. But revenge isn't the answer. It's not going to solve the problem. It's only going to scare the humans."

"But that is what I want." Balram told her. "I want them to feel the hurt. They hurt my feelings when they didn't trust me with that human kid. I wasn't hurting him, so of course they would be uneasy with me. My species is known to be dangerous to humans, so one who is actually not is unheard of to them. So they just assume, and that was wrong on their part because it wasn't true at all. You can never assume and I am the proof why. The next animal who is deemed 'dangerous', they are going to do the same thing. The cycle will continue and it'll never get better because the humans are too stupid to realize we animals have feelings just as much as they do."

"But we know the humans too. And we know not all humans are the same. Heck, lots of them weren't even around that day."

"Nah, all humans are the same."

"How do you know? Isn't that an assumption? Didn't you just say…" Balram became angry.

"I know what I said! It's complicated, alright? You weren't there, none of you were! So stop telling me what to do. I'm going to haunt the zoo tomorrow like I do every year and for all eternity since they'll never learn, and no one is going to stand in my way!" He then vanished into thin air.

"Well, we tried." Private said. He looked at Marlene. "Sorry, Marlene. I guess there's no convincing a ghost, or this one at least. You did your best though. Can we go home now?" Marlene sighed.

"I guess we'll have to. I'm really sorry that I got you into this guys. I really wanted to convince him."

"I know, Marlene." Skipper said to her. "But it sadly wasn't good enough. Now let's all go back to the zoo and get ready for the haunting." They were about to go back when Private spoke up.

"No." He said firmly. The penguins and otter all looked at him.

"What?" Rico asked.

"If there's a will, there's a way. I'm not going to let us come all of this way and just give up. I don't like that."

"But we can't convince him." Skipper said to him. "Weren't you even paying attention?"

"Yes, I was, Skipper. I was paying deep enough attention and there is one story that you didn't tell that might've changed his mind."

"Oh, really and what's that?"

"His youth and how he got here." The penguins and otter were confused.

"Private, what are you talking about? You're speaking nonsense." Private shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I'm talking in plain English. You just say it's nonsense because you don't understand it."

"He has a point there, Skipper." Kowalski told him. Skipper sighed.

"All right." He decided. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Private was excited over this.

"Yay; you won't regret this, Skipper! Now Balram…" He looked at where Balram once was and was puzzled. "Uh, where's Balram?"

"He's gone." Marlene informed him. "Went back to the ghost world."

"But we didn't convince him."

"We can get him back."

"How, by doing the whole summoning thing again?" Marlene nodded. Private sighed. "I was afraid of that." He then was determined. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's do it!" They all headed off again, except for Skipper.

"Wait a minute!" They looked back at him.

"What is it, Skipper?" Kowalski wanted to know.

"We can't all go and risk Marlene turning into a beast again. Marlene, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to stay here."

"No, I don't, Skipper." Marlene said to him. "I know I said I could handle it last time, and obviously didn't. But this time I have a good feeling it'll work. I got it under contr…" She saw Skipper's expression and sighed. "Fine. I'll stay behind." Skipper smiled.

"Great; Private, you stay with her. Rico, Kowalski and I have this under control." Private started to protest.

"But...but...you need me, Skipper. Who is going to be the cute distraction for the humans?" Skipper thought about this.

"Hmmm, you got a point there, soldier." Private was proud of himself. There was no way now that Skipper was going to turn this down. The leader penguin looked at Rico. "Rico, you think you could be cute?" Private was shocked about this as Rico nodded.

"Ya, ya!" He replied. "Kaboom, kaboom!"

"Oh and Rico? Explosives are not cute." Rico was disappointed about this.

"Aw!" Private began to protest.

"But, Skipper, I am your best option. Rico can't…"

"No buts, Private." Skipper said to him. This is a three penguin job. You and Marlene will be safe here away from handling all of that dangerous fire."

"But you guys are handling fire and I did it before, remember, so why can't I…" Skipper put his flippers on his sides.

"Because I'm the leader, that's why."

"Yes, but…" Private saw his expression and that was enough. "Yes, Skipper. I'll stay here with Marlene." Skipper smiled.

"Perfect. We won't be long." And with that, he left with Kowalski and Rico.

"How did he become leader in the first place?" Marlene asked Private. He shrugged.

"I have no idea. I think it happened before I hatched though."

Skipper, Rico and Kowalski all came back and they all with Marlene and Private did the ritual again to summon up Balram once again. Balram appeared and was disappointed that it was the same animals who summoned him minutes ago.

"Ugh, you five again!" He said with a groan. "What do you want? It better be good."

"Balram," Private began. "Do you remember when you were young?"

"Yeah, what's your point? Doesn't everyone? Where is this going?"

"Now you were long gone before I showed up, but I heard this story from the other animals."

"What story?"

"The story was when you first arrived here."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"According to them, you were terrified of coming here, correct?" He sighed, not wanting to admit it, but did anyway.

"Yes."

"Back then, this was a whole new strange place for you with people you never met before. You were so shy and you didn't think you would fit in, so you decided to run away. But before you did, a nice human picked you up and what did she do to you?"

"Told me to not be afraid, cuddled me and rocked me back and forth while singing a soothing lullaby?" Private nodded.

"That's right. And you trusted the humans ever since and weren't afraid of anything."

"That was a nice human. I wonder what happened to her."

"You trusted her because she wasn't like the others and you can trust again."

"But that was when I was little. Once I grew up, I was more of a threat. I could see it in their eyes every time they passed by my enclosure. It wasn't until that fateful day until they showed me their true colors. They just needed the right time to do it and that was the right time to get rid of me by taking me out." Private shook his head.

"If they were scared of you, they wouldn't have gotten you in the first place."

"I guess you're right about that, but why did they shoot me?"

"They were just scared like you were when you were young. They did the only thing that made sense to them at the time. If they thought about it a bit more, perhaps they'd have never done it. When people and animals are mad or scared, they never intend to hurt the ones they love. They just do it without thinking."

"That's true. All right. Tomorrow, I won't haunt the zoo or ever again. I learned from my lesson." The others looked hopeful, especially Private.

"Really?! Because that'll be just peaches then." Balram grew mad again.

"No, I'll never stop haunting this place every year." Everyone gasped. "Trusting humans? Hah! Balony!" He laughed until he vanished once again. Everyone was disappointed, especially Private.

"Cheer up, Private." Skipper said to him. "I know you didn't want to give up, but sometimes you have to know when to quit. It's not a bad thing."

"I guess." Private said. "Still I hate to give up, but I guess we have no other choice. I thought that story would've convinced him."

"Me too. Now we got to survive tomorrow. We do it every year, so why would tomorrow be any different? We just have to hope for the very best."

"I guess."

The next day, right before the zoo opened, Alice saw a familiar elderly face walk through the front gate. She couldn't believe it. It was Cheryl Mast. Now Cheryl was long gone before Alice came to the zoo, but she recognized her from one of the many picture frames on the wall inside. She went over to her.

"Cheryl Mast!" Alice began and offered her her hand to shake. "I'm Alice. I recognize you from the picture frame inside. You don't know me, but I came after you retired. It's funny because I've been told that you died." Cheryl smiled and shook her hand.

"Hello, Alice. It's a pleasure to meet you. Yes, I'm back after fifteen years. And I am dead. I'm a ghost." Alice looked at her like she lost it.

"O…Kay. " She was about to say more when Cheryl continued. "I'm surprised. The zoo looks almost exactly the same."

"Well, fifteen years isn't quite that long of a time."

"I suppose you have a point there. Still it's good to be back, I missed this place." Alice looked to see if anybody else was there, but the woman was alone. She looked back at Cheryl.

"So are your husband and grandkids coming?" She wanted to know.

"Oh. I didn't have any kids and I'm single, always have been. I live alone."

"So you came here to the zoo by yourself."

"Yes." She then seemed offended. "Don't judge me. Old people like me can have fun too." Alice waved her hands in defense.

"I didn't say that you couldn't. No one's judging. People should do whatever they want no matter their age. It's their life."

"Now, where's that Balram?" Alice was shocked.

"Balram, the dead tiger?" She frowned. "I hate to tell you. Balram's dead. He's been dead for fifteen years. It was all over the news. You didn't know about it?"

"Oh, I remember. It happened fifteen years today in fact. That's why I'm here because this place is haunted every year on this day, correct?"

"That's what they say. But I don't believe in all that balony."

"I'm here to sing to it's ghost. I sang to it as a cub to help calm his fears when he first arrived to the zoo. I figure if I sing to its spirit, it'll calm down. Forgive, and not bother the zoo ever again." Alice looked at her like she was crazy.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm quite serious. Now, as you excuse me, I'm going to the graveyard now."

"Okay. Whatever. It's your life; go ahead! I won't judge."

"Thank you." She then left.

This lady's nuts. Alice thought to herself. She left as well.

Marlene's otter friend, Marchelle, ran to the penguin habitat. The penguins noticed this and went to her.

"What is it?" Skipper asked her when he saw the concerned look on Marchelle's face.

"It's Marlene." She informed them. "The zoo's about to open and she hasn't come back yet. I haven't seen her since last night." All of the penguins were shocked at this.

"What?!" Skipper questioned out loud. Kowalski tapped him. He looked at him.

"You don't think." He told him.

"I don't know, but it's won't hurt to check it out." Marchelle wondered what they were talking about. Skipper turned to her again. "Don't you worry, Marchelle. We'll get Marlene back in her and your habitat before the zoo opens. You have my word." He ordered for the others to go with him and so they did. "You just go on back, Machelle." Marchelle wondered what that was about, but just shrugged it off and went back to the otter pond.

Marlene spent the whole night at the graveyard. She was sleeping on Balram's tombstone when Cheryl arrived. The penguins just got there too. They were hiding in some nearby bushes. Skipper sighed.

"I was afraid Marlene would be here." He said.

"But who's that lady?" Private asked. Skipper shrugged.

"Beats me, Private. All I know is that Marlene is here and that's good enough for me." They all looked forwards once again, wondering what was going to happen next.

Marlene woke up as she saw Cheryl approach the grave.

"Hello." She greeted her. "I see you are friends with this tiger here too, correct?" Marlene quickly hid behind the grave, afraid of what this new and unfamiliar human will do to her. "It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to talk and sing to Balram if you don't mind." Marlene was confused. This human knew Balram? "You can stay here with me if you'd like. I won't mind the company and I'm sure Balram won't mind either." Marlene came out slowly. The woman petted her and she looked back at the grave.

"What's going on, Skipper?" Private wanted to know. "Does Marlene trust this woman because she trusts her? She doesn't know her, does she?"

"Too many questions, young Private." Skipper said to him. "And yet I don't have the answer to any of them."

"Should we intervene?" Kowalski asked.

"Kaboom, kaboom?" Rico also asked, bringing out two sticks of dynamite from out of nowhere. Skipper shook his head.

"No, boys." He said to them. "Let's see where this goes first." Rico looked disappointed as he put away his dynamite.

"Balram," Cheryl began. "I don't know if you remember me, but I remember you. I was your caretaker back when I was working at the Central Park Zoo. You were so scared as a cub. I use to cuddle you and sing to you remember? You liked it when I did that. It calmed you down. I did it every night, despite all of my coworkers and boss hating on the idea. I still did it every time right up to my retirement. It was worth it, seeing you happy. I know you aren't on the best of terms with humans right now, hence why you are haunting them every year, correct? But I'm here to tell you that it's okay. Not all humans are bad. Take me for example. You just have to earn their trust. Trust can surprise you in the end. I know you don't understand me, so I'll just shut up and sing that song for you." And with that, she began to sing.

"Things give you a scare." She began. "And that's okay. But just know that at least someone can bring you great care. You are on your way. So don't fear. Love for you will be here. With us you should always have faith. Some things might go wrong. But just listen to this little song. Because we'll always make you feel safe."

After her song, the penguins had tears in their eyes, even Marlene.

"That lady has the most beautiful singing voice I ever heard." Private observed.

"Yeah." Rico agreed with a nod. "Beautiful."

"Farewell, my friend." Cheryl said to the grave once more. "I hope you found that as enlightening as when I sang it to you those many years ago and I do hope it was enough to change your mind on us humans." And with that, she left. The penguins waddled to Marlene.

"I'm surprised that that human didn't freak you out." Skipper said to her.

"I'm surprised too." Marlene stated. "And that I trusted her to pet me."

"That just proves that humans can be trusted." Private spoke.

"I hope that Balram saw." Marlene added.

"I'm sure he did." Skipper told her. "As well as heard that lovely song. Now let's go back. The zoo's about to open and Marchelle is worried about you, Marlene."

"Okay." The otter agreed. With that, all of the living animals all walked back to the zoo.

"I guess that human got through to Balram." Private said after the zoo closed for the day. Skipper smiled.

"Guess so." They then saw Marchelle again. "Anything wrong, Marchelle?" She looked at the penguins.

"Marlene went off again." She said. "I asked where she went off too, but she didn't answer. Do you know where she went?"

"I have a pretty good idea. Go back, Marchelle. We once again got it." Marchelle nodded and walked back to her exhibit. The penguins then swam off and waddled off on their own.

Just as Skipper had predicted to himself, Marlene was in the zoo's graveyard. The otter was looking at Balram's grave.

"Thank you." She said to the grave. "Thank you for forgiving them and not haunting the zoo." She was about to go when Balram's ghost form appeared.

"You're welcome." The otter jumped with a scream. The penguins all went to her side.

"I thought only a ritual summoned you." Private said to the very pale tiger. The ghost animal laughed.

"Nope!" He said. "I'm a ghost. I come and go as I please, even in the daylight."

"Oh." Skipper said. "Well. We came to say our thanks too,."

"And if you heard my answer to the otter, it's the same."

"We did."

"What made you change your mind?" Marlene asked.

"That lady." Balram replied. "She was my caretaker when I was alive. She was a nice and caring human. It's been so long. I missed her and never thought I'd see her again. She taught me that I could trust other humans. When she left and one human shot me, I guess I forgot and went back to square one."

"Guess it was a good thing that she came when she did then." Kowalski observed. Balram nodded.

"Guess it was." A brief silence followed. Skipper then broke it.

"Well, we better go then." He told the ghost.

"I'll be here." Balram responded. Skipper nodded.

"Good to know." He looked at Marlene. "Marchelle is worried about you." Marlene nodded. They all bid farewell to the spirit one last time and then left. The tiger vanished, going back into the spirit world.

"How do you guys feel about having a ghost as a friend?" Private asked his friends as they all were now back into the zoo. "It's a little creepy if you ask me."

"Yeah." Skipper agreed. "Perhaps. But at least we know that Balram still lives on."

"I suppose you're right." His friends all agreed as they all walked on.

Up in the twilight sky, a ghost of an elderly lady floated above the graveyard. She smiled to herself.

"That's my good kitty." She said to herself. "Putting your faith in the humans again. Trust is a beautiful thing. Looks like my job here is done." And with that, she herself, vanished into thin air.