Module 4 Part 3

Donkey and Lee- It Wasn’t Meant To Be

There once was an only child named Lee, age 10, who loved to visit his best and only friend, a donkey, whom he liked to call Donkey. Donkey was property of the town zoo and lived in a fenced area all by himself to be used as a form of entertainment for visitors to see and pet. Lee would visit him often and they had become quite good friends. Donkey would listen to Lee’s talks about his hopes and dreams. Lee loved Donkey for his attentiveness, never interrupting as Lee loved to talk a lot. The boy was saddened that his only friend was always trapped in this zoo and that the two of them could never truly spend quality time with each other. Lee himself felt as if he was trapped in his home. No friends to play with, only Donkey to listen to him talk. Lee decided that the only way for him and Donkey to be free would be to run away together.

One night, when the town was asleep, Lee sneaked out of his house, wandering through the streets until he reached the zoo. Hopping the fence, he saw Donkey sound asleep. Having a small body, he carefully squeezed into Donkey’s cage, woke him, and together they dug a hole into the ground under the fence of the zoo until they were both out. Lee brought Donkey home and together they snuck into a small fishing boat that Lee’s father enjoys on the weekends.

They embarked on a great adventure to find freedom. Little did Lee know, the sea is a very dangerous place. A few hours into their journey, dark clouds began to roll in. Thunder could be heard and lightning was soon visible. Rain was pouring and the waves were powerful. The little fishing boat was lifted and lowered and pushed and pulled and poor Lee was flung from the boat into the raging sea. Donkey on the other hand had all four of his legs pointing out in all directions of the boat hanging on for dear life.

The storm settled, and Donkey was exhausted. He stood on the boat looking down into the water as if his friend would come back. Donkey was sad, lonely and afraid. He decided to get some rest and fell asleep.

He woke up a few hours later to find himself on the shore of a public beach. Beach-goers gazed at him as he shyly stared back at them. A lifeguard called a local zoo to inform them of the find and to see if they would like to take the donkey with them. The zoo was happy to accept the donkey. They quickly picked him up and brought him to the zoo and placed him in a fenced area so that people could come and look at him and pet him if they’d like. Donkey was yet again stuck in a zoo, all alone, with no family or friends. It was then that he realized that his life was meant to be in captivity. Donkey will never be free.