The Zoo at the Edge of the World by Eric Kahn Gale

feeding times—but only if you’ve got the stomach for it!
    Â 

11.
    I t was the monkey fingers in my nose that woke me up.
    â€œPah!”
    I opened my mouth to breathe and spotted Kenji sitting on my chest. Her tail was curled round her legs, and her arms were stretched out toward me, her fingertips disappearing into my nose. I shook my head and swatted at her. She flipped backward onto my belly and then crawled back up my chest. She screeched at me, but not in a language I could understand.
    Disappointed, but a little relieved, I thought maybe it had been a dream.
    Then I remembered to pull the cotton from my ears.
    â€œâ€”and Blue Boy said, ‘Oh yes, he did. I heard it!’” Kenji went on, “but Kenji doesn’t believe him because that stinky old chimp always lies to Kenji. But then it was Trébone who said, ‘Oh yes, it’s true!’ and Kenji always listens to Trébone—”
    Kenji was yapping at me, jumping up and down on my chest and tugging her mustache.
    â€œâ€”but Kenji had to know, so Kenji came here to wake you up, Master Marlin! So you can tell Kenji!”
    Her little hands were gripping my eyebrows, and her mouth was less than an inch from my face.
    I broke out laughing.
    â€œAhh!” Kenji howled. “It’s true! You’re a talking boy, Master Marlin!”
    Kenji hopped off my chest and launched herself onto the bookshelf at the opposite wall. She scaled it and leaped like a furry cannonball onto my stomach.
    â€œOw!” I laughed, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck.
    â€œThis is crazy!” Kenji shouted happily.
    â€œI know it is!”
    â€œKenji always thought you were so dumb, Master Marlin!”
    â€œWhat?”
    She laughed and tugged at her mustache. “Kenji’s sorry, but it’s true!”
    â€œWell, I thought you were dumb,” I said back.
    Kenji froze. She pulled her mustache down past her shoulders.
    â€œThat does not make any sense.” She cocked her head. “Why would Kenji be dumb?”
    â€œErm, I guess it doesn’t?” I said, trying to make her feel better. “You’re probably the smartest monkey I know.”
    Her face lit up. “Okay! You’re the smartest person Kenji knows, too, Master Marlin!”
    Kenji was my oldest friend. As strange and disarming as hearing an animal talk still was for me, I realized I’d been talking to them all for years, especially Kenji, and it was second nature to me. This felt even more natural than before.
    â€œSo you talked to the jaguar, Master Marlin?”
    â€œYeah, it was unbelievable,” I said. “He told me he did this with magic. And then I cut my hand, and he healed it!” I showed Kenji the fair, untouched skin on my palm. It still felt raw and pulsing with energy.
    â€œThis isn’t good, Master Marlin.” Kenji said, backing away from it. “Magic is dangerous. Once it gets in you, you can’t get it out.”
    â€œI don’t know if I want it out,” I said, marveling at my hand. “This is amazing. We’re talking, but I don’t even know how I’m doing it.”
    I tried to pay attention to the actual sounds I was making. Stutterers have to pay very close attention to sounds—they can be tricky things. Talking to Kenji now, I recognized that I wasn’t speaking English and neither was she. But I wasn’t hooting either, or screeching or howling like she was. I tried to say something to Kenji while focusing entirely on the sounds my mouth was making.
    â€œKk-kkk—Kooo—” I stuttered.
    A disturbing development.
    â€œWhat did you say?” Kenji looked confused.
    â€œI really don’t understand this, Kenj,” I said, trying not to overthink it. “When I speak to you, you understand what I say?”
    â€œUh . . . yeah, Master Marlin! What have we just been talking about?”
    â€œI mean the sounds,