Chapter One
Even though it was colder than a polar bear''s toes, the New York Zoo was packed with visitors.
"Tonight hundreds of New Yorkers have gathered to mourn the tragic disappearance of their beloved zoo animals," the news anchor reported.
The question on everybody''s mind was, where are they now?
Where was Alex the lion with his winning roar and fancy footwork? What had happened to his friends—Gloria the hippo, Marty the zebra, and Melman the giraffe—after the ship carrying them back to Africa had disappeared?
But the answer didn''t lie on the island of Manhattan. It lay on the faraway isle of Madagascar!
"I like to move it, move it!" Alex sang as he shook his mane.
"He likes to move it, move it!" Gloria sang, too, as she shook everything!
Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman were having a major blast. Madagascar had turned out to be a lot more fun than they had first thought it would be, when their shippin
Chapter One
Even though it was colder than a polar bear''s toes, the New York Zoo was packed with visitors.
"Tonight hundreds of New Yorkers have gathered to mourn the tragic disappearance of their beloved zoo animals," the news anchor reported.
The question on everybody''s mind was, where are they now?
Where was Alex the lion with his winning roar and fancy footwork? What had happened to his friends—Gloria the hippo, Marty the zebra, and Melman the giraffe—after the ship carrying them back to Africa had disappeared?
But the answer didn''t lie on the island of Manhattan. It lay on the faraway isle of Madagascar!
"I like to move it, move it!" Alex sang as he shook his mane.
"He likes to move it, move it!" Gloria sang, too, as she shook everything!
Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman were having a major blast. Madagascar had turned out to be a lot more fun than they had first thought it would be, when their shipping crates washed up on the beach.
The jungle was ruled by a flashy lemur named King Julien. Music pulsated through the trees as happy lemurs swung on vines, danced, and blew kisses in a glorious farewell party for their new friends.
It was time to hop aboard a rebuilt airplane and fly home. The New Yorkers took an elevator to a platform built into a treetop, where the plane was waiting for them.
"We''re going to miss you little fuzz-buckets!" Alex said as they moved through a crowd of waving lemurs. "You guys have been a great crowd!"
A giant cake was pushed through the crowd by Maurice, King Julien''s advisor. Written across the frosting were the words "Bon Voyage, Pansies!" But the cake wasn''t filled with chocolate or strawberry cream. It was filled with King Julien wearing a coconut bikini top and gecko-decorated crown.
"Surprise, freaks!" Julien said, popping out of the cake. "Shake it, shake it, shake it!"
But it was King Julien''s next surprise that would really shake things up.
"You will be very glad to hear that I am coming with you!" Julien announced.
Alex, Gloria, Marty, and Melman traded worried looks. Julien was one souvenir they did not want to take back to New York!
"No, thank you," Alex said quickly.
"Yes, thank you," Julien insisted. He then turned to the crowd and held up his gecko. "Until I return with the spoils from the new country, Stevie will be in charge."
The lemurs grumbled as Stevie the gecko licked his own eyeball.
"I don''t think they like that idea so much, Julien," Maurice said.
"Stevie says to let them eat cake!" Julien declared.
The crowd went wild. If there was one thing they loved more than dancing, it was eating!
Julien shoved the zoo animals onto the plane. After struggling to shove Gloria through the narrow hatch, it was New York or bust!
Alex, Gloria, Marty, and Melman made their way to their seats. Mason and Phil, two chimpanzees from the New York Zoo, were already buckled in, playing a game of chess.
The plane may have been shabby but the flight would be cool, thanks to its penguin pilots. From the cockpit, Skipper stared out the window at the second biggest slingshot he had ever seen!
"It''s going to have to do!" Skipper said. He grabbed the intercom and announced, "This is your captain speaking. This is going to be a long flight!"
"New York City, here we come, baby!" Gloria cheered.
"We''d like you to sit back, relax," Skipper went on, "and pray that this hunk of junk flies!"
Alex blinked. Hunk of . . . what?
Co-pilot Kowalski fired up the engines. Outside the cockpit, Private demonstrated the emergency procedures.
"In the event of water emergency," Private told the passengers, "place the vest over your head and kiss your life good-bye!"
Melman gulped. He was beginning to feel sick—just like he did every single day! Gloria wasn''t worried, though. As the plane was launched by the giant slingshot, the hippo was already peacefully dreaming about the zoo.
But shortly after takeoff there was a problem in the cockpit.
"Skipper, look," Kowalski said. He pointed to a flashing red light on the control panel.
Skipper grabbed the flight manual. Then he reached over and smashed the light. "Problemo solved," he said.
"Sir, we may be out of fuel," Kowalski said. He pointed to the propellers outside the window. "We''ve lost Engine One. And Engine Two is no longer on fire."
Pilot and co-pilot buckled up. Soon a brand-new announcement was blaring across the PA system:
"This is your captain speaking. I''ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, we''ll be landing immediately. The bad news is, we''re crash landing!"
Continues...
Excerpted from Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: Lost in Africaby Judy Katschke Copyright © 2008 by Judy Katschke. Excerpted by permission.
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