Daisy and the Trouble with Zoos (3 page)

And Mum bought me a new second-hand bike! With bigger wheels and a higher saddle, plus a basket on the front to put things in, PLUS a drinks bottle full of orange squash, which is my favourite allowed drink.

But my best birthday present was my surprise birthday trip to the ZOO!

With Gabby and Dylan!

I'd known for ages I was going to have a special birthday treat, but I didn't know till this morning that I was going to be going to the ZOO!

With Dylan and Gabby too!!

Mum told me when I was eating my breakfast. I was so excited, one of my cornflakes went down sideways!

And then things got even more exciting!!!

I thought Dylan and Gabby were the extra-special secret surprise bit of my birthday treat, but I was wrong! Dylan and Gabby coming to the zoo with me was only just one little bit of the extra-special secret surprise!

The biggest bit of my extra-special secret birthday surprise was …

You're never going to guess …

Go on, guess …

You'll never guess …

Have you guessed?

I bet you haven't.

OK, I'll tell you …

The biggest bit of my special secret birthday zoo surprise was …

I was going to FEED THE PENGUINS AT THE ZOO!

My mum had actually arranged
for me to go into the actual penguin cage with the actual zoo keeper and FEED actual penguins on my birthday! REAL ACTUAL PENGUINS! With actual beaks and everything!

How brilliant is that! Gabby and Dylan were coming to our house at 10:00, and then the three of us were going to spend a whole day at the zoo together.

Plus my mum.

PLUS, out of the WHOLE ZOO, I would be the ONLY ONE out of absolutely everyone that would be allowed to feed the actual penguins in the actual penguin cage today!

How totally totally brilliant is that! Mum said she was pleased that I was pleased about my extra-special surprise. Then she pointed at the floor and asked if I'd like to do something extra-special for her before we got ready to go out.

That's the
trouble with birthday wrapping paper
. It always needs picking up afterwards.

The
trouble with waiting by the window for your best friends to turn up
is they never turn up when you want them to.

I was ready at half-past nine. Why couldn't they be too?

Mum told me to stop steaming up the glass or I'd have to clean the window with a duster.

That's the
trouble with breathing when you're excited
. Your teeth get too hot.

The rest of me was getting quite hot too. That's the
trouble with having your birthday in March
. You have to put far more clothes on when you go out for birthday treats.

If my birthday was in the summer, I could have just worn flip-flops and shorts.

And a T-shirt.

And knickers.

And socks …

Actually, not socks.

Not with flip-flops anyway.

Anyway, anyway, Mum told me to take my duffle coat and scarf off and wait until Gabby and Dylan arrived before I put them on again, but I wouldn't, because I wanted to make sure I was extra–extra ready. Being extra-extra ready is really good.

When Dylan and Gabby arrived at my house, they had their coats and scarves on too.

Gabby was wearing her Wellingtons as well, just in case there was any elephant poo at the zoo.

The
trouble with treading in elephant poo
is it can go right up past your knees if you're not careful. Up to your head if you're really little!

So I put my Wellingtons on too, just in case, but Dylan didn't.

Dylan said he wasn't scared and was going in his shoes! He is nine though.

In the car on the way to the zoo, I opened my presents from Gabby and Dylan.

Gabby bought me a magic set, and Dylan gave me a rocket for letting off on the lawn plus a real actual snake skin. He said he found it in his snake tank and it came off his snake, who's called Shooter.

When I wiggled the snake skin at Gabby, she screamed and bashed it with her hand.

So it broke in half.

That's the
trouble with snake skins
: they're not meant to be bashed.

Dylan said he couldn't wait to visit the reptile house and Gabby said she was bursting to see the monkeys.