Ivan has been moved from the mall to a zoo. Kinyani is another gorilla at the zoo, Ruby is a young elephant Ivan knew at the mall, and Maya is a zookeeper. Read Part 2 from The One and Only Ivan. Then answer the questions.
Part 2 from The One and Only Ivan
by Katherine Applegate door
1 Today the humans lead me to a door.
2 On the other side, Kinyani and the others wait for me.
3 I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready to be a silverback.
4 I’m Ivan, just Ivan, only Ivan.
5 I decide it’s not a good day to socialize.
6 I’ll try again tomorrow. wondering
7 All night I lie awake, wondering about Ruby.
8 Has she already walked through a door like the one I’m facing?
9 Was she as scared as I am? Scared the way she must have been that day she fell in the hole?
10 I think of Ruby’s endless curiosity, and of the questions she loved to ask. Have you ever danced with a tiger, Ivan? Will your fur turn blue? Why doesn’t that little boy have a tail?
11 If Ruby were here with me, she’d be asking: What’s on the other side of the door, Ivan?
12 Ruby would want to know, and she would have been through that door by now. ready
13 “Want to try again, Ivan?” Maya asks. I think of Ruby, and I tell myself it’s time.
30 I sniff, approach, strut a bit, but the others don’t welcome me. They have sharp teeth and loud voices.
31 Did I do something wrong?
32 Kinyani chases me. She throws a stick at me. She corners me.
33 I know that she’s testing me to see if I’m a true silverback, one who can protect her family.
34 I cower and hide my eyes.
35 Maya lets me back into my cage.
36 I lie awake and try to remember what it was like, being a gorilla.
37 How did we move? How did we touch? How did we know who was boss?
38 I try to think past the babies and the motorbikes and the popcorn and the short pants.
39 I try to imagine Ivan as he might have been.
40 The juvenile male approaches. He’s eyeing my food hungrily.
41 I imagine a different Ivan, my father’s son.
42 I grumble and swat and swagger. I beat my chest till the whole world hears. 43 Kinyani watches, and so do the others.
44 I move toward the young upstart, and he retreats.
45 Almost as if he believes I’m the silverback I’m pretending to be.
46 I’m making a nest on the ground. It isn’t a true jungle nest. The leaves are inferior and the sticks are brittle. They snap when I weave them into place.
47 The others watch, grunting their disapproval: too small, too flimsy, an ugly thing to see.
48 But when I climb into that leafy cradle, it’s like floating on treetop mist.
49 Maya wants me to go back to my glass cage. I can tell, because she is tempting me toward the door with a trail of tiny marshmallows.
50 I try to ignore her. I don’t want to leave the outside. It’s a cloudless day, and I’ve found just the right spot for a nap. But I relent when she adds yogurt raisins to the trail. She knows my weaknesses all too well.
51 In the glass cage, the TV is on. It’s another nature show, jerky and unfocused.
52 I expect to see gorillas, but none appear.
53 I hear a shrill sound, like a toy trumpet.
55 I rush close to the screen, and there she is.
57 She is rolling in a lovely pool of mud with two other young elephants.
58 Another elephant approaches. She towers over Ruby. She strokes Ruby, nudges her. She makes soft noises.
59 They stand side by side, just the way Stella and Ruby used to do. Their trunks entwine. I see something new in Ruby’s eyes, and I know what it is.
61 I watch the whole thing, and then Maya plays it again for me, and again. At last she turns off the TV and carries it out of the cage.
62 I put my hand to the glass. Maya looks over.
63 Thank you, I try to say with my eyes. Thank you.
64 Kinyani ambles toward me. She taps me on the shoulder and knuckle runs away.
65 I watch her, arms crossed over my chest. I’m careful not to make a sound.
66 I’m not sure what we’re doing.
67 She ambles back, shoves at me, dashes past. And then I realize what’s happening.
