when she said not to be late Seems like everyone else felt the same All the other designers along with their parents gather outside the entrance to the Central Park Zoo at nine o’clock on the dot The judges producers and camera crew are already there waiting for us Fifteen for fifteen says Jasmine looking pleased We’re off to a good start For your first challenge you’ll have one hour to explore the zoo Hunter says Decide what you’d like to see most We’ll meet back at the garden when you’re done and explain more then Choose wisely Everyone splits up to start exploring My mom and I pass the zoo’s Tropic Zone Exotic rainforest birds chatter excitedly and I make a mental note about the brightly
colored feathers As we move to the back of the zoo monkeys screech at us from above as they swing from vine to vine I wonder how the zoo is supposed to play into our designs Will we have to make clothes for animals That would be a little out there even for this show My mom and I come to a stop in front of the lion cage Inside the big cats are snoozing lazily They don’t seem to be fully awake yet Mom says I point to the description posted beside the cage It says they’re mostly nocturnal It must be too early for them too Maybe we can come back We move on to the Polar Circle and soon I’m watching polar bears penguins and other sea birds at play The penguins waddle
over to get a fish dangling from a zookeeper’s hand and the polar bears bat a huge ball around in the icy water It’s so easy to get lost in the animals games One polar bear does a loop around an ice tunnel and comes out the other end I notice some of the other designers gathering around and watching too We all have notebooks and phones to jot down ideas but none of us do It’s hard to know what to take notes on when we don’t know what we’ll be designing From the corner of my eye I see my mother glance at her watch and frown How much time do I have left I ask About fifteen minutes or so she replies What do you want to do We should probably start walking back I
say I’m a little nervous that I haven’t seen enough yet but I’m more nervous about being late My mom and I cut through the center of the zoo past the sea-lion exhibit Trees separate the area from the rest of the park Small clusters of rose bushes bookend the trees pink roses with yellow in the center lavender ones with white accents and red ones with white and yellow inside In the center of the area is a large pool Sea lions are sitting on the rocks around the water Others are jumping into the pool Sea lions are very social animals a trainer is explaining to a group of contestants standing nearby The sea lions bark and clap their flippers in agreement and the trainer throws them a treat Another sea lion does a
