“Rise and shine, men!”

Kowalski flung himself from his bunk and landed in front of his leader with stiff posture. Private, however, took his time, as he normally did. To him, this hari wasn’t anything new.

What mission will Skippa assign us? When are we going to eat? Is Julien going to torment us, today?

These were the very same thoughts that coursed through Private’s noggin’ every other day; whereas, Kowalski had other things in mind.

How can I change, today? How can I make this the best hari of my life? How can I tunjuk the team my appreciation for them?

Kowalski was wearing the biggest smile Skipper had ever laid his eyes on. But, in an attempt to avoid the hassle, Skipper shook his head and turned away with his flippers behind his back

“Okay, boys. We can’t let Rico’s little mishap hinder our team spirit!” Skipper turned once again to face his two men, “Which is why we’re going on a mission; to prove to Rico that we’re just fine and dandy without him…” he grinned, now folding his flippers.

Kowalski would normally have questioned Skipper on why he was suddenly speaking of Rico as some sort of threat, but today was different. Instead, the tall one nodded and retained his stature.

“What’s the mission, Skipper?” he asked in an almost optimistic manner.

“Well…I don’t know!” the leader admitted, looking down and rubbing the back of his head with a flipper, while the other one rested on his hip.

“Why not spy on Julien?” Private immediately suggested, looking bright as ever to have been able to pitch an idea.

“Of course! Ringtail!” Skipper lit up as well. King Julien was the perfect subject to practice their abilities on.

Private suddenly remembered something very important, “Um, actually…go on ahead, without me, Skippa! I’ll catch up in a bit…”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, tell me, Kowalski, how do anda feel about our little situation?” Skipper asked as the pair made their way towards Julien’s habitat.

The tall one shrugged, “I feel as chipper as ever, Skipper!”

“Is that so?” the leader arched a brow in suspicion. He knew that Rico tried to make a alih on Kowalski, but he wasn’t going to believe that the intellectual wasn’t feeling a bit bad for the heavyset penguin.

“Affirmative, Skipper!” with the nod of his head.

“Because, uh…we wouldn’t want anda to lose your head over something like this, anda know?” Skipper berkata reluctantly, unknowing of how serious Kowalski’s condition was.

“Not to worry! Believe me, Skipper, I agree that this procedure if simply for the best!” he responded as he smiled widely. This only made Skipper feel uncomfortable. Rather than act normal, Kowalski appeared to have chosen to act overly cheerful.

A thought crossed Kowalski’s mind…

This would have been the perfect opportunity to soalan Skipper about Private’s behavior towards the leader. But…it would have ruined Kowalski’s perfect day…

Probably best not to say anything, for now!

Finally, the duo arrived at King Julien’s habitat. The two quickly slid on their bellies and zipped out of sight. The closest thing they could find was a pile of relatively large boulders that resided behind the scene that was unfolding before them. Actually, there wasn’t much of a scene for unfolding. Julien appeared to be sleeping on his cot, snoring loudly, while Mort and Maurice had conversation in a quiet tone.

Skipper rolled his eyes and groaned. He could tell this was going to be a colossal waste of his time. Kowalski, however, began to jot down a few notes on his pad with wide, interested eyes.

“What do anda suppose they’re conversing about?” Kowalski whispered to Skipper as he continued to write.

The impatient penguin peered from the boulders and stared at the two lemurs that were speaking to one another, “Gee, I dunno, Kowalski…does it really matter?”

Kowalski was taken sejak surprise for a moment. He had always thought of Skipper to be a penguin of paranoia. Surely, he, of all penguins, wouldn’t have thought twice to spy on these lemurs. But, in this case, he had to keep in mind that this penguin was probably feeling some sort of emotional trauma after having sent Rico away. It would explain why Skipper had earlier brought up this particular soalan to Kowalski.

“Well, I was simply…I didn’t know if…” Kowalski stammered, now choosing to sit. His hopes of performing a simple and clean mission were crushed.

Why did Skipper have to ruin his hari like this? Kowalski only wanted to have a perfectly normal day. No fighting, no depression, no nothing. He didn’t want any of that.

“Listen, Kowalski…” Skipper started, deciding to sit, as well, to sertai Kowalski, “I know Rico’s you’re little friend and all, but anda got to let it go. He’s not right in the head, and all he needs is a short break from duty, that’s all…” he assured with a smile.

Kowalski sighed. He was very disappointed that Skipper would even imagine having this talk with him. It spoiled everything.

“Now, c’mon. We need to head back to HQ…” Skipper suddenly berkata loudly as he rose to his feet, “Hop to it, solider!” he finished while making his exit.

Kowalski, however, remained where he was. A growl escaped his beak in anger. His narrowed eyes fixated themselves onto his notepad. He noticed that he had simply written a single sentence over and over again.

The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak. The lemurs speak.

All over the page; the same thing. Was he losing his mind?

No. It was simply his perfect day, that’s all.

Besides, why did Skipper even have to mention this whole fuss?

‘You got to let it go’ he says…

What was Kowalski trying to do in the first place? He thought he was doing a pretty good job, too.

“Nonsense…” Kowalski simply stated to himself as he turned towards Mort and Maurice, continuing to write what he had started.

He wasn’t going to let anyone ruin this…