I don't own Madagascar or the characters in the movie Madagascar. The only characters I own are the ones that aren't in the movie.By the way, this story is entirely fictional. The song, "New York, New York" was written by Fred Ebb and John Kander, not by me.
Madagascar 2
A beautiful sunset filled the sky over a leafy jungle. A sparkling blue lake sat as invitingly still as a mirror in a grassy clearing. Four magnificent animals gracefully swung on vines through the picturesque scene: a lion, a zebra, a hippo, and a giraffe. Their Tarzan yells echoed throughout the exotic forest, only adding to the amazing, diverse jungle sounds. The animals dropped smoothly to the ground and began running through the grassy clearing, not a care in the world. They were free.
Suddenly, they were surrounded! Dancing policemen with striped tails came at the animals from all sides. The jungle trees fell down, revealing skyscrapers! The sounds of horns, sirens, and car accidents shattered the natural peacefulness. The pond became a mural. Out of the ground, a 20-foot steel wall topped with razor wire arose and separated the zebra from the other animals. A policeman yelled at the zebra,
"This is what happens to animals who bite the hand! Hahahahahaha!" the policeman cackled evilly. The other policemen danced a circle around the outside of the wall, chanting "You bit the hand! You bit the hand! You bit the hand!"
The other animals called from outside the steel enclosure as the zebra galloped frantically around the pen.
"Marty! Marty!"
"Marty! Wake up! You're beating me to a pulp!" a voice said.
Marty the zebra jolted up from his hammock in a hut on the sandy beach of Madagascar. He lost his balance; the hammock flipped. Marty fell face-down into the sand. It was the middle of the night. The zebra stopped his legs from kicking wildly, and then looked questioningly up at the owner of the voice. Alex the lion stared back at his best friend, a concerned look on his face. He stood just out of reach of Marty's hooves.
Marty spit sand out of his mouth and looked a bit sheepish, "Sorry 'bout that, Alex! Man, what a nightmare!" The zebra shook his head, trying to clear his brain of dancing policemen.
Alex sighed, "The rabid mouse one again?"
"No, not this time," Marty frowned, "Actually, I've never had this one before. This one was about New York."
"New York? Uh, Marty, we're from New York. New Yorkers aren't supposed to have nightmares about New York!" Alex looked bothered.
"Yeah? Try explaining that to the policemen." Marty stood up and walked to his "kitchen", actually just a bar counter with storage room.
Alex frowned, "Policemen? What policemen?"
"The ones in the nightmare." Marty explained as he poured himself a coconut of pineapple juice and took a stick of seaweed off a shelf.
The lion shook his head, "Marty, maybe you need a hobby."
"Huh?" the zebra looked up from his midnight snack, "What do you mean?"
"Well," Alex gestured to his surroundings, "there's nothing to worry about here. The island is a safe place to live."
"Thanks to you," Marty pointed out kindly, "but I don't see how that's a problem."
"Maybe safe is boring. Maybe your mind is inventing worries." Alex cocked his maned head, "Maybe you need something to occupy that empty New York place in your mind! Yeah! That's it! You need something that will push those nightmares right out of your head!" Alex was getting excited, as he often did right after waking up.
"Really?" Marty looked hopeful, "Like what?"
Alex's whiskers fell. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet, "Oh, well…um…"
"How 'bout a girl?"
The two best friends turned in surprise to see King Julien XIII, the self proclaimed Lord of the Lemurs of Madagascar, standing just inside the door to the hut.
King Julien smiled slyly, "Nothing like a woman to get your mind off whatever it is sitting on!"
Marty snorted, "Where am I going to get a girl around here? This isn't exactly a hot spot for zebra women." Marty looked a bit disappointed, "I guess I'll have to come up with something else to distract myself with." The striped equine sighed and stared into his drink.
"Don't worry, Marty!" Alex grinned, wanting to cheer up his best friend, "I'm sure you'll come up with something! Hey, make a wish; see what happens!"
Marty grinned hopefully, "You think that'd work?"
"Who knows?" Alex shrugged, reclining on one of Marty's sand couches, "It got you here, didn't it?"
"Yeah, you're right!" Marty looked thoughtfully around at his hut.
Julien took the sudden silence as his cue to leave.
"Well, my time is over for spying on you, Freaks. I'm wishing you a good night and must bidding you goodbyes." With that, King Julien hopped off into the jungle.
Alex closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very sleepy. He lay comfortably on the sand couch.
"New York," he mumbled, nearly asleep.
"Hey, Alex." Marty said suddenly, waking the lion for the second time that night.
"Huh, what?" Alex sleepily asked.
Marty stole a glance at his friend, "Do you…still want to go back? To New York?"
Alex opened an eye, "No! Well, not really. Sorta…maybe." The big cat yawned, "Why do you ask? It's not as though we really have a choice."
"I know, but if you could, would you go back?" Marty asked.
Alex, former "king" of New York, thought for a while.
"Yeah, I would. I mean, this place is great, but New York is really…home." Alex closed his eye again and muttered playfully "Now please go to sleep, you nocturnal zebra!"
Marty nodded, then stretched and put away his coconut cup.
"Night, Ally-Al." Marty said, righting his overturned hammock.
"Night." Alex mumbled right before drifting off into deep lion sleep.
Still awake, Marty sighed. He pulled a lever and a panel on his hut's roof opened, revealing a magnificent view of the stars. The zebra crawled into bed and stared up at the night's sky over Madagascar.
Alex awoke the next morning peppy and full of life. He'd had a great dream about fish falling from the sky, he'd slept well, and he hardly remembered Marty waking him up in the middle of the night! The New York lion bounced out of bed and did a few wake-up handsprings, cartwheels, and back flips. Then he noticed Marty's empty hammock.
Hmm, where'd he go off to? Alex wondered, Probably went to see what Gloria and Melman are having for breakfast. You know, I think I'll join them! Alex grabbed a melon from a basket on Marty's counter for Gloria and tucked a fish under his arm for his breakfast. Then he headed down the beach to Gloria's beach house.
Gloria's house was made from sand and rocks. It was large and round. Melman's tall and narrow cottage sat beside it.
Marty had been working hard to help his friends feel more comfortable on Madagascar. The zebra had designed and (with his friends' help) constructed the two new huts for Gloria and Melman. He'd even built Melman an MRI-shaped bed! Marty said that he was working on designs for a very special house for Alex, but he wasn't ready to start building yet. Not that Alex minded sharing Marty's luxurious cabana hut, but it would be nice to have his own space again.
Alex knocked on Gloria's door, actually a very large sea turtle shell that Melman had found by accident. The door opened and there was Gloria, a leafy towel wrapped around her head like a turban.
"Alex! Come on in, honey, I was just getting ready to try out my new Jacuzzi tub! Marty installed it yesterday. Isn't it fantastic?" Gloria smiled at Alex, who stepped through the doorway into the round hut. Indeed, there was a Jacuzzi tub in the center of the floor, complete with bubbles!
"Wow!" Alex was impressed. Bubbling water ran to the large tub from a channel through the wall. A lever controlled the amount of water that ran into the tub. Marty had really done a lot of work!
"Oh, this is for you." Alex suddenly remembered the melon, and handed it to Gloria.
The pretty hippo was very pleased with her melon.
"Oh, thank you! That's so thoughtful!" Gloria placed it on a platter full of melons, much to Alex's chagrin, "You will stay for breakfast, right?"
"Oh…yeah. Yes. Thank you, I'll stay. Uh, where's Melman and Marty?" Alex's tail twitched as the smell of his fish wafted past his nose.
"Melman's probably still asleep next door." Gloria blinked, "I thought you were staying with Marty."
"I was…am, but Marty wasn't there this morning when I got up. I assumed that he came to visit you." Alex frowned, suddenly a little nervous.
Gloria nodded, then smiled at the lion, "Aw, don't worry about him. He's probably just gone off to work on that house he promised you, and wanted to keep it a secret."
Alex didn't look convinced, but he nodded anyway.
"The one you should worry about," Gloria continued, "is Melman. I suppose it's time he got up"
Alex smiled wryly and followed Gloria next door to Melman's tall hut. There were long pieces of dried kelp in place of a door (to provide ventilation). The hippo and lion walked in.
They were greeted by wall upon wall of coconut jars. Each jar was labeled with the name of a medicinal herb or plant. In the center of the room, Melman slept on his unusual bed. All that was visible of the hypochondriac giraffe were his legs. Melman's head and long neck were inside of a dark tunnel built into the bed. Soft snoring came from somewhere inside of the tunnel.
"Melman? Melman! Wake up! Want some breakfast?" Alex called to his sleeping friend.
A moan came from the MRI bed. One of the four long legs stirred.
"Melman, come on, you can't sleep forever." Gloria patted the legs slightly roughly.
Finally, Melman's nose appeared from the hole. "Ugh, Gloria! It's only two in the morning!" Melman cried.
"The sun's up!" Alex pointed out.
"Melman," Gloria sighed, "You've got a serious case of boat lag."
This woke Melman up.
"Boat lag? Oh NO! Where? Where? I've never heard of that! Is there a cure? Is it…OW!" Melman panicked, thrashing dramatically about in his bed and banging his head into the MRI.
Alex shook his head as Gloria tried to calm the neurotic giraffe.
"Take it easy, Melman. It just means that you're still operating on New York time, that's all," Gloria explained.
Melman's legs stopped tangling themselves up, "Really? Oh, ok. Why didn't you just say so?"
"Melman, how about some breakfast?" Gloria asked the giraffe.
Melman pulled his neck out of the MRI and sat up in bed. He grinned, "Sure, Gloria, sounds good. Do you have any Aspirin?" Melman rubbed his head, yawned, and followed Alex and Gloria outside.
Gloria sighed and muttered, "It's a good thing Marty finished that Jacuzzi. I get the feeling I am going to need to do some serious relaxing today."
"Hey, where is Marty?" Melman was now fully alert and awake. He looked around. Normally, their striped friend wasn't far enough away for Melman not to see him.
Alex's smile sank back into a concerned frown, "We don't know for sure."
"Like I said, don't worry about him! I'm sure he's just fine!" Gloria comforted the worried lion.
"It's an island," Melman added, "Where can he go?"
Alex just sat down and looked miserable. He had a bad feeling about this.
Melman, meanwhile, was busy confronting a challenge of his own. He danced around, trying to rub sunscreen onto his back. "Can someone help me? There's this one spot I just can't reach…"
Marty sucked in another breath of fresh air. He never got tired of the smells of the jungle!
Sure beats gasoline and garbage! Marty thought.
The adventuresome zebra had risen early. Alex's comments about New York were still on the zebra's mind. Marty wanted to help Alex somehow, and thought that maybe he could find some way back to New York if he searched hard enough. Alex had still been asleep. Rather than wake the high-strung lion a third time, Marty had opted to go by himself. His walk (which had quickly become a run) had taken him to a part of the island that he'd never been to before. It was exciting, fresh, new, and a little terrifying to be out exploring alone.
Wish Alex could be here! This is great! Marty passed a dead tree stump. Feeling energetic, he dodged a couple of bushy fern things and leapt over a large fallen vine. It wasn't as much fun as galloping across a grassy clearing, but it was still exhilarating! He loved the feel of real wild dirt under his feet as his hooves beat out a steady rhythm on the island's floor. He enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and bright colors of Madagascar's beach-lined jungle. Every so often, Marty caught glimpses of the blue ocean and white sandy beach. Yes, this place was paradise! And for Marty, it was home.
It's too bad Alex doesn't see this place like I do, Marty thought, but at least he's more or less accepted it. When we first arrived here a couple of weeks ago…Marty shook his head, remembering the…eventful first few days on Madagascar.
I am so glad that's over! Marty thought happily.
Suddenly, the zebra halted his jungle romp. The woods were getting much darker.
That's strange, it's still morning! I haven't been out here that long! Marty started to get uncomfortable, I think I should go find Alex…
Marty whirled around and took off back the way he'd come. He ran on and on into the woods. After a long time, he noticed some hoofprints crossing his intended path. Surprised, Marty stopped and placed a hoof into one.
Hey, this guy's feet are the same size as mine! And the same shape! And…uh oh. These are my hoofprints! I passed that dead tree at least an hour ago! Which means I need to go…this way. No! This way…Um, maybe not…this way! Uh oh. Uh…
Marty's ears flicked frantically this back and forth as the zebra tried to find the way back to the huts on the beach. He couldn't even see the beach through the trees. For the first time, he realized that he didn't know just how large Madagascar was.
"I am not going to panic!" Marty told himself, "I am going to go straight in one direction, and sooner or later there'll be a beach! This is an island. I can't get too lost on an island! Yeah." Marty strode through the dense underbrush, "I'll find the beach, and follow it back!" He set off, following no particular path and hoping it was the right one.
It wasn't long before Marty noticed how dark the woods were getting. They were getting even darker and thicker than before. They no longer seemed like paradise. Instead, they reminded the zebra of the predator side of the island…dark and foreboding. Suddenly Marty felt very nervous.
"Alex?" Marty called, hoping that maybe the lion was within earshot. After all, being a lion, Alex had excellent hearing. It's hard to keep a secret from Alex!
A new smell met Marty's nostrils. A familiar smell, one he'd smelled many, many times; yet one that strangely seemed terrifying.
Marty smelled people.
"Huh? Man, that can't be right! There aren't people here! Are there?" Marty sniffed. Yep, no doubt about it. That smell was unmistakable.
Ignoring the seemingly senseless urge to run away from the smell, Marty headed toward it. His legs shook a little more with every step.
What is wrong with me? It's just people! I'm from New York for crying out loud! I've been around people for my whole life! Why do I want to run away so bad? Besides, maybe they can help us get back to New York. I know Alex still wants to go back. And I really just want him to be happy…but people…
The confused zebra shook his head and continued to move towards the people smell. Wouldn't Alex be excited to hear that there were people on the island! Marty grinned, thinking about his best friend.
All alone, Marty followed the smell, unaware of what lay ahead…