9780008390662

traffic stop
We slog up a slight hill and round a corner. The traffic lights are out, and
nobody seems to be on the streets—that is, until we cut through a stand of
palm trees and come across some police officers in a slow-moving squad car,
its blue and red lights circling.
“Attention,” one of the officers announces over a loudspeaker. “This area is
under a mandatory evacuation order. Do not—”
The announcement stops, and so does the car.
“Uh-oh,” says Ruby.
“I think they spotted us,” I say.
“We’re kind of hard to miss,” Ivan points out.
The car moves closer, so close that I can see dropped jaws and bulging eyes.
The car brakes to a stop. The driver’s side door flies open and one of the
officers jumps out.
The other officer, a skinny young guy, follows suit, but he looks annoyed.
“What are you doing?” he says. “Don’t be a hero! We coulda stayed in the
car where it’s safe.”
“I am looking,” says the driver into her radio receiver, “at a gorilla and an
elephant, and the gorilla has a tiny dog on his shoulder, and no, I have not
been drinking.”
“They said the park got hit by the tornado,” says the skinny officer, carefully
aiming his pistol.