Teen Ink

The Note on the Cage

The next day dawned dark and cloudy, but, today, Myrna’s spirits did not match this weather. She anxiously looked forward to the evening, hoping that she would see her little friend once again. About the middle of the day, Myrna’s keeper hung a sign on the outside of Myrna’s cage. Myrna could not see what it said, and she didn’t know how to read. She thought of thousands of things that such a sign might say:
Myrna: Prize Snake
Special Exhibit Containing World-Renowned Snake
A little voice in the back of Myrna’s mind told her that the sign just might hold bad news, but she quickly pushed the thought away. Throughout the day, Myrna could think of nothing but the sign on her cage and what it might say. It was driving her crazy. Each and every person who came to Myrna’s cage (and there weren’t very many) read the sign to him or herself, neglecting to tell Myrna what the sign said. When Myrna had given up trying to figure out what the sign said and was curled up in the corner of her cage, a mother and her two children came to look in her cage. One of the little girls tugged at her mother’s hand and pointed at the sign. For a moment, her mother was confused and then she realized what the girl wanted. She read the sign to her little girl, and, unknowingly, to Myrna.
It read: Limited time exhibit!
Snake will retire by the end of the month.
“Make sure you see the big snake, girls.” The mother said. “It will be gone in 3 days.”
3 days?!!!! Myrna was stunned. She had only 3 days before she retired…and what did that mean anyway? She feared that whatever retiring was, it certainly wasn’t good. Myrna had waited eagerly all day to find out what the sign said, and now she wasn’t sure that she really wanted to know.