Evie in the Jungle by Matt Haig

Author:Matt Haig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canongate Books

‘You are everywhere,’ the professor said, her breath smelling stale. ‘I saw a video on YouTube where you told a bearded dragon to change a TV channel, and one where you interviewed a seagull.’

‘That was my idea,’ Evie’s dad said. ‘The seagull. She wanted to interview a rattlesnake or a tarantula and I said, “Hey, maybe start with a seagull?”’

Professor García smiled. ‘You are famous, Evie!’

‘Also annoying,’ thought Neruda.

‘That’s why we came here,’ Evie told the professor, frowning at Neruda.

‘Because you’re annoying?’ wondered Neruda. But Evie ignored her.

‘It was getting a bit much at home so we came . . . here,’ she said. ‘I want to feel hopeful again.’

Professor García sighed, as if she was imitating the sloth. ‘Well, I wish I could have given you that. Hope, I mean. But as of today, I have no hope. Tonight I’ll shut down the website. And tomorrow I’ll head back to the University of Lima and teach.’

She tore off a leaf from the plant on her desk and went over to give it to the sloth, who was waking up.

‘Oh . . .

a . . .

leaf . . .

lovely . . .

yum,’ said Ah.

‘Look closely,’ the professor said. ‘Can you see that slight green tinge in her fur?’

Evie and her dad nodded.

‘Is that bad?’ asked Evie, worried.

‘It’s algae,’ the professor explained, shaking her head. ‘Algae grows on a sloth’s fur. It evolved as a kind of camouflage. The sad thing is, no amount of camouflage can help a sloth nowadays. And sloths are homebodies. They like staying around the same trees. Peeing and pooping in the same place. They’re not good at moving house. Or even moving toilet.’ Professor García stroked the animal, and gently pulled it away from Evie.

‘Oh . . .

this . . .

is . . .

new . . .

What . . .

is . . .

happening . . . ?’

‘It’s okay, Ah. The professor can help you.’

‘I will take her back into the jungle. I will try to find the right home for her. But I can’t promise she will be safe. I can’t promise any animal will be safe from now on . . . You see, we have been trying to buy a piece of Amazon land near here. It is known as “the Monkey Lands” because of all the monkeys there. But there are sloths too. And jaguars.’

‘Jaguars!’ said Evie, excited.

‘But the loggers have raised the price and we just can’t afford it. We have no money.’

Evie nodded.

She wished she could do something to help the professor and the International Centre for Rainforest Protection.

But then she felt a small tingle of an idea.

She didn’t know what the idea was yet, but the tingle was growing.

She looked down at her own face on the magazine.

She saw the headline.

‘EVIE AND THE ANIMALS: HOW ONE BRITISH GIRL OFFERS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE NATURAL WORLD.’

She remembered what Professor García had said only a few moments before. About the website not being interesting enough.

‘Right,’ her dad was saying. ‘We’ll be on our way then.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.