That day, all the animals had to wake up early. Giraffe Zofia was the one who woke everyone up because it was her turn to lead the morning exercise.
“Wake up, sleepyheads! Time for gymnastics!” she called, ringing a small bell.
The animals reluctantly got up. They were still sleepy. It was only six in the morning, but today they had something important to do—their annual check-up with Mrs. Weasel.
Lion Kuba, wearing his favorite hat, Desert Mouse Patrycja with a magnifying glass hanging around her neck, and Anteater Alfred with his long nose lined up in front of the little house. Zofia went behind the house and knocked on the metal sheet where Parrot Ala was sleeping.
“Parrot, today you are joining us because we are all going for the check-up together,” Zofia said.
“I don’t want to go to the check-up,” Ala protested, yawning widely.
“Parrot, once a year we have to get our blood taken so everyone knows if they are healthy or if they need extra vitamins,” Zofia patiently explained.
Parrot reluctantly joined the others, and Zofia started the exercises.
“First, lifting hooves! Left front hoof, right front hoof, left back hoof, right back hoof,” Zofia instructed, then stopped and thought. “Wait, only I have hooves!”
Indeed, Anteater Alfred had claws, Mouse Patrycja also had claws and walked on two legs, Lion Kuba had claws too, and Parrot Ala had claws but only two little feet.
“Oh, Zofia, you need to choose an exercise that everyone can do,” Patrycja noticed.
“Alright then, let’s lie down and roll left, right, forward, and backward,” Zofia decided.
Parrot loved this exercise and always did it when she wanted to impress someone. The other animals were happy too, and Alfred even took a short nap while rolling.
The next exercise was jumping, which was easy for all the animals. Actually, Parrot had no problem either—she flapped her wings twice and was already in the air; then she folded her wings and landed.
Finally, Zofia ordered squats. It turned out Parrot had no knees, so she couldn’t squat—instead, she tucked her legs under her feathers, showed them, hid them again, showing and hiding.
After the exercises, Zofia shouted:
“To the lake!”
All the animals repeated the shout and ran into the water. Everyone except Parrot, who was afraid of water and didn’t want to get her wings wet. She just flew in circles above the splashing animals. When everyone came back to the shore, they dried their fur and went to make their beds.
“And now, breakfast together!” called Kuba.
“Wait, we have to go fasting to the check-up,” reminded Patrycja.
The animals hopped on their bicycles and sped to Mrs. Weasel’s clinic. When they were near, Mouse Patrycja suddenly shouted:
“Stop!”
The animals stopped, surprised.
“Why are we stopping?” Alfred asked.
“Look, some strange tracks by the road,” Patrycja said, pointing to the ground. “I’ve never seen them before.”
Anteater took out his magnifying glass and looked closely.
“These don’t seem to be from any animals living around here,” he said. “Very interesting.”
“Let’s follow them and see where they lead,” Kuba suggested excitedly.
“We can’t,” Zofia protested. “We are scheduled for 7:30 for the check-up. We don’t want to miss our turn or make Mrs. Weasel delay other animals.”
“But let’s go!” insisted Lion Kuba. “We’ll track the animal or the stranger. Maybe we can set a trap and do the check-up later.”
All the animals knew that Lion Kuba was very afraid of needles and check-ups. Every year he made up different excuses.
“Oh, Kuba,” sighed Patrycja, “we have to. It’s for our health.”
“All right, if you say so,” Lion agreed reluctantly.
The animals moved on but whispered about the mysterious tracks. Just before 7:30, they arrived at Mrs. Weasel’s clinic, who was already waiting for them.
“Who will go first?” she asked.
The animals looked at each other and then at Mouse Patrycja. She was the bravest, never afraid, and usually volunteered when there was something new or unpleasant. This time was no different.
“I’ll go,” she said firmly.
She entered the office. Mrs. Weasel disinfected her paw, pricked it, and took a little blood.
“Thank you. Next!” she called.
Next was Giraffe Zofia.
“Oh dear, that test again,” she sighed. “Please be quick, I’ll look the other way.”
Mrs. Weasel made a little spray, inserted the needle, took the blood, and it was done.
In the corridor stayed Lion Kuba, Anteater Alfred, and Parrot Ala. They looked at each other, and then Lion and Anteater pushed Parrot into the office. Parrot didn’t want to go yet, but they were stronger. Mrs. Weasel quickly took her blood, and Parrot came out smiling.
“Oh, nothing to be afraid of!”
Only Anteater and Lion remained.
“You go,” Alfred said.
“No, you go,” Kuba said.
“I have to drink water,” Lion tried to dodge.
“I have to go to the toilet,” tried Anteater.
Mrs. Weasel came out of the room.
“Come in now,” she said firmly.
“Let’s play rock, paper, scissors,” Alfred suggested.
“Rock, paper, scissors!” they shouted together.
Unfortunately, this time Anteater had scissors, and Lion had rock. Anteater had to go first.
“Please be quick, and I’ll turn on a cartoon on my phone so it won’t hurt,” he asked.
Mrs. Weasel smiled.
“You can watch the cartoon; you won’t even notice.”
Anteater started a cartoon about pigs playing a concert on an island and watched.
“Please don’t prick me hard,” he said.
“But Anteater, it’s already over! Your blood is in the tube; you didn’t even notice,” Mrs. Weasel said.
“Really?” Anteater was surprised. “Can I stay a bit longer and watch the whole concert?”
“Maybe go to the corridor now, Lion is next,” Mrs. Weasel said, opening the door.
She looked at the corridor—no one was there.
“Hmm, has anyone seen Lion Kuba?” she asked.
She went outside, where Mouse Patrycja, Parrot, and Giraffe were talking about the strange tracks.
“Did Lion leave?” Mrs. Weasel asked.
“No, he was supposed to have his blood taken,” Zofia answered, surprised.
Everyone went inside—Lion was gone.
“Lion Kuba!” Patrycja called, but Lion did not answer.
“Hmmm,” Mouse said quietly to Giraffe, “he probably hid somewhere again. We have to find him.”
Luckily, the animal detectives had no trouble finding Lion. Anteater used his long nose and immediately pointed to a direction. In the corridor stood a wardrobe with clothes, and from the wardrobe came a little tail.
The animals quietly approached and opened the wardrobe.
“Hey, I’m an outfit, please close the wardrobe,” said Lion, pretending to be clothes.
“Lion, it won’t work anymore,” Patrycja said firmly.
“All right,” Lion sighed.
He came out of the wardrobe and went into the office. Mrs. Weasel smiled kindly.
“Lion, you will get two stickers, and you can watch a cartoon if you want. And after the check-up, you can eat any delicious breakfast you like.”
“Can I have a steak?” Lion asked hopefully.
“Of course! You should even eat the best steak you have in the fridge for this occasion,” Mrs. Weasel assured him.
“All right,” Lion agreed.
He sat on the chair, covered his eyes, and started counting to a hundred.
“One, two, three…”
When he counted to twenty, Mrs. Weasel reached for the syringe, but… it wasn’t on the tray!
“Strange,” she said. “I’m sure I prepared the syringe for Lion.”
“Maybe it got misplaced?” Patrycja suggested as she just came into the office.
“I must have put it on the tray. I used it for the previous patients,” Mrs. Weasel answered.
“Missing syringe?” Patrycja immediately took out her magnifying glass. “This is a detective case!”
The animals began to investigate. Patrycja carefully examined the tray and the desk area. Alfred sniffed around the whole office, trying to catch the smell of metal and plastic. Zofia, with her long neck, checked the high shelves and cabinets.
“I don’t see anything,” sighed Zofia.
“I can’t catch any trail either,” Alfred admitted.
Patrycja looked suspiciously at Lion, who sat with his eyes closed, still counting:
“…eighty-eight, eighty-nine…”
“Lion,” Patrycja said, “do you happen to know where the syringe is?”
“What syringe?” Lion asked innocently, without opening his eyes. “I haven’t seen any syringe. I’m still counting… ninety, ninety-one…”
But something in his voice made Patrycja suspicious. She stepped closer and noticed that Lion’s hat looked different—it was a bit bulged on one side.
“Lion Kuba,” Patrycja said sternly, “what do you have in your hat?”
“Nothing!” Lion quickly answered. “I mean… just my head!”
Patrycja gently took off Lion’s hat. There, hidden under the lining, was the missing syringe!
“Lion!” Zofia exclaimed. “You hid the syringe?”
Lion lowered his head, embarrassed.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m so afraid of needles… I thought if I hid the syringe, I wouldn’t have to have the check-up.”
Mrs. Weasel shook her head but smiled kindly.
“Lion, I understand your fear, but check-ups are very important. They help us see if you’re healthy and if you need vitamins or medicines.”
“I know,” sighed Lion. “But those needles look so scary…”
“Close your eyes,” Mrs. Weasel asked. “I promise it will only take a second.”
Lion closed his eyes, and Mrs. Weasel quickly and skillfully took his blood.
“All done,” she said.
Lion opened his eyes, surprised.
“Really? I didn’t feel anything!”
“See?” Patrycja smiled. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
“Next time I won’t hide,” Lion promised. “And I won’t steal syringes.”
“It’s very important to have regular check-ups,” Mrs. Weasel said. “That way, we can find health problems early and treat them. Remember, prevention is the most important!”
“Just like parents say,” added Zofia. “Always listen to good advice and don’t be afraid of doctors.”
“Exactly,” Mrs. Weasel agreed. “And now that everyone has had their check-up, you can go and have a delicious breakfast.”
The animals thanked Mrs. Weasel and left the clinic. On the way home, they stopped at Mr. Elephant’s ice cream shop.
“How about some ice cream?” Zofia suggested. “After such stress, we deserve a treat.”
“Great idea!” Alfred cheered.
Each animal picked their favorite flavor: Patrycja chose cheese ice cream, Zofia palm fruit, Alfred anthill honey, and Parrot Ala fruity flavors. Lion Kuba, still proud of conquering his fear, ordered a double portion of steak-flavored ice cream.
“Mmm, delicious!” he purred happily. “It was worth going through the check-up.”
“See?” Patrycja smiled. “Sometimes the things we fear aren’t as scary as we think.”
“And after check-ups, we can always eat ice cream,” added Alfred, licking his lips.
The animals returned to their little house, happy after a day full of adventures, fear, and courage, and important lessons about health and trust in doctors.
“Next time,” said Lion, jumping onto his lounge chair, “I’ll be the first to go into the office!”
“That’s what I call bravery!” laughed Zofia, and all the animals nodded in agreement.
And so ended the day full of adventures, fears, courage, and important lessons about health and trusting doctors.