9.THE BIRTHDAY OF THE LITTLE ONE

 Finally the big day has arrived . The little one is of course very early awake and wants to go down immediately. But that's not allowed. "You must first dress up for the party," said his mother. But little does not know how to do that because until now he has never had any clothes. "Look, grandma knitted this for you," she says, handing him a package. What a nice jumper it contains. Little one quickly puts it on. With a hood, just like Finn. He loves the jumper and feels great .

From below he hears shouting: "where is the birthday boy, where is the birthday boy?" Father looks down and says: "Come and stand on the balustrade, then you can show everyone your new jumper." Downstairs all the animals are waiting and when the little one is on the balustrade they all start to sing. “Happy birthday to you ” it sounds very loud and very out of tune. Little one and his parents now see that there is a banner. Not so neatly made, but very sweet. The kitties made it.

Everyone is waiting downstairs.

The lady welcomes everyone and then the party begins. There are so many gifts to unwrap. Everyone gets a hand and a kiss. Little 's mother is very proud.

Then Daan comes with the very last present. What a huge parcel. He can hardly carry it. Together they open it and what comes out: a real pedal car. “I made it myself” says Daan proudly. “With the grandfathers”.

The little one wants to sit in it but that is a bit difficult. His tail is in the way and his legs cannot reach the pedals.

“Shall I help”, says Hidde and he sits down in the car. "Come at the back little one,” he says “I will drive you”.

 It is going great. They drive a few rounds and then of course the other animals want to have a go too. The little one loves it, standing at the back.

"Ma'am, ma'am," the little one calls out softly, "may I ask you something?"
"Of course".
“When will that fence go away? I really want to know what's behind
 it ”.
And not only the little one wants to know, everyone actually does.

So the lady asks all children to come to the fence. Even adolescent, Renate and Daan now suddenly feel like a child and also come forward.

Under loud cheers and applause, Melvin and John remove the fence.
And what comes from behind it is a real children's paradise. The lady of the ASC has rented an Indian village, with 2 big boys , dressed as Indian. They will play with the kids so that the adults can undisturbed celebrate.

But first the lady is going to say something again.
“Well, it is her gift. As long as it doesn't take too long . ”

At last everyone can play. The little ones run towards the wigwams and the rocking horses.

Daan and Renate walk towards a bench in the back. Adolescent walks with them to chill there too. But Daan puts his arm around Renate and Renate snuggles close to Daan. 

Adolescent is clearly too much and goes to the grandmothers.

Suddenly the widow shouts: “Look who's arriving there? There are the bachelors”.

What a surprise! And they also brought a present. It is not wrapped and looks like it has already been played with, but it is nevertheless well thought out.

The penguins have so much to tell each other. The bachelors explain that they have been in a drug rehabilitation centre. But they have a job now and live in a flat together. “I have an idea”, says the widow, “now that we are all together we can ask the lady to take a picture of us all”. That is a fantastic idea. For a moment the lady tries to get Melvin to take the picture so that she can also be in  it. “No”, says the widow, “you take the most beautiful pictures . Do you want to do that for us? ”

And the party is not over yet

Serious goes to Melvin and together they walk to de Lauwerkrans. What are they up to ?
When they return, Melvin is wearing a very large parcel.

Now serious stands on the bench and takes the floor. “Hello, can I have your attention?   I want to tell you something. I haven't been very sociable lately. Whether I was at the university, or I was in de Lauwerkrans. You know what I was doing at university. But what did I do in de Lauwerkrans? I wanted to make something beautiful for our room. But not just anything, it had to have a story in it. I went to talk to the grandmothers and we decided to embroider a rug together. I designed the pattern myself on the laptop. For weeks the grandmas have embroidered it by hand and now it is ready.

Melvin and serious loose the parcel . A beautiful rug comes out. The penguins rush forward to see it. Serious: “the outer row are the ice flowers, which remind us of our floe at the South Pole. Then come the marching penguins, they symbolize the journey we had to make. The row of triangles represents the long road that was sometimes light but sometimes very dark. In the centre are the ice crystals. Each crystal represents a friend or family member who did not survive the disaster.

It's dead quiet when serious is done talking. Fortunately, a grandmother has a box of tissues that can be passed on. Everyone is sobbing a bit.

Then Finn comes in running. He is looking a little dazed. “What are you doing, this is a party after all. Do you know what Renate and Daan are doing? They're kissing… yack ! ” he exclaims. Then everyone laughs and Melvin says, "Who should I pour again?"

What a birthday and what emotions. It is actually too much for one day.

But it was a very good day!

 This is where the story ends for the time being. Until we know who the residents of the fourth room are. 

O dear, that was the last chapter. I hope the residents of the fourth room will arrive soon but I am afraid the writer of this story does not even have animals for the fourth room. She is waiting for a good idea or a brainwave or sometihing like that.

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 8. LOTS OF SECRETS

 Preparations for little one's first birthday are in full swing.
Everywhere you see groups of people conferring. At the craft clubs of the grandfathers and grandmothers is a note on the door: “knock first”.

What the lady of the ASC is doing….?

A large fence has been placed next to the Animal House. Behind it all kinds of mysterious things happen. None of the animals are allowed to look. John has been appointed to guard the place. Of course, the animals try to get a glimpse of what's going on there. Daan tries to look behind the fence from the penguins' house. Renate stands on Finn's shoulders and hopes to be big enough.
Unfortunately, both attempts fail.

It's a good thing John keeps watch because the animals just don't stop trying. Jochem and Imke knock on the fence and shout: "what are you doing, do you have ice cream and candy?"

A large truck just drove in. On the side was written: “Indian party service”.
Would we get Indian food, the animals wondered. "That is very hot and everything is with rice" serious knew. He had read that, of course.

The lady from the ASC comes every day and acts as if she is very important. Perhaps she does that to make up for her motorcycle escapade?

Serious has some novelty by the way. He heard from a grandfather  that the lady does not know who will be the residents of the 4^th  room. She pretends she knows and can't say anything, but she doesn't know !

Tomorrow is the last post about the Animal House.
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 7. SERIOUS HAS SPECTACLES AND THE LADY A MOTORCYCLE

Since the fourth room has been furnished and is still empty, there has been a depressed mood.
A kind of vague feeling of impending doom.
The lady of the ASC cannot reassure them either.
The leader and his assistant drink nowadays every evening two glasses whiskey or two beers.
Serious is almost always gone. He follows 2 studies at the university in the city and he goes there almost every day by bus.
When he comes home he has to study. He is not allowed to study in the fourth room . They have now cleared a room for him in the Lauwerkrans and he also has a laptop there. In the beginning, the animals visited him. But sometimes, when they came in, he would shut down the laptop immediately and blushes. It was clear that they were not welcome.

At first they thought it was because he wears glasses behind the computer.
But it isn't, because when he reads a book in het Dierenhuis, he puts those glasses on too. The penguins had to get used to that and they giggled and made jokes all the time. But serious said, "they are aviator glasses and I need them to read." And that was the end of it for him. The leader finds glasses interesting and asks the lady if she has a pair for him too. "It may also be an old one," he said quickly when she looked dubious. But then the lady said that was not possible.

The Grandma's at the crafts club also had a secret . The kitties and Finn are sometimes sent away. Then they go to the grandfathers, but when Daan is there they are not allowed in there either. That’s why they often play in the stairwell and on the street.

Fortunately, funny things also happen. They laughed so much about the lady of the ASC. A new welfare worker has come to work at the office with a big, sturdy motocycle. The lady likes him very much and tries in all kinds of ways to get his attention but that doesn't seem to work. One day she suddenly arrived herself on a large motorcycle. Complete with helmet.

But when she got to het Dierenhuis and stopped, she fell over. She couldn't handle the bike, it was too heavy for her. The animals were very startled and immediately called John.
John kneels quickly by the lady and opens the lid of her helmet.

Fortunately, the lady is not hurt only very shocked.
Renate quickly makes a cup of tea for everyone.

Now it appears that the fall ended well, everyone can laugh about it. Also the lady, but she does ask John if she can call the office so her colleague can pick up the motorcycle. From now on she will only ride on her scooter. “That is much nicer”, she says, “because then I don't need a helmet”. Yeah Yeah.

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 6 . THE TWIN IS SICK AND 4th ROOM

There is a lot going on in the house. The workers are busy again. They have the letter with instructions and it says exactly what needs to be done. Of course, the animals try to find out from the workers who will be the new residents, but they do not know either.
The furniture of the fourth room is quite odd. The animals don't know what to think of it. Serious says: “That's furniture from China . I read a book about it. That is a country very far from here ”. Well, that did not make the animals a bit wiser.

And as if things weren't messy enough, the twins got sick. They kept the whole house up all night. Crying, vomiting, and a lot of walking up and down, it just didn't stop. The widow went to help Renate in the middle of the night but now, in the morning, there is still no improvement. They lie in their basket with flushed cheeks and watery eyes and feel very warm. Renate is desperate.

John comes to have a look and says: “I'll call the doctor”. When the doctor comes, the twins are sleeping exhaustedly.
He examines them for a moment and says, “It's just a virus. Give them some cats aspirin and lots of sleep and lots of water. Then they will be fine. Fortunately.

On top of that the lady of the ASC comes on her scooter. She will of course see the 4th room.

All the animals immediately rush towards her in hope for information, but she says: “I want to talk to serious first”.
Serious blushes again and thinks to himself: “could she not have said that more tactfully”. He tries to keep the conversation as short as possible. He does not like an exceptional position.

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5. THE LADY OF THE ASC

 

Not long after that, the lady of the ASC came by. “I heard the penguins' room has become so beautiful. I would like to see it ”. The penguins proudly show her their room.

The lady frowns thoughtfully when she sees the rug. "Where is serious," she asks immediately. "He's never in these days," the widow said sharply. “Since he has been in the city, he is always away or is reading . I don't like him at all anymore ”, said adolescent sadly .
The lady wanted to say something, but she did not.

“I think your room has become really comfortable. There are now 2 sleeping cabins empty. What would you say about new residents? ” The penguins looked at each other in shock. They never thought of that.
“Well uh, we are still 7 people. That's quite a lot ” the leader said.
“And the little one is also getting bigger and needs more space. He will soon be 1 year old! And he is already complaining that he wants his own sleeping cabin ” the little one's father answered quickly. Actually, it was more because he was fed up with the little one always sleeping between him and his wife. He wanted to have his wife to himself again . That was so long ago.

“We have to celebrate the birthday; a party, a party; do we get a fish dish again? ” the penguins shouted all together.
“I will discuss it in the team,” said the lady as usual.

At that point, serious came into the room. "Oh, I didn't know there is a meeting, ," he stammered. “I was working on the computer with the grandfathers” and his face flushed again.
Then the lady quickly said she wanted to discuss something with everyone while giving serious a wink.
And because the weather was nice, all residents sat in front of the house.

“The room downstairs is going to be prepared for new residents. And before you ask, I don't know who it will be for. Honestly. It is all very mysterious. A container with furniture has arrived and stands in our garden. With a letter with instructions about the wall and the floor. We ourselves are not at all happy with this state of affairs. But we have no choice. If we do not cooperate, the subsidy will be withdrawn. From now on this room can no longer be used by you. Not to play chess, not to play hide and seek and not to relax ”.

When the lady had finished it fell silent. All animals had to process this news in their own way. Now that the bachelors are gone, it is so good in het Dierenhuis that they fear this harmony will be disturbed by newcomers. While most of the animals were still processing this news, little's mother shouted, “Don't you forget our son's birthday. Everyone is invited to the party ”.

 4.THE GREAT CLEANING
"We are going to clean", the widow said, "now that it seems that the bachelors will not come back, we have to take care of those stink cabins. Everyone is helping, ”she added. 

Everybody? No. Adolescent went for a swim with Jochem and Finn and serious is not at home either . Since serious went to the city , he is always away. Or he is reading and does not want to be disturbed . Actually, the other penguins don't like him anymore. Would he feel too good for them?

The penguins start to work and soon the room looks neat and clean again.
Unfortunately, the cabins of the bachelors are still a bit dirty.

The penguins are looking at their work with satisfaction. "How empty and boring our room is," says the widow. “Do you remember the rug we used for the circus performance? I saw that in the storage. And there is also some furniture. Come on, let's have a look, ” the leader suggests and immediately walks down the stairs. The others follow him.

 In the basement they immediately find what they are looking for.
"I like that rug so much," says the young couple's wife, "it will look beautiful."
“And we will also bring a chair. Come on assistant, let's see if we can carry it together ”. However they tried, the leader and his assistant were unsuccessful.
"I'm going to ask John. And I think Jochem, Finn and adolescent have just come home, ”said the young couple's husband.

The frogs are always ready to help and Renate came too. "What a beautiful vase with dried flowers," she exclaimed. “You should take that too. That will be beautiful. ” And she immediately picks up the vase. Renate has an eye for decorating. Nobody wonders if this was actually allowed.

Of course, the room was immediately redecorated and the transformation was great.
What a few items can do. Unbelievable.
"That rug is so soft at my feet," the widow cooed.
Adolescent immediately lay down on the rug to play with the little one.

The atmosphere, which was very minor lately, immediately became much happier.
It was like it used to be when they first lived in this house and everyone was happy with the company
They talked with excitement when they suddenly heard: "Hey, what is that?"

There stood serious and he looked dumbfounded. "Beautiful, isn't it, isn't it great," the penguins shouted.

Serious was silent for a moment and then he stuttered " mmmmm but you have a rrrrug". And he blushed. "Don't you like it?" asked the widow. " Yyyy yeah well, " stammered serious shy.
Well, since he's been to the big city he's become very strange, the widow thought. As if he no longer wants to belong to us . "What will the lady of the ASC say when she comes by," said the leader. She always talks about taking initiative and independence. And we have shown that now! She can be satisfied.

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3 . SERIOUS GOES TO THE CITY

At last the day came serious had been waiting for.
In the morning the lady of the ASC drove by on her scooter were serious was waiting for her. "Have you been to the toilet," the lady asks, "because it is a long drive." Then John comes up with a nice large bag. "This is for you, serious. I think you can use it well. If you bring leaflets of everything you are about to visit, you can show them to us when you get home ”. Serious nods. He cannot speak for a moment, he is so moved by this beautiful gift from John. How lovely! 

"Would you like a cushion?" the widow asks. “ Have a good trip, have fun, watch out with crossings, don't get lost, stay with the lady, good luck, have fun,” the others shout.
And then they drive away. Serious waves a moment but is happy that they are finally driving.

It is wonderful. It is a long journey, but that is no problem.
And when they finally arrive in the city, he is amazed. He had already seen photos, but he did not think it would be so overwhelming. So many crowds, so much noise .

But it was wonderfully quiet in the Museum of Antiquities and in the city library. So many books, so many beautiful things to see, one day was not enough. On the way back he could hardly speak of all the impressions and of fatigue.
He wanted to stay in the city for ever.

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2. THE BACHELORS

The bachelors are not doing well. Since they discovered the other pub they often leave in the evening and don't come home until early in the morning.
They try to be silent when they come home but they don't always succeed.
In the morning they are cranky and only get up very late.

John, the young couple's man and serious, have repeatedly warned them about their behaviour and asked if they could be more quiet. But they don't listen and it only gets worse. If this continues, the lady of the ASC has to be consulted.

They also have secretly hidden in a corner of the room a beer crate. Recently they often come home drunk and singing loudly. Last night one fell down the stairs, from top to bottom. But nevertheless they went out again in the evening. The kitties are very scared of them because they have started to drink during the day. Their sleeping cabin stinks, they stink and they make a huge mess. The widow says she no longer wants to live in one room with such perverts . The young couple say that the bachelors are a bad example for the little one. And it is dangerous too. There is a broken wine glass laying on the floor and there are pieces of glass everywhere. Serious will clean it up quickly before accidents happen.
This has to stop.

But it has never been as bad as today. The bachelors are very drunk and unaware that they were covered in mud. It is almost noon and they are still not approachable. John called the ASC's lady and she came. How shocked she was to see the bachelors and the condition of the penguins' room. “There must be an immediate solution to this . I will discuss this with the team right away, ”she said .

But that was not necessary.
In the evening the bachelors left as usual and they just didn't come back.
They held a short search for them but without result. 

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1. DAILY LIFE

 Life is good in het Dierenhuis. The animals meet in the spacious stairwell. There is always time for a chat. The houses are very peaceful. Especially the children love it here. They play together, they explore and swim. And the combination with de Lauwerkrans as neighbours is so much fun . The animals are allowed to use the library and they also enjoy going to the clubs. But the 1970s house and het Kantwinkeltje also play a role in their lives.

The home of the cats is the nicest. The widow is often there to help with the twins, but the other penguins also like it there. Renate can finally let go of her mother role and hang out with Daan and adolescent.

 

Then the widow and the wife of the young couple take care. They love to be in this house. The kitties are always cheerful but also naughty. Especially in the stairwell they can rage quite a bit. Then they climb up via the banister. Recently Jochem and Imke had climbed on the roof . But then John became really angry and now they don’t do it anymore.

Renate prefers to bake cakes. She does that with the grandmothers in de Lauwerkrans. And she likes to be in het Kanthuisje. She loves the beautiful laces there and finds the customers who come very interesting. But she does not dare to touch anything because she is afraid her nails will damage the lace. The other kitties are just having fun. They like to play with the little one, with Finn and with the dachshund. At de Lauwerkrans they only come to have a chat because they cannot concentrate long enough to do something nice. To be honest, the grandfathers and grandmothers are often happy when these noisy but sweet kitties go home.

 The frogs are very different but also happy. 

Father John loves to read and has many books about nature. With his sons he makes long trips where they take the binoculars. He teaches them a lot about nature . Then they take a nice dip in the water and eat their belly round with insects. They love that.
Daan likes to be at the craft club. He learns to use tools from the grandfathers and he is already very handy. He also wanted to join the train club, but he is not that suitable for that. His fingers are too clumsy for that fine work. But he can do carpentry very well!
Finn is no longer so shy. Sometimes he even forgets to bring his soft toy.
He likes to go to the grandmothers to play a game and cuddle a little. Jochem is his best friend. Jochem can climb very well but Finn can jump very far!
When the frogs sit together they look at the sculpture of their mother and ask father John to tell stories from the time the mother was still alive.
In the evening when the boys are in bed, John often stands in front of the painting. Then he thinks of the happy time he had with his wife Klara. But, he tells her, it is also nice here.

And when he goes to bed he kisses her goodnight.

With the penguins  things are a little different. They were the first residents here and were so happy with their home! But when they saw how the other animals lived, a feeling of dissatisfaction slowly crept in. Not by everyone, by the way.

The little one and the adolescent were not bothered by anything. They loved it in het Dierenhuis.
The leader and his assistant also liked this. Life was a bit boring but also very easy. Every evening the leader drank a glass of cognac and his assistant a beer.
Serious had thrown himself into chess, but the grandpas were no longer a match for him. He single-handedly played famous games from books. He had already read all the books of de Lauwerkrans . Now the lady of the ASC kept bringing new books for him from the city library. He was interested in a lot of subjects. Astronomie, geography, mathematics, chemistry, he actually wanted to know everything. Next time when the lady comes he will ask if he can go to the city too. He has never been in a museum or a church. The city has so many options.
The 2 bachelors are not so happy. They are bored to death and there is nothing to do in the local pub. And all those children who just roar around. Not very funny. They liked the little one very much, but all that other little grit ... Now they have heard of a pub in a village further down where it seems to be very different. They want to go there soon.
The young couple is satisfied. Their lives revolve around the little one and he having so much fun! Yet the young couple's wife often looks enviously at the cozy rooms of the frogs and especially of the cats.

The widow is getting a bit nagging. She has aches and is easily annoyed. Everyone avoids her a bit and she doesn't like that. Lately she has been complaining a lot about sore feet. A grandmother knitted fine pink socks for her. She was happy with that but now she has pain in her back.

During the day there is a big difference between one and the other half of the house. As soon as the penguins are awake, they get up and go somewhere. They are used to do so. But the homes of the frogs and cats are always lively. There is often someone at home and they have lovely furniture. Therefore, the penguins always go to other houses and no one comes to them. That is something that bothers the women, but they do not know how to change it. Our house is so empty, the widow thought.

They will talk about it the next time the lady of the ASC comes .

And that fourth house? It is still empty. The young couple asked if they could live there for as long as it was empty, but it was not allowed.
The lady is always very secretive when it comes to the fourth house.

 

3.CIRCUS ACTS

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Circus het Dierenhuis. This performance is in honour of the kitties! ” That's how Melvin announced the acts. He was the ringmaster and assistant to the acts. The penguins and the dachshund performed first.

   

Wow, that was a great act.
As a reward, they receive a hearty applause.
And because they don't know how to split up again, they just drop.
Not a very charming ending, but nobody mind.

Although most of the acts were not that spectacular and a lot of the acts failed, the kitties laughed a lot and found it exciting.

 Everywhere were animals that had fallen lay lazy on the ground.
Until the frogs came up with a very dangerous act.

They jumped on top of each other and then ……

Help… .. they are going to fall!

Fortunately, no one was injured, but the lady immediately said that such dangerous acts were no longer allowed.

At least this act was not that dangerous.
After a few more acts, Melvin announced the very last one.

 John stood on the rug. What was he going to do? He asked if Jochem, Imke, Hidde and Emma would come forward. The kitties looked at each other and thought it was very scary but did it anyway. What would happen?

Strong John lifted all the cats in his arms. The kitties cried and giggled. It was so exciting and funny.
Everyone thought that was a great farewell act.

 Because of the party, the grandmothers had made a delicious fish dish again. But now the penguins had to share with the kitties because they love fish too.

 "We love it here, Renate",  the cats whisper when they went to bed.

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