See You at the South Pole

Everyone needs to care for someone other than himself, says the mail carrier who hands Mr. Zoom a package. Mr. Zoom isn’t interested in the package because he’s in a hurry to get to the office, but the package shakes in his hands and makes vague noises. Mr. Zoom doesn’t understand what the package is saying, and doesn’t care that much. When he arrives at the office he unwraps it impatiently. An egg appears, and the voice which emerges from it says: “South Pole. Open on Sunday.” Today is Friday, thinks Mr. Zoom in panic, I opened the package three days too early. He hangs a sign on the door of his room so that he won’t be disturbed and sits down to incubate the egg. After three days, a baby penguin hatches from the egg and calls Mr. Zoom “Daddy.” The penguin wants to go to the South Pole, and Mr. Zoom, who no longer cares only for himself, buys tickets and flies with the penguin to the southern continent that very same day. Multitudes of penguins suddenly appear, and who runs towards them and greets them? A mother penguin, of course! The baby penguin immediately knows that she is his mother and runs to her. Mother Penguin is happy to discover that there are still people in the world who are willing to care for someone other than themselves, and thanks Mr. Zoom. She reassures him that from now on she will take care of her penguin, and Mr. Zoom, who must return to his land, says goodbye to the two of them and hands the little penguin a cellular phone. “When you miss me, call me,” he tells him and climbs onto the sleigh. “Will you be back?” asks the penguin. “Sure,” promises Mr. Zoom. “Life is an adventure,” he adds and waves. “See you at the South Pole!”