The Bird-Sitters

The Bird-Sitters is a short story inspired by The Lion King. It was published by Scholastic in 2004 as part of Disney's Year Book: 2004.
==Synopsis==
One day, Simba and Nala found themselves surrounded by a herd of angry elephants. Zazu caught up with the cubs and chided them for having incited the herd, but they insisted that they had just been playing tag. Simba asked Zazu to keep the stampede a secret from Mufasa, and he agreed, on the condition that the cubs would babysit his niece, Zinga, the next day. Confident that babysitting would be easy, Simba and Nala agreed.
The next morning, Zazu introduced Simba and Nala to Zinga, who immediately flew away. Zazu instructed the cubs to reconvene with him and Zinga's mother at midday, then left. Simba and Nala searched for Zinga and eventually found her at Rafiki's tree. Zinga informed the cubs that she did not need babysitters, then took off again, asserting that she was just going out to play.
Simba relaxed for a moment before realizing that Zinga had said exactly what he and Nala often said before getting into trouble. He and Nala chased Zinga, whose dizzying antics disturbed a group of birds who were trying to teach their young to fly. As Zinga darted away yet again, an exhausted Simba and Nala gave up their pursuit.
Just then, Rafiki, observing from a nearby tree, advised the cubs that chasing Zinga was part of the game for her. Simba realized that if they simply waited at Pride Rock for Zazu and Zinga's mother, Zinga would eventually go looking for them and join them there. Neither cub noticed Zinga flying toward the elephants' watering hole.
Simba and Nala had not waited at Pride Rock for long before a herd of elephants, led by Zinga, came stampeding toward them. Zinga took refuge with the cubs while the elephants thundered past. Afterwards, Zinga apologized, claiming that she had only been playing. Simba scolded her and pointed out that she only got into trouble when she wandered off. Nala whispered to Simba that he sounded like Zazu, to his horror.
Just then, Zazu and Zinga's mother arrived, with the latter gushing over Simba and Nala's babysitting expertise. She added that she was certain the cubs never caused any trouble, to which Zazu replied that he was sure they would not give him trouble for a while. Simba and Nala silently agreed that they were too tired to cause a ruckus for a long time.
==Appearances==
==Gallery==
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Category:The Lion King short stories
Category:Real world
Category:Short stories