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About the Author:

Tayler Liles is a 20 year old 

student at the University of 

Florida studying Elementary 

Education. When finished with 

schooling, she hopes to teach 

reading. She enjoys relaxing at 

the beach, reading novels, and 

playing golf in her spare time. 

She was inspired to create this 

collection of works based on her 

love of animals and desire to 

create something appealing to 

the children she will work with 

one day. 

Ruby's Magical Day

Ruby was a bright young girl. She had long blonde hair that 

she wore in pigtails everyday and big blue eyes that lit up 

when she was full of happiness. But nothing made her eyes 

gleam more than animals. Learning about them at school 

and watching television shows about them in her free time 

were some of her favorite activities. Ruby would check 

books out at the library about all types of animals and read 

through them, mesmerized by all the pictures and 

information they contained. But she had never seen many 

of the animals she learned about and saw in her books in 

real life. 

Ruby's Magical Day

It had been a dream for so long to go to a place where 

she could see her beloved animals. The zoo. In fact, it 

was her only birthday wish for her seventh birthday that 

was approaching, and she wanted more than anything 

for it to come true. Ruby was determined to go, and 

little did she know that her dreams were soon to 

become a reality. 

Her birthday came and she had a fantastic birthday 

celebration. Her mom made her favorite dinner, creamy 

macaroni and cheese, and then a mouthwatering 

chocolate cake. Blowing out her candles, she wished one 

last time with all her might to go to the zoo. She rapidly 

ripped opened her presents and she could not believe 

her eyes. Tickets to the zoo! Her birthday wish had 

come true. She hugged her mom and dad as tight as 

she could and went to bed that night with a smile that 

covered her entire face. 

 Ruby was so excited that she didn’t think about anything 

else all week. She could not wait to be at the zoo that 

weekend. Finally, Saturday arrived and it was time for the 

trip. After what felt like forever, they finally got to the zoo. 

Ruby, beaming with happiness, leaped out of the car and 

hurried her parents along. Her dad tried to calm her down, 

but how could she not be this ecstatic? The anticipation was 

making her crazy. She just wanted to get inside already. 

They walked up to the entrance, showed the pleasant man 

their tickets, and as they entered through the massive iron 

gates, something very extraordinary happened. 

The second she stepped past the gates the air was filled 

with a shiny glimmer and everything was spinning 

around and around. Ruby was terrified and had no idea 

what was going on. It suddenly stopped and the air was 

crystal clear again. Glancing around, her parents were 

gone and she didn’t see anyone else. Ruby was 

bewildered and not sure what to do. Then out of the 

corner of her eye there was a glimpse of movement. 

She quickly looked and saw a zebra walking her 

direction. It had thick, bold stripes and big brown eyes. 

The zebra trotted up and greeted her. 

“Hello Ruby! I’m Zane the Zebra!” it said 

enthusiastically. 

Ruby’s mind was going in circles. 

“Whoa! How are you talking to me? And how do you 

know my name?” she uttered out nervously. 

“I had a feeling you would want an explanation. You see, 

when a child who comes to the zoo loves animals the 

way that you do, something magical happens here. All of 

us animals are able to talk to children and explore the 

zoo with you. You’re the only person here now, and you 

can meet all the other animals if you want.” the zebra 

replied. 

Ruby had a million thoughts running through her head. 

What is happening? This is amazing! How can this be 

real? Who cares this is AWESOME!  

“Wow! I want to see the rest of the zoo and meet all 

your friends!” she finally exclaimed to the zebra after 

collecting her thoughts.

They began walking towards the rest of the zoo, Ruby with 

an extra skip in her step. Ruby took in her surroundings. 

The zoo was made of wide brick walkways, connecting 

each animal’s area to the next, eventually making a loop 

around the entire zoo. Where she walked, tall oak trees 

lined the path, providing a cool and shady climate. There 

were flowerbeds with patches of shrubs and vibrantly 

colored pink and yellow flower buds at the end of long, 

lanky stems. She noticed little trolley-like stands that sold 

fluffy stuffed animals, plastic figurines, and other 

memorabilia that visitors could take home as a souvenir. 

She breathed in the fresh air, taking in the aroma of salty 

popcorn, candy, and ice cream; all things she loved. 

They approached a group of monkeys enjoying a snack of 

big, bright yellow bananas. 

“Helloooo monkeys! I’m Ruby” Ruby shouted.  

“Hi! You must be our special visitor today. The monkeys are 

so excited for you to be here. Ready to have some fun?” the 

biggest monkey replied. 

The monkeys taught Ruby how to swing from the trees and 

they played an exhilarating game of tag. Ruby swung from 

each long stringy branch to another, chasing the monkeys 

around. When they were done, Zane walked with Ruby to 

explore more of the zoo. 

Next, they came to a huge watering hole where a herd 

of giant elephants were splashing around and cooling 

off. 

Hello Ruby,” the elephants said in unison. “We are so 

excited for you to be at our zoo.” 

Ruby rode on the elephants’ through the enormous 

grassland and hopped across their backs as they made 

rumbling noises with their long wrinkly trunks. They 

threw her up in the air with the strength from their 

trunks, catching her as she screamed and giggled.

Ruby’s next stop was the water habitat. The dolphins 

greeted her with high-pitched squeals and splashes. She 

swam with them through the crystal clear blue water 

and held on to their slippery fins as they jumped and 

flipped. Ruby was having so much fun, but she still had 

to see the rest of the animals, so she sadly said goodbye 

to her new friends. 

Throughout the day Ruby visited the birds, where they 

grasped onto her clothing and soared her through the 

sky, had speedy races with the cheetahs, jumping 

contests with the kangaroos, and dug deep holes and 

tunnels with the meerkats. Zane even took her to the 

ice cream cart and she got a giant perfectly rounded 

scoop of chocolate ice cream with colorful sprinkles. Her 

favorite. She was busy enjoying her ice cream when she 

faintly heard her name being called. It was her dad’s 

voice. 

“Ruby, Ruby…”

Next thing she knew she was opening her eyes and 

found herself in the back in the car, waking up from the 

best dream she had ever experienced. 

A Trip Through Time...

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