Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 29, for Tuesday the twenty-ninth of October 2024.

Security, in a Tuxedo

by Elizabeth Guilt

They roared into the city. Literally - the cheapest transport in from the airport was on lion-back.

The bars were raucous. Sinuous snake dancers, monkeys pouring drinks with hands and feet, bunnies lounging lasciviously across laps. Bears kept the tourists under control. Just.

Only one spot in the busy centre was calm. Smart black-and-white waiters waddled, cocktail trays on flippers, up to marble tables. You could hear the ice clink as they set the glasses down.

"Why so quiet?" whispered one punter.

"Never underestimate these guys. And no-one wants to admit they were thrown out of a bar by a penguin."

One of the reasons I find penguins so delightful is that they always manage to look exactly like pictures of themselves - something they share with tigers, and pints of Guinness. It is a very satisfactory quality.