Your Backyard Is Wild Read Free Page A

what it was and looked at Gabe, who said, “A train.”
    Air-conditioned? Benjamin wondered, sweating. But the train flew through the station so fast that he couldn’t even count the cars.
    “An express,” Gabe added. “It doesn’t stop at every station.”
    Benjamin nodded and stared at the subway track. It was four or five feet below him, in a deep tunnel. And . . . there was something moving down there!
    He nudged his sister. “Hey, Lucy,” he said, pointing. “I think it’s a rat!” They watched as the rat rummaged through a fast-food bag that someone had thrown on the tracks. It licked what was left inside of it, then came out with cheese on its whiskers. Soon two more rats joined it, and they scurried down the track, looking for more food.
    “Oh, man,” said Gabe, following his cousins’ glance. “We learned about those guys in school. The rats in the subway are called Norway rats. Gross!”
    Benjamin said, “I think they’re kind of cool, actually. See how the color of their fur matches the color of the wood and metal of the tracks? They’re camouflaged, so you don’t notice them at first. But when you do, you can see there are lots of them!”
    “Who’d think any animals live down here at all?” Lucy added. “They must have adapted in other ways, too.”
    Another train was coming—Benjamin knew the signs now. The rats disappeared into the darkness, and the subway train whooshed into the station. As the doors opened, Gabe said, “If you think they were cool, just wait till you get to the top of the world!”
     
    Benjamin drew in his breath as he walked into the grand lobby of the Empire State Building. Its ceiling had to be two or three stories above him, and everywhere he looked there was marble.
    That’s when they started waiting in line. First, the security line. Then the ticket line. And then the line for the elevator to the top. After a while, even the grown-ups got restless.
    Once they got up to the top, though, Benjamin realized it was all worthwhile. It was a bright, sunny day, and it seemed he could see almost all the way back to Florida. He followed Gabe through the gift shop and outside onto the observation deck.
    Gabe went into tour guide mode right away. “To the west, the mighty Hudson River and the lovely skyline of New Jersey,” he said, leading his cousins to one side of the building. He didn’t spend much time there but motioned for his cousins to follow.
    He showed them his neighborhood to the east—they could see the Brooklyn Bridge again, this time in miniature—and the Statue of Liberty to the south. From here, the towering buildings looked like gift boxes and the cars looked like ants.
    Looking north, they could see a patch of grass and trees set in the middle of the city. A pond near its edge glittered in the sunlight, and immediately Benjamin felt an urge to explore it. Gabe followed his glance and said, “Central Park, of course. Centrally located, as you can see.” Benjamin made a mental note to move it to the top of his must-see list.
    Gabe reached into his pocket for some quarters and fed them into a set of binoculars on a stand. Lucy looked into them first, exclaiming, “I can see people walking on the street now—a hundred stories below. Wow!”

    “This is the best way to spend your first day in the city,” Gabe announced importantly. “From up here, you can see how everything fits together. And then you can visit the sights one by one.” He sounded so grown-up that Benjamin wondered if his parents had said this to other visitors.
    Lucy stepped down from the stand, ready to give Benjamin a turn. But Benjamin had taken out his own binoculars. He was looking at the sky!
    She nudged him and teased, “Um . . . you’re looking the wrong way?”
    “I just thought of it,” said Benjamin, “but this is an awesome place for bird-watching!” He handed his binoculars to Lucy. “Look there,” he said, pointing. “Do you see the pigeons?” She didn’t