Read Zoo for Free Online Page A

jeans, a pale blue button-up shirt, and a cowboy
hat that was lying beside him.
    I drifted toward him; sure I was still
asleep and dreaming. I realized I was awake when I smacked my head
against our enclosure’s glass. The new guy saw my smooth moves and
looked up at me with a grin. Even though he was about 20 to 30 feet
away from me, I could tell his eyes were a piercing blue. If I
could see the color of his eyes, there was no doubt he could see
the scarlet shade of my face.
    He didn’t laugh at me. He
casually pushed his hair out of his face and placed the hat upon
his head. Then he smiled and tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. My
knees went weak, and all I could think to do at the time was
curtsey. OMG! I
actually curtsied. It was so embarrassing.
    “ What are you doing?”
Janice called from somewhere behind me.
    “ Making an ass of myself.”
I answered when I turned around to find her watching me.
    She laughed. “Yeah, I can see that. Pretty
cute,” she said as she glanced around me to get a good look at our
new neighbor. “Guess that’s why you’re so red.”
    “ Hey there cowboy!” Janice
hollered across to him, while she waved and gave her best
smile.
    “ Stop it,” I said as I
yanked her by the hand and dragged her away from the glass
wall.
    “ What’s wrong with you?”
she giggled all the way over to the vegetable garden, where I
stopped and released my hold on her. “Don’t worry. It’s not like I
can actually do anything, but you can’t stop me from having a
little fun. I’ve been so bored lately.”
    “ Whatever. Help me weed,
okay?” I tried to find something to distract her from the new guy.
Unfortunately, I quickly found out that weeding was probably not
the best answer, because she was unintentionally bending over and
giving him the best possible view the whole time we worked. Thank
goodness her dress was long enough to cover her butt, because we’ve
still never been given underwear with better coverage.
    Fortunately, the park opened and people
flooded the pathways, which prompted Janice to get bored and move
on with her day. I stayed near the front of our enclosure and sat
off to the side near Auntie Josephine’s section of the dome. Her
singing was out of tune, but she was so passionate when she sang,
it made you want to like it. I listened to the melody as I watched
the new guy explore his enclosure. He was looking for a way out,
much like I had.
    Sometime after lunch, the
cowboy gave up looking for a door. He went into one of the wooden
structures and came out again with a bowl of stew and a glass of
water. Seriously?
    I enviously watched him eat spoonful after
spoonful of his chunky stew, as he sat on the shallow porch. When
he was finished, he left his bowl on the ground and walked over to
his new horse and rubbed her nose. He pulled a few carrots out of
his pocket and fed her a snack before giving her a good brushing.
Every move he made was so natural for him. There was no doubt in my
mind that he was actually from the Wild West or the
countryside.
    Outside the cowboy’s enclosure, the public
crowded around the new exhibit. They were consumed with him. Much
to my relief, all eyes were on him instead of us that day.

NICE TO MEET YOU
     
    The morning following the cowboy’s arrival,
I woke up early. The zoo was not yet open, and Janice was still
fast asleep in her hut. The sun had not made its appearance thus
far, but I could tell it was getting close by the subtle change of
colors in the sky. Oranges and pinks were fighting the night’s dark
hues away.
    I quietly pushed through the jungle foliage
and made my way over to the waterfall for a quick shower. Before
leaving the fresh water source, I filled my animal skin with
drinking water for the morning. It took about six or seven weeks,
but I finally got over the “gross factor” of the container. I
wasn’t really sure how long I’d been held captive at that
point.
    The sun was up by the time I reached the
front of the