Those Years I Opened A Zoo Novels & Stories

The Armani Brothers Maria's POV I smiled as I laid sleeping Nathan on his bed. I thought about my day with him and I must say that I had a swell time with him at the new zoo downtown. We saw different types of animals, participated in fun activities and I allowed ice cream and had other snacks. The highlight for me was spending time with my son but at different times I felt like people were watching us. I looked over my shoulder at different times but didn't see anyone.

“My son’s a bit older than you now, but at the time, he was a teenager.” “So you took a job at the zoo?” “At the time, I’d returned to San Diego with my son and was living with my parents. My father was county sheriff and he often had Dr. Wegeforth, the zoo’s founder, treat sick inmates,” she explained. “The doctor needed a bookkeeper for the zoo and I needed a job.” “And now you’re the director?”

I had only tasted ice cream once when one of the slave masters dumped the container on the floor right in front of Granny and Granny as per her kind acts, gave it to me. Since then I had loved ice cream and tasting it to me was like tasting happiness itself. "And then?" He asked. "Then we go to the amusement park and the zoo," I replied him. "Why the zoo?" He asked. "Because I want to have a look at the animal slaves, I have been the one in slavery all my life and now I wanted to see what it looked like for animals to be in captivity," I replied but had my response to Cara. "Just for fun. I heard the zoo would be very exciting and thrilling."

Even the animals looked just a little too warm as we wandered around the zoo, sipping on our plastic cups of wine from the local winery. I told my two best friends the sterile version of what happened. I had practiced it in the mirror, so I could say it without crying. I had left Dubai because the sheik's son had tried to assault me. Owen and I were broken up. It just wasn't working out. Both women nodded sympathetically, keeping quiet until I changed the subject. We wandered aimlessly, following the crowd, until we came to an animal enclosure. Adults were playing with the child-sized plastic peep hole, popping their heads up into a bubble in the middle of a prairie dog town.

After grumbling at him that, they say, I could immediately tell them to bring them to me, I began to eat with appetite. After the restaurant, we went to the zoo, which I will remember for a lifetime! Having examined many animals and birds in spacious enclosures, I hardly broke away from the contemplation of pandas (I could probably stand there for several days), I was tired, but madly pleased, and was led out by the arm of Andres. While we were getting to the “excellent” restaurant, according to him, he called his acquaintances and arranged to meet there.

“I look like a baked potato left in the oven too long. She leaned in conspiratorially, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Do you remember the time you and Esperanza tried to start a petting zoo in the backyard?” I choked on my coffee, sputtering as the memory came rushing back. “How could I forget? We were ten, Aunt Jean. We thought three stray cats and a chicken we ‘borrowed’ from Mr. Alvarez’s farm made a zoo.”

“Zoo!” He chuckled, taking each by the hand, and said, “The Zoo it is.” It was only a short drive to the zoo entrance and the kids were practically bouncing in their seats the entire time. It had been years since Julius went to the zoo, not since Jude was a kid. He forgot how crowded it could be and how lively. The twins seemed to be perfectly at home among the roaming crowds. They showed no fear and stayed close, not letting go of his hands as the trio wandered the grounds.

I finished off my burger, and we headed to the zoo. I didn't know why I thought this might be fun, but I knew she would never have been, and everyone should visit a zoo. We walked around, and she barely spoke. She read all about the animals on the little signs. "You know it is horrible to keep them locked up like this. They should be living in the wild." "Most animals at zoos help raise money for people to donate to save these animals; they are also here to educate people." I mind-linked her. She nodded.

"And now that we are both bored, why don't we do something for fun?” What? I never said I was bored. Rylee’s definition of fun sucked. The last time I went with her to the zoo, she coerced me into entering the ape’s cage. That was my most embarrassing moment, as I got grabbed by the ape and farted on. Thinking about it made me laugh, although I nearly died back there. And to give her credit, that was the catalyst that spiked up my career. I newly met Liam, and then Rylee. I was a young doctor then as I newly started practice and had all the time in the world to get funky.

I didn’t argue and polished off the bottle before chucking it aside. “So am I,” I said, swallowing, “Let’s go smoke.” We headed to the park in the centre of town. It was nearly 11 pm, and the town was empty, so we lit up the second we were off the street. “We need to get the number of Uncle Marco’s dealer,” Elias said. “That is good weed.” I laughed, twizzling the blunt in my fingers as the end glowed red. “My mom would have him hung. When I was eight, Marco and Carlos took my brothers and me to the zoo. We were too young to realise, but they were high the entire day. Safe to say, they never took us to the zoo again.”