Those Years I Opened A Zoo Novels & Stories

At first, I had been more interested in how much fun she was having. Slowly, I started to realize that I was also enjoying myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I had allowed myself to break free of my own restrictions and let loose. I can’t even remember if I had experienced being a teen or a young adult when I was Zira’s age.

Once I was done, I took a few online classes, trying to distract myself further, but there was still too much time left in the day. I didn’t feel like cooking, and the hours stretched out before me, dull and empty. I sat in the sitting room, watching a TV show when I came across a family going on a vacation and visiting the zoo. The scene instantly brought back memories from my childhood when, naive as I was then, I wanted my father to take my mother and me to visit the zoo as a family. Fiona almost breathed fire that day. Even though my request was denied, Fiona made sure I spent the entire week learning the hard way never to request such a thing from my father.

I hated this fucking mating bond that was making my life a living hell. And most importantly, I hated myself for the tiny flickers of joy and relief I felt at Kael not rejecting me, and hated myself for allowing myself to be a little bit happy. Pathetic. Pathetic. With a shake of my head, I went to my laptop and opened it, deciding to just get into business. The message on the wall - the one my wolf had left me, swept through my mind again. The zoo. The ancient zoo. Perhaps I could research and see if there was anything out of the ordinary to find out about it.

"We can do the balloons like this—big ones! And blue ones! And one shaped like a lion!" I smiled at his excitement and opened my laptop. "Alright, my little party planner. Let’s make your invite." He gasped dramatically. "Can we make it with animals?" "Of course. What kind of animals?" "All of them!" he said, flinging his arms wide. "Like when Daddy took us to that special zoo, remember?" My spoon paused halfway to my mouth. I felt a twinge in my chest. "Yeah… I remember," I said softly. He looked up at me with those same blue eyes that always seemed to see right through me. "That was the best day ever."

I suggest. “So I can’t even tell Dad?” he asks, now doubting if we’re doing the right thing. “Not even Dad,” I grin. “Okay,” he says and starts smiling at the other passengers in our carriage. They must think he’s a real wack job because every one of them refuses to make eye contact with him. The zoo is surprisingly quiet when we get there. There are mostly other families and, strangely enough, little old ladies visiting. “The last time Dad brought me here was just before my fourth birthday. He took me to the sea lion pool and I watched them get fed. Can we do that again?” he asks.

“So, tell me about yourself.” Even though I had applied to this job months ago, I had come prepared. Without missing a beat, I launched into an explanation of my past experience. “I began volunteering at various animal shelters at the age of twelve,” I began, sitting up straight. “Every weekend, I would help care for and walk the dogs. At sixteen, I spent an entire summer working at a wolf sanctuary outside the city, and—” “A wolf sanctuary, you say?” Adam cut me off, cocking his head.

I didn’t think about that, “We should leave, I didn’t think you wouldn't like it.” “It’s not a problem if you like it, Sugar.” “I haven’t been to the zoo for a while, the last time I came here I was 16 years old, with Frankie. I enjoyed feeding giraffes, playing with elephants. They have farm animals here too, we can feed those cute alpacas and colorful birds. Too bad, you don’t seem to like it.” Leo rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “I can cope with that, this is our third date I want you to have fun. I’m fine with whatever.”