Zoo (4 page)

Eventually, the hula man gave up when I
never emerged. His grass skirt swayed as he walked away. We must
have been pretty interesting for him to hang around for so long. He
had waited for about an hour, never sitting, only standing. He
didn’t even get a snack or a drink. Weirdo.

***

On Thursday, I crept over to peek into
Josephine Derby’s enclosure. She was lounging in her chair and
enjoying what looked like a steaming cup of hot tea. Earl Grey, I
bet. She’d take a sip and then fan herself. All of her movements
were precise and regal, as if she’d spent many hours being trained
to behave like a proper lady.

Once again, her dress was fanciful. It was
lilac with silver thread work. There were perfectly crafted silver
flowers on the top of the bodice. Her face was done up again with
bright pink cheeks and even brighter lipstick. Her silver hair was
curled and held away from her face with a silver ribbon. She kept a
hand mirror on her side table, which she often looked in when she
wasn’t fanning herself. There were also others things lying within
a hand’s reach: a hairbrush, playing cards, paper, and an ink
pen.

I drifted off as I watched her. I thought
about how envious I was that her enclosure was so luxurious. There
were cozy chairs, beautiful paintings, and extra clothes—though her
dresses may not have necessarily been more comfortable. She even
had a bed at the back. It was blocked off behind a frescoed
wall.

I snapped out of it when she spoke to me.
Her lovely English accent put me at ease, even though she was
scolding me ever so slightly. “How long are you going to sit up
there and gawk, love? You know staring is not very becoming for a
young lady. You must announce yourself. It’s only polite.” She sat
up straight in her chair and shifted a little to have a better look
at me.

I blushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, Ms.
Derby.” My mother taught me to always say Ms., Mrs., or Mr. when
addressing my elders. When I asked my Mom why I never heard kids on
TV saying it, she said, “It’s a southern thing, Emma. Those Yankees
don’t know any better.” That always got a good eye roll from me.
Even though some of her remarks were ridiculous and unfounded
stereotypes, I missed them all the same. I hadn’t even been gone
for a full week at that point.

“
Call me Auntie Josephine,
child.”

“
Okay. Auntie Josephine.”
It felt odd calling her that, but she was so sweet, I couldn’t go
against her wishes.

“
Now tell me, where do you
come from?”

I told her my name and how old I was. I told
her about my accident and how crappy I thought our enclosure was
compared to hers. I kept talking and talking, and she listened
without interrupting me once. So I kept on talking, and then, I was
crying about being stuck in a zoo, about missing out on my life,
and about never being able to fall in love. I don’t know why I told
her so much, but it felt good.

When I finished, she told me her story.
“I’ve been here for 49 years. Sometimes, I can hardly believe it. I
barely remember England. I was so young.” Her face was so full of
compassion for me and something else as she reflected on her own
life. “I was born into a wealthy family in London in 1831. We lived
on a large estate, and I got everything I ever wanted. My favorite
thing to do was to go to the opera. I loved the gowns and sitting
in our private box . . . ” She drifted off in thought for a moment
before continuing. “Right after I turned 16, I got very ill. There
was a small cholera outbreak. I caught it when I was helping my
mother volunteer as a nursemaid for the church.”

“
That’s terrible,” I
whispered.

“
I was brought here. I
tried to run away like everyone does, but it was no use. After a
year, they brought a companion for me. His name was Edward. We fell
in love, and he lived here with me for 26 years before he killed
himself. He slit his wrists with one of my hair pins.” Josephine
pulled a tissue from her cleavage and lightly dabbed her eyes. “I
loved him and he loved me, but it was never enough. He went mad.
I’ll never forget that day.” She sniffed and straightened up in her
seat. Then she plastered an insincere smirk across her thinning
lips and said, “Scared the knickers off the park visitors that
day.”

“
Wow, I’m so sorry.” That
had to have been one of the saddest stories I’d ever heard. How she
had stayed sane was beyond me.

“
Never you mind. That was
ages ago and the show must go on. So if you’ll excuse me, I must
get ready for my performance. Singing frees the soul, you know?”
Auntie Josephine shimmied over to her dressing room and closed the
door behind her.

I took my cue and made my way back down to
the grassy floor of our enclosure. I couldn’t help but think angry
thoughts as hordes of people were looking into our tiny world. What
happened to Auntie Josephine and Edward was because of them. I
wanted to break their ugly pointing fingers right off their hands
and poke them in their spying eyes.

Did I mention that I was angry?

MY SECOND ESCAPE ATTEMPT

The time had finally come.
It was Sunday and the Keepers were coming soon. I had dreamt about
the moment all week. There were a million questions I didn’t have
answers to:
Could this be the day that I
gain my freedom? Could I fit in amongst the people out there? Where
will I go? What will I do? How will I live on my own?

After we filled our bellies with apples and
fish for breakfast—courtesy of Janice—we grabbed our weapons and
looked for the perfect hiding spots. There wasn’t really anywhere
next to the rock wall to hide. We each decided to stand to one side
of where we thought the magical portal—or whatever it’s called—had
appeared previously. Then we planned to jump them when they
manifested and make a break for it.

Tick. Tock.

Tick. Tock.

I leant against the boulders that made up
the enclosure’s back wall. I rested there until I saw a foot appear
out of thin air. Janice and I readied ourselves to strike. One of
the Keepers was completely in our enclosure, and the second, a
female, was halfway in.

“
Now!” I cried out to
Janice.

We both rushed forward to attack the two
unsuspecting Keepers. Janice had a long thin branch that she
painstakingly carved into a spear with a lethal point. She worked
for days on it, making it the perfect weapon. I opted for a large
rock that I held high over my head as I charged toward the male
Keeper. I let a fierce battle cry erupt from my lungs as we surged
forward. “Suck it!”

Unlucky for us, their suits were protected
with some kind of invisible force field.

Janice was jolted to the ground first after
her spear bounced off the female Keeper’s stomach and sent a shock
up through her arms. Then I was rocketed into the air a few feet,
before landing flat on my back. I remained there stunned and
breathless. The rock was still clutched tight in my tense hand for
several minutes, as I watched the two Keepers continue on as if
nothing out of the ordinary had happened. They must be used to this
sort of thing. It was infuriating and embarrassing. I felt like a
moron.

My whole body finally
relaxed, and when I was able to finally sit up, I threw my rock at
one of the Keeper’s backs for good measure. It just bounced off of
him and hit the ground with a thud.
Ugh!

GIRL FIGHT

Well, yes, my second
escape attempt was unsuccessful, but we tried. I should have taken
the time with Janice to plan something better than
jump them when I say “Now!”

And a rock?
Really?
What did I
actually think I was going to accomplish with a measly rock? Lesson
learned.

The good news was that we didn’t get
punished. Apparently, the Keepers and Dick only cared about us
disturbing the public. So, I took that to mean I could try to
escape as many times as I wanted so long as the park was closed.
And I would keep trying, hoping the next time I could avoid being
zapped.

Janice didn’t speak to me for the remainder
of the day. I was mortified and wanted to crawl under a rock. I
went for a shower in the waterfall instead, because I had gotten
all muddy and full of leaves when I bit it. The cool water was
refreshing and reenergizing, fuel for my next attempt. I washed up
and filled my animal skin pouch with some drinking water. I finally
gave in since it wasn’t like they provided us with glasses or
anything. However, I couldn’t help but cringe every time I took a
sip from it. I tried singing in my head to keep from thinking about
what part of what animal it came from.

I put my sack dress back on and went off to
find Janice so I could apologize. She was sitting next to Betsy
humming some upbeat tune I’d never heard. It was probably some lame
disco song, but it sounded nice coming from her. Janice’s head was
swaying and she had her eyes closed. She was lost in the dance club
in her head.

I stood in front of her and said, “I’m
sorry, Janice. I didn’t know their suits would have a force field
around them.”

She didn’t startle when I spoke to her, so
she must have sensed I was there. “I know you didn’t,” she said
calmly.

“
Are you mad at me?” I
asked.

“
No.”

“
Well, why won’t you look
at me then?” I was frustrated with her attitude. Her eyes weren’t
shut anymore, but she wouldn’t lift up her face.

“
I’m not mad at you. I’m
mad at myself for getting my hopes up. I should have known better
than to think we could get out of here. I mean, look at their
technology. We don’t stand a chance.”

“
Well, I’m getting out of
here. I
will
find
a way,” I told her adamantly.

She yelled at me then, “Emma! They have
disappearing doors! Their clothes have force fields that will knock
you on your ass! They took us from the past! Time travel for Pete’s
sake! You really think they haven’t thought of every way possible
to keep us here?”

“
Screw you!” I yelled in
return. Her words frightened me. I turned and stormed off to sulk
in my hut. My outburst was inappropriate, but I didn’t want to hear
what she had to say. I would try again. Whatever it
took.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY
AGAIN . . . UNTIL YOU GIVE UP . . .

The day after my second
failed escape attempt, I waited until the park closed to take one
of the larger rocks from the sidewall. I bashed it against the
dome’s glass, over and over again. I didn’t even get it to crack. I
figured it must have been bullet proof.
Bastards!

The day after that, I tried digging my way
out with an odd shaped branch I found in the jungle. I dug while
the park was open, assuming no one would actually know what I was
up to. I wanted them to think that I was planting or burying
something. But who knows what they thought? Besides, there was a
benefit to being out in the open where I could see the public—it
gave me something to look at while I worked. The people of the
future fascinated me as much as I probably fascinated them.

I dug down, into the soil,
about four and a half feet before I hit a steel floor.
Assholes!

The day after that, I
scaled the rock wall and tried to pry loose every rock and boulder
I could get my hands on. They super-glued those suckers in there
good. Not one of them budged.
Douchebags!

And the day after that, I
beat my head on the glass of the dome until I saw stars.
Idiot!

My efforts reminded me of the time when I
was ten years old. I really wanted this hot pink bicycle that all
the popular girls had, but my birthday had already passed. It
wasn’t close to Christmas either, so I had to work for it. Coming
up with that much money for a ten year old was virtually
impossible, and my parents were sure I’d lose interest and
motivation after doing so many chores to earn the cash. But I
didn’t.

It took me nearly six months of cleaning
dishes, making my bed, helping Dad rake leaves, and whatever else
my Mom came up with. When she finally brought me to the store, and
I handed the cashier my money, it felt beyond amazing to be able to
walk out of that store with my new wheels. It was the biggest thing
I had worked for up to that point, and the reward was worth every
second of work.

I’d hoped that maybe I would even make it
into the popular crowd and hang out with all the cool girls at
school. That didn’t happen, but I still got the reward I was
looking for, and my parents were so proud of me for my
determination to see my goal through to the end.

After that, when I wanted something, I made
it happen. It was the same with my grades in school and the
scholarship I was working hard to get. If I hadn’t died and been
brought to the future, I was sure that I would have gotten it. I
also never asked my parents for expensive clothes, jewelry, or
purses. If I wanted it, I worked for it. It really made me
appreciate the things that I had. I missed being in control of
that. It didn’t seem like I was in control of anything in the zoo.
I guess I wasn’t.

Back in the enclosure, I was pleased that
the Keepers never came to take me away for all my subtle escape
attempts. Thank goodness. I was probably good entertainment for
their precious public.

Unfortunately for them—and me—I was out of
ideas for the time being.

MAKING UP

Janice and I made up a few days after she
yelled at me. We were stuck together for a lifetime after all. We
spent the evenings, sitting next to our fire pit, telling each
other stories about our past lives before we retired. I enjoyed our
time together.