Amusing myself
Brittany rang the bell at the Carver’s, where she was to babysit the twins that afternoon. It was going to be a great day. Mr and Mrs Carver had readily agreed when Brittany suggested she might take Chloe and Caleb to the zoo if the weather was fine. It was a beautiful day.
After Mr and Mrs Carver got away, Brittany packed lots of water, some cheeses, fresh fruits, butter, and rolls into a picnic bag before they went downstairs to the bus stop. The kids could barely contain their excitement during the short ride to the Animal Park. Chloe wanted to see the elephants and polar bears, and Caleb was waiting to see the big cats and the monkey house. Brittany, well Brittany, could hardly wait to see the giraffes.
At the zoo, they paid their admission fee and got a map. Brittany asked for and received directions to the ‘People Mover’ that they could use to travel from area to area. They agreed they would board the tram and ride to the far end where the Polar Bear pen was. From there, they could walk to the elephants, the monkey house, and the giraffes. They could finish off at the big cats. Then buy snow cones and watch the birds through the aviary screening. If they wanted, they could go inside to see the birds, but understood, they would have to finish their snow cones before going inside to see the birds.
The white bears were playful – swimming gliding and playing in the cool water. They could look through the glass and view the bears from below or watch them on the shore from above. The below-ground areas were cool and refreshing on such a hot day. At the elephant enclosure, Caleb watched an elephant poop. It was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. Brittany thought it was pretty cool too, but Chloe thought it disgusting. The monkeys were not very active when the kids were in the monkey house. The zookeeper told them it was the heat. The heat made the monkeys lazy.
Next up were the giraffes. Brittany loved the giraffes. Their pen was large, grassy, and shaded around the viewing area. You could purchase a handful of giraffe food, and they would eat out of your hand. They had enormous tongues that could wrap around your hand. They had cute, tiny fur-covered horns, that she learned were not actual horns, but ossicones, or ossicles, maybe popsicles, or something like that, protruding from the tops of their heads. Brittany wanted to show off her giraffe knowledge to Chloe and Caleb.
The giraffes were not out that day. It was something about having sore throats or bad hooves.
“What the heck!” Brittany said under her breath; when they arrived at the pen only to find out that the giraffes were not on display. She took Chloe by one hand and Caleb with the other, they made their way directly to the front gate.
“Where are the giraffes today?” she asked the lady at the ticket counter. “Why are there no giraffes? We came here specifically to see the giraffes! What have you done with them? We need to see the giraffes! I can’t believe you have the fuckin’ giraffes locked up where we can’t see them! What kind of a zoo doesn’t have giraffes?”
A polite man, wearing a blue shirt that read ‘SECURITY’ across the back, escorted Brittany and her two companions outside the front gate and asked them to leave. Brittany felt she had been wronged and screamed until he released them and pointed down the street. She pulled her iPhone from her shoulder bag and dialed ‘Channel two Action News’ to report the heavy-handedness with which the zoo was treating their paying customers and how they were hiding the giraffes.
The station aired the film that night at six.
tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice 