A day at the zoo [ OPEN... join u fool ]

[Kazek Siewicz]

if i could talk to him, i would ask the lion what makes him so brave. i would ask him how he stands on the rock with so much pride after we have stripped him from his home, stripped him from his family and forced him to live in a fabricated false world. perhaps he would tell me that's the way his heart is, that this is the way his heart has always been, and will always be. he would tell me that courage comes from within, it is not something that can be taught, and it is not something that can be stolen. i leaned over the railing and tucked my chin into my arms. i think i would get along with animals much better, i'm sure i would. i smiled to him, i admire him because he is able to do something that i am not. he only stares back at me with forceful, haunting golden eyes. he sits like a stone, muscles rippled under gold fur. if he could talk, i'm sure he would have so much to share. i would sit and listen for hours to him as he spoke. it is so amazingly clever, the way we are all connected, and what we could learn from each other.

if only we sat down to listen. 

i uncrossed my arms and clung onto the cold metallic railing "how'd you get yourself in here?" i whispered, his ghostly expression did not change, " did they catch your family too? i really hope not" no reply still, but i imagined the way he would sound if he did. a loud, booming voice. it would be deep and menacing, but, he would be fair and caring as well. he would tell me his plan of escape! he would tell me of the journey he would go on to find his family, go back home to them and the way they would accept him, the way they would forgive him. the way he would protect them, forever. i smiled again, he stared only. 

he is a man of few words, i think.

"i know you can't talk," i said, amused, "it makes me feel better when i pretend that you can," i know what it's like to be separated from someone you love, so that's one thing that we both have in common, me and him. "i know you'll get out of here, some day." his tail flicked, and his ears moved forward. "you'll see them again, don't worry."

[Deanna Michaels]

It was another beautiful day outside and it would be a damn shame if Deanna allowed herself to let it go to waste by staying indoors. Everything seemed like such a good idea until she sat in her car with the key in the ignition asking herself where she would go. The mall? No, Deanna had enough clothes already, not that any of the brands she wore could be found there anyway. The park? And do what, walk her imaginary dog? Oh, speaking of dogs she didn't have, the zoo sounded like good place to go. Deanna hadn't been there since the field trip in third grade.

She wore a white tank top underneath an indigo blouse with white shorts and a brown braided leather belt paired with brown ankle boots to match. Her curly long hair was put in a high ponytail because she hated when the wind messed up her hair. Windswept hair in the movies and in real life were so different. Twenty minutes into her stroll at the zoo, Deanna stopped by the ice cream booth to purchase a double scoop of sherbet to help beat the heat. Mm, strawberry lemonade.

Amongst the crowd, her attention was immediately drawn to Kazek because he was cute, but mostly because he was hanging over the railing at the lion area. Deanna honestly did not mean to be rude, but she found herself coming closer and closer until she was within hearing range of the conversation between the man and the beast. She giggled when he admitted to pretending that the animal could talk, biting on the plastic pink spoon in her mouth.

"That was really sweet," she commented, finally mustering enough courage to interrupt the conversation she was clearly not a part of. "What you were saying to the lion, I mean," Deanna giggled again, avoiding eye contact and poking at her sherbet. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Deanna. Deanna Michaels," she introduced herself with a smile.

[Kazek Siewicz]

"Do your family live in Africa?"

He glared, flicking his ears regularly and slapping his tail against the cold stone that he laid across. He yawned and stretched out his massive claws, kneading at the cold concrete below him. He was right, that was a dumb question, lions only come from Africa. I didn't want to stereotype, though. 

"That was really sweet,"

I froze, my grip on the railing constricted and I whipped my head around, embarrassed. A girl stood behind me, she was petite with brown hair, and a button nose. She was eating sherbet and smiling at me. I think she might have caught me talking to Simfasa, that's what I decided to call him. It was a cross between Simba and Mufasa, I thought it was quite clever. 

"What you were saying to the lion, I mean"

She did catch me. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Deanna. Deanna Michaels," She added, smiling.

I swallowed, and for a moment I only stared at her. There's not much I could say to help justify why I was talking to Simfasa, but by the way she was looking at me I guessed she hadn't minded. I took my arms away from the railing and turned to face her, I mirrored her smile the best I could and fidgeted with the front of my shirt nervously. I'd like to run away in all reality, not because I didn't like her, no, It's just that sometimes I get a little shy, that's all.
I mustered up some courage, and took a deep breath. I'm tired of being a sheep, I want to be able to talk to someone to a full length. I shouldn't be afraid anymore, that's what Simfasa would tell me. If he wasn't a lion that is. I think quite often in my head and there's always something to say, I'm just too quiet to say it out loud. Well not anymore, college is a new beginning for me, and I'm going to treat it like one. 

"Hi."

[Deanna Michaels]

Noticing how nervous he appeared to be, Deanna opened her mouth to speak, but froze herself, unsure of what exactly to say to make this awkward situation better. "Um, I'm sorry if I interrupted something. I was just walking by and..." she trailed off and gave a flustered sigh before giggling nervously. "But I, um. I still think it was really nice, what you said to the lion," Deanna said again. She was helplessly going in circles with her words now.

Biting her lip, she looked down at the ground for a moment and closed her eyes. Then she exhaled and glanced back up to Kazek's face, smiling sweetly. "Hi," she greeted back. For a shy guy, he seemed to be more composed than Deanna was. She must've looked a fool rambling and stumbling over her words like that.

"Do you come to the zoo often?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation from dying. "I mean, that wasn't a pickup line. You seem to like animals..." Deanna quickly took a spoonful of sherbet and ate it, in hopes that she wouldn't get another foot in her mouth.