The Zookeeper

Ch. 15: Precious Memories

Meanwhile, Odalia was looking at the weapon she stole. She and Eda were in an abandoned warehouse because so they could talk in private and avoid police because of what Odalia did.

"I have to say, this human weapon is interesting. Such a simple design and use yet very complex." Odalia said as she pulled the hammer of the gun back.

"Yeah, but be careful where you point that. A pistol can be deadly if aimed right." Eda said as Odalia aimed at a steal beam in the warehouse.

"I am aware." She replied before pulling the trigger, firing a bullet at the center of the beam.

The shot rang out and the sound of the bullet casing hit the ground.

"So small, yet so powerful." Odalia said, "As weak as Humans may be, they have created some truly powerful weapons."

"Yeah, don't remind me. They've got to war with each other with some devastating stuff." Eda said with a small shiver. "I may never touch a human history book again."

"I would like to but there is a more pressing matter to attend to. Mainly my daughter." Odalia said as she figured out the safety and put the gun in her pocket. "The very thought that she has spent over eighteen years here living as a human is still unsettling."

"And this... girl she's with." Odalia said, "She won't be around much longer."

At the Apartment, Amity and Luz were moving Luz's stuff in. Though today was a day off, they wanted to do as they discussed last night and move Luz in officially in. They didn't bother with the extra bedroom since Luz and Amity planned on sharing the first bedroom. It can be a guest room... or Luz's spare room for when she makes Amity mad.

'Note to self, NEVER make Amity mad.' Luz thought as she brought up one of the last boxes from the car.

"Alright, now let's see what's inside of this one." Amity said as she opened the box.

"What's this?" Amity asked, pulling out a book.

"I was wondering where that was!" Luz said, "That's my old scrap book from when I moved here."

Amity opened it and saw pictures of little Luz. One of which was little Luz holding a baby Tina. Amity remembers how they let kids hold newborn cubs, seeing as she also got to do it with a lion cub.

"I love those days. The kids are so happy and the cubs want to play for hours." Amity said with fondness, "It's almost as chaotic as the petting zoo."

"Yeah, I was so glad that I got to hold Tina. She was the first animal I got to talk to when I moved here." Luz said, "Hey, Amity, have you always lived in San Diego?"

"For as long as I can remember." Amity said, "I was adopted around four to six years old, which is when my parents found me lost in the woods. Around twenty years later, and I'm still here. Guess I just couldn't leave my home."

"Opposite for me. I hated my hometown. People were so mean to me." Luz said.

"Mean to you? But you're so nice and sweet." Amity said.

"Believe it or not, people in my old town weren't too keen on a girl who believed in magic and fantasy. I was a real weirdo to be honest, but I liked myself. I still do." Luz said.

"You may be a weirdo, but you're my weirdo." Amity said.

To cement her point, Amity gave Luz a kiss on the cheek and made her smile as she flipped to another page in the scrapbook.

"My first time at the zoo. It seems just like yesterday." Luz said.

"Yeah, back when you had to pay to get into the zoo." Amity said, "Now they pay us to go there."

"They offered me a LOT of money to take the job. They just couldn't find ANYONE else with my special talents." Luz said with pride.

"They literally couldn't. You can magically talk to animals." Amity said to Luz, "And then there's me. My parents are big donators to the zoo, so I kind of got in there easily."

"Oh! I didn't think you got your job like that." Luz said as she looked to Amity.

"Not all of us have magic communication, but I also prepared myself for the job." Amity said with a bit of pride, "I worked hard for my job. I don't want others to think I was handed this."

"And you didn't. You're the best damn giraffe handler that any zoo could ask for." Luz said to Amity, "At least, that's what the Giraffe's say."

"That makes me happy to know they appreciate me. Even though I could tell before I knew you could translate." Amity said with a nod.

"Yeah, make my power seem useless." Luz said.

Amity chuckled.

"Where did that power come from, anyway?"

Luz went quiet at this question, having thought of it herself all her life.

"Honestly, I don't know. It just sort of...... happened because an incident when I was a kid." Luz said as she pulled out the scrap book and opened it to show a picture of her younger self. "Back in my old home, Gravesfield. I was at a zoo when a pack of African Wild Dogs broke out. I was surrounded and... I played with them. They accepted me into the pack and treated me like I was one of the pups."

"And you weren't afraid of them? Like you just knew they wouldn't hurt you?" Amity asked her.

"Not exactly, one of them just tackled me to the ground and started licking my face before he talked to me. Literally talked to me." Luz said as she showed a picture of herself playing with the pack. "That was the first time I learned I could talk to animals."

"I imagine your mom had a heart attack." Amity said.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I wasn't allowed out of the house for two weeks. She was afraid I would talk to the bear that rummaged through our garbage."

"Did you?" Amity asked her.

"No." Luz said as she smirked mischievously. "Not until mom went to sleep. Really nice guy, actually. And get this. His name... is Yogi."

"No!" Amity said in disbelief, almost laughing.

"I kid you not! His name was Yogi the Bear. And he was a brown bear!" Luz said before they both laughed at the joke.

"That's too funny!"

"I know!" Luz said as she slowly stopped laughing, wiping away some tears. "I wonder how he's doing since we left Gravesfield."

"Maybe taking picnic baskets?" Amity asked with a smirk.

"Amity, stop, my ribs hurt from laughing."