The Misadventures of Basil and Beverly

two // sea lions, strangers, and skeletons

two // sea lions, strangers, and skeletons

One time when I was nine, I got lost while visiting the zoo with my family. Jazza and my oldest sister, Noelle, had been spending way too much time for my liking at the butterfly garden, and I wanted nothing more than to see the Benny the baby sea lion. Benny had been born a couple days prior to our visit and the zoo had made a whole new section just for him. My parents had taken Eli to buy some kettle corn, and I figured that I knew my way around well enough to go see the Benny on my own.

I followed the big orange banners that said "Come and See Benny the Baby Sea Lion This Way" and got there in no time. Benny was cuddled up to his mom, his eyes closed shut. As exciting as it was to watch him sleep for the first five seconds, I decided that I had had enough for the day and wanted to go back to my family.

Making my way through the crowds of people snapping pictures and the whining toddlers that were demanding ice cream, I trotted up the hill that I had come down earlier to get to the exhibit. At the top of the hill were two paths, each going in opposite directions.

I was never an anxious child, so the thought that I was lost never even made its way into my stupid little head. I thought that if I concentrated long and hard enough about it, the answer would come to me and I would remember exactly the way I came from.

So I sat down on a little bench, furrowed my eyebrows together, squeezed my eyes shut, and thought. What did I see right before I went down the hill?

"Excuse me?"

I opened my eyes.

"Are you lost?" A man in an orange polo shirt that matched the Benny Banners stood towering over me.

Remaining silent, I slowly scooted over on the bench--closer to the middle--so that he would know that he was not invited to sit down next to me.

"My name's Joe. I work down there at the Benny Exhibit." Joe weaseled his way next to me on the bench, forcing me to scoot over so that his hairy leg didn't touch mine. "Do you need help finding your parents?"

I shook my head.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded.

"Where are they?"

And that's when I ran. Without even thinking about it, I got up off the bench and darted left, my skinny little legs moving as fast as they could. I continued to sprint down the paved walkway until I knew I was as far away from Joe as possible.

I eventually found my parents, though I was out of breath and completely traumatized from talking to one of the creepy zookeepers for two whole minutes (I actually didn't do any of the talking, but it still felt like one of the longest conversations of my life). I had nightmares about Joe for weeks after that unfortunate trip to the zoo.

I'm not sure what it is about talking to strangers that makes me so nervous. Maybe it's the unfamiliarity, the awkward small talk, or the lack of trust that makes me uneasy. Who's to say that when you meet someone randomly in the street they won't call your mom an ugly boar, or steal your brand-new watch, or kick you in the shin and run away. You'll never see them again, so they will never have to fess up and say sorry for what they did.

But it's different with strangers at school. There are students that you have never seen before in your life, and then one day you accidentally wave at that person because you thought they were someone else, and boom. You can't stop running into each other for the rest of the school year.

I tend to avoid having any type of interraction with people I don't know at school, for said reasons. I don't try to get to know people or make casual conversation with someone in the lunch line. High school is awkward enough, there's no need to try and make it even more awkward.