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018 - Mansuetude [realist/slice-of-life]

It was through a strange quirk of fate that the City Park Zoo, though bereft of animals, was contractually obliged to stay open. Thanks to budget cuts, the city could no longer afford to keep the animals, but due to Madeline's union she would remain employed, at least until the spring.

It was an odd thing, to be certain, working as janitorial staff in a facility with zero traffic. Every once and a while a family would turn up and as the sole employee on site it was Madeline's duty to explain that, despite what their brochure or website was telling them, the zoo was, in fact, empty.

Of course, that was not entirely true as the zoo remained home to a number of city bird, from pigeons to finches, as well as a host of insects, mice, and others. There was even a pair of swans that stayed in the hippo's pool for several weeks.

Madeline has always wanted to work with animals but thanks to some circumstances beyond her control (her mother's alcoholism), and some within her control (a charge for possession), her path was set out for her.

When she got the job with the city working at the zoo she was thrilled. She was a voracious reader and began learning about all of the animals in the zoo, asking the zoo keepers hundreds of questions and becoming a regular at the library.

This perfect arrangement lasted only 3 months before, in an effort to balance the budget, the zoo was closed and the animals were sold. While everyone had since found new positions or left town, Madeline was left working out her contract under the protection of her union.

She had come to terms with this arrangement, having lived it now for 4 months, when suddenly everything changed with a single bark. Actually, it had been more a squeal than a bark, and that was what caught Madeline's attention.

Madeline left her bucket, squeegee, and cloth with her cleaning cart and ran out to the gate; just beyond the wrought iron fencing a group of boys were laughing and throwing rocks.

Throwing the gate open, Madeline dashed out onto the sidewalk taking the boys by surprise.

"And just what exactly are you boys up to?!" she asked, eyeing each one of the four.

The boys, first scared of their sudden guest, quickly gave over to shame, their eyes focused on their feet.

"You best not be after one of my windows again!' she scolded, approaching them when no one answered.

The youngest one, maybe six, looked up with tears in his eyes. "Please don't tell our mothers, Ms. Aspey."

Shrinking away as she approached, Madeline could see the victim of their torture, a black mutt. The dog was curled up on the ground, whimpering, a gash on its head dripping blood.

As she knelt to get closer to the dog the boys broke off running, but Madeline could hardly care about them now. She reached out gingerly to the dog, unsure of if it would snap at her, but instead it closed its eyes and whined.

Madeline gently stroked the dogs head, careful to avoid its open wound and, changing in an instant, it opened its eyes and licked her.

"You poor thing," she said, tearing up at the animals mansuetude, "can you move?" She stood and motioned to the gate, but the dog stayed put, curled up beneath a bush.

"I'm going to go get a crate and then I will take you to the vet, OK? Please stay here."

Madeline returned a few minutes later with the crate and was relieved to find the dog was still there. With some bits of her sandwich and gentle prodding she was able to get the dog into the crate. Luckily no one supervised her work and so a two-hour visit to the vet was not an issue.

* * *

"What's her name?" the veterinarian asked, without looking up from his clipboard.

"Uh," Madeline's eyes darted around the room, "Petunia," she replied, her eyes having settled on a pot of the same.

"Petunia is going to be just fine," he went on, "her laceration was only superficial and should heal in a few weeks." He handed her the clipboard and indicated a spot for her to sign. "But you really shouldn't be letting her outside at all this far along."

Madeline finished signing ($400! Her mother was sure to notice!) and handed the clipboard back.

"What do you mean, 'this far along'?" she asked.

The veterinarian looked at her with a puzzled expression. "You hadn't noticed she was pregnant?"

"Oh, yes of course," Madeline replied. She hadn't noticed at all, perhaps because she was focused on the cut on her head, but more likely because she didn't really know as much about animals as she liked to believe. "I'm sorry, for some reason I thought you were talking about something else," she laughed awkwardly.

"Well, just be sure you keep her indoors until she has her litter, probably in 2 weeks. It won't do the puppies any good to have mom getting into scraps with stray dogs."

"Yes, thank you so much doctor. I'll keep her out of trouble from now on."

The veterinarian smiled and gave Petunia a pat. "I'm sure you will Ms. Aspey. And thank you Petunia for being such a good patient. She's such a docile dog I can't imagine it was a very fair fight." And with that he left the room.

Madeline patted the dog on the head and the dog licked her hand. "I guess your name is Petunia now; I hope you like it. I guess to that I'm going to need to find you a place up stay."

Madeline sighed, this was not good. Her mother hated dogs, so taking Petunia home was not an option. And most of her friends had left their podunk town for the big city leaving only those in desperate situations like herself around.

She loaded Petunia back into her crate and then into her car. "I'll think of something; don't you worry," she said, partially to the dog and partially to herself.

When she got back to the zoo her heart fell to find a city vehicle in the parking lot. No one had checked in on her in over a month. She quickly gave Petunia some water and then headed into the zoo to face the music.

Madeline had collected her cleaning cart and was making her way around the exhibits when Andrew Colliarey, head of maintenance, approached her.

"Ms. Aspey, where have you been? I have been looking for you for an hour," he says, his arms crossed.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Colliarey, I stepped out during my lunch to take an injured dog to the vet." Madeline decided the truth was probably the most sympathetic angle she could take.

He raised an eyebrow. "You stepped out to take a dog to the vet?"

"Yes, Mr. Colliarey."

"But the zoo doesn't have any animals. Certainly not any dogs."

Now Madeline raised an eyebrow. "That's not a bad idea," she murmured to herself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Oh, it's nothing."

Mr. Colliarey eyed her suspiciously, but then sighed. "Well, you are doing a very good job here, so I will let this slide. Next time be sure to call maintenance and let someone know if you will be off-site, OK?"

"Yes Mr. Colliarey. Thank you very much!"

Andrew Colliarey took one last look around and then left. Once she was sure he had driven off Madeline rushed off to the tiger's pen and set about cleaning it, making a bed from straw and blankets, and setting out water and food dishes.

Back at her car Madeline excitedly opened Petunia's crate and walked her into the zoo.

"Guess what, Petunia, I have the perfect home for you and your pups!" she said with a grin. Maybe it was not perfect, but the tiger's den had a heated enclosure as well as a decent outdoor area for her to roam about and do her business. Certainly it was nicer than the streets!

And so it was that the city zoo gained its first real resident in 4 months.