The day was dragging. Zoe couldn't even explain why, there had been no problems with the animals that day, no issues with coworkers, and no trouble making zoo patrons, at least not around her zebras.

But despite there being no reason that she could think of to cause the drag, the fact was that the day was dragging for Zoe. And the only thing that she could think of that might help the day speed up was to get out. So Zoe decided to take a walk on her break, maybe grab a coffee or hot chocolate on the way.

And so Zoe left the zebra enclosure, still fully dressed in her so uniform with matching jacket, and started walking. As she went, Zoe heard the animals in the background. Most of them she couldn't understand, but the further she walked, the more squirrels and chipmunks she could hear behind and beside her asking for nuts. Stopping not far from the fence around the giraffes, Zoe turned to see that there were four squirrels and two chipmunks following her, clamoring for nuts.

”Go on, shoo,” Zoe said to the small animals. ”I don't have any nuts today. If you behave and leave me alone, maybe I'll bring some for you tomorrow.”

A thought followed each picture. Linc twirled his finger around the strap of his camera. His mind wandered across the fences on the zoo enclosures and around the tourists with their noses pressed close to the exhibit. The busy chatters and placid conversations settled like a droning AC unit in the background. The zoo was flowing with visitors, carrying the curiosity filled tourists through the veins of the establishment.

"That thing has a funky looking neck!" Cried out a little toddler with a zebra-striped hoodie. 

"That's a giraffe, son. It was born that way." The toddler's dad led the small boy by the finger.

Linc zoomed in on the boy's stripes against the fence of the exhibit. A quick shutter noise tickled his ears and he checked the screen on his camera. The giraffe in the background had turned to face him just in time, far in the distance with its face floating above the toddler's blonde head.

"Not good enough", Linc spat at the screen as he walked closer to the exhibit. 

If only I could get closer Linc thought to himself as he wandered over to a nearby bench and sat down. As he sat, glancing through the pictures he had taken this morning, a zoo employee walked in front of him, with a posse of rodents snapping at her heels.

His camera flash went off before he could take another breath.

"So that's what happens when you feed the animals." Linc took the camera from his eye and gave a curious look at the zookeeper. His eyebrows were raised up high at her. 

All of a sudden, Zoe saw the flash from a nearby camera. Though, she didn’t really pay much attention to it because there were always taking pictures of the different animals around the zoo. However, a second later she heard a smart remark about feeding the animals.

Turning, Zoe saw a man with a camera he was lowering from his eye. ”Why do you think we have signs all over the place?” Zoe asked. ”These guys are bad enough. Just imagine what it would be like if people started feeding the kangaroos and camels. Pure mayhem.”

"Chaos might make for good photos though. Chaos and peace are good subjects."

Linc stood up from the bench and brought the camera screen up to the zookeeper, pointing at the squirrels in the photo. As he walked up to her, the rodents scattered like marbles dropped on a wooden floor.

"They're like little people. Look at this one, pleading with his little hands."

After seeing that she had looked at the screen, he put the camera back to his face. The rodents had formed their little squadron again, and this time they were coming closer, albeit not as close as they had been to the zookeeper before. Linc pretended to hold out some food, baiting the rodents to bunch closer together.

”Good pictures, possibly,” Zoe allowed as the man stood up and slowly closed the distance between them. ”But it would make life hell for me, so I’ll have to insist we follow what the signs say.”

As he reached her, the man showed the picture that he’d just taken of her and her ‘followers’. ”Yeah, the squirrels around here pick up a lot of bad habits,” Zoe told the man, though she did have a small smile on her face as she looked at the picture. They did look rather cute, though.

Seeing the man take the camera back and point it, Zoe turned to see the chipmunks and squirrels returning, though slowly and hesitantly. Only for the man to hold his one hand out, the one that wasn’t holding the camera, like he had some food. ”That’s not a good idea,” Zoe warned. ”They’ll never leave you alone if they think you have food. And they’ll call friends.”

Linc shrugged his shoulders and laughed a polite chuckle.

"I always thought they were selfish little critters and not ones to make any friends. I saw a documentary once about how squirrels hid their nuts for winter. They play mind games with each other by pretending to dig a hole and dropping a fake acorn inside if they think someone's watching. Then they wait to bury the actual acorn when they think they're no longer being watched." 

Linc took a snapshot of the rodent posse as they attempted to come closer to the pretend food in his hand. On the documentary they seemed smarter. Maybe the zoo made these little guys less wary and in consequence, less apt to think things through. One of the squirrels hung farther in the back. He seemed to know what was up. He was also the fatter of the bunch. A veteran squirrel, hah! What an idea.

"Are you currently on shift? You don't seem to mind a guy like me bothering you with his little photography hobby."

Linc turned away from the squirrels to take a closer look at the zoo-employee's fair face. She had fair, soft-looking skin and delicate blonde hair. Her eyes were a crystal blue, the kind of transparent blue that made Linc more apt to trust her and think her to be more honest. So far, she fit the description.

Zoe nodded in agreement when the man said that he thought squirrels were selfish. Then she laughed at what he said squirrels did as ‘mind games’. ”Only the smart ones do that,” she told him as she watched the animals slowly moving closer. ”Well, others that aren’t as smart do try that, but more often than not they end up screaming because their nuts got stolen before they even get them buried.”

Then the man turned his attention fully on her, turning away from the squirrels and chipmunks as he asked if she was working. Zoe shook her head. ”I’m on break,” she told him she told him with a shrug. ”And you seem to believe that they’re actually living beings and not just pests. Plus, that picture you showed me was pretty good.”

Linc took a step away from the zookeeper. The air between them was chilly. His stepped away from her personal bubble. Some people became exceptionally fidgety about personal space.

>> ”And you seem to believe that they’re actually living beings and not just pests. Plus, that picture you showed me was pretty good.”

Linc nodded at her compliment. 

"They can be both living beings and pests. Pests are cockroaches that crawl into your fridge or flies that bite. These guys may be pests, but they're the kind I tolerate." 

Linc took a look at his camera again, deleting the images he didn't find satisfactory. He deleted the picture he just took, and thumbed through the rest. Still disappointing.

"Pretty good is another way of saying there's something better." Linc looked around at the different zoo signs. The different animal shapes caught his eyes and he scratched his chin. There were so many options and most of them would be a waste of his time.

"The larger animals are too far away for me to get any good pictures. You got an idea of how I could get closer to any of them?" He asked. He prepared himself to be disappointed by walking over to the bench and sitting down, but kept his gaze on the female. Maybe she'd surprise him.

Ok, the man had a point, those little guys could be pests. But like he said, these guys were tolerable, Zoe could work with them. Creepy crawlies like cockroaches, not so much. ”I guess it depends on what they’re doing whether they’re being pests or not,” Zoe said with a shrug as she watched the man playing around with his camera again.

”Fair enough,” Zoe said with a nod. ”But it’s a lot better than I could have taken.”

Then the man was asking if she knew how he could get closer to any of the larger animals in the zoo so that he could take pictures of them. Well, of course she did, but nothing that she was going to risk for a man she had just met. However…

”At least one of the zebras always seems to come up to the fence whenever I walk past,” Zoe told the man, even though she figured that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. Who had gone to sit on the bench once more even though he’d asked that question. That was kind of strange… ”Easily within 30 feet.”

"You a trainer of zebras or something?" Linc looked up from his scrunched posture on the bench. The zebras were a docile species. In the wild, he was sure they'd do spectacular things, like race, fight each other, or have sex. There was no guarantee he'd see zebras having sex, especially in cold weather like this. He hopped off the bench and walked closer to the female. She handed him an offer, and it had potential. The least he could do was be a gentleman and accept her proposition.

"How can you be so sure that the zebra will come close to the fence this time around?" He asked. He prodded her with a pretentious question, knowing that it might ruffle her zookeeper's eagle-feathers. He didn't want to waste his time. Not in the urgent sense. His life didn't depend on the next spectacular photo, and if he didn't achieve it then his whole career would not disperse like oil on water, but he did prefer to be economical. Zoos had carnivores didn't it? If only he could get near a carnivore during feeding time.

Pushing and prodding her slowly might give him an entrance to do just that. He'd have to wait and see. First zebras, then maybe, feisty crocodilians. First he'd have to see if the zookeeper would bite. 

The man looked up when she mentioned the zebras. Apparently it was a better suggestion than he was expecting, though it didn't look like it was what he wanted. ”Yeah, I've been working with them for the last five years,” Zoe explained. Then she shrugged. ”They normally come over to see me on their own, but if no one comes,I can always try calling to them. I'm their favourite,” she finished with a wink.

So apparently Zoe wasn't getting her hot chocolate on her break. We'll, she had only thought of grabbing one to help break up the monotony of the day, and the truth was this conversation, and the visit with the zebras on this side of the fence would do that for her much better.

The midget bird that sat inside Linc's chest, chirping ever so often, an avatar that Linc gave to his 'inspiration', fluttered its little wings and poked its little head outside. Looking at these zebras might be a reason for the little bird to sing its song.

"Five years? You've been here that long?" Linc nodded. Affirmation and recognition hung upon his pouting lips. He looked at her with a slightly larger glimmer of respect. 

"Now, what does it take to become a zebra's favorite?" Linc asked. He then looked around for the sign for the zebras, and walking in the direction the sign was pointing, he headed forward with a renewed vitality in his steps. He kept his attention ahead, but his ears open for the zookeeper to answer his question. The cool, wintry breeze picked up a little and fondled his spiked hair, and he shivered expectantly under his winter jacket.

Slowly, the man seemed to be growing a bit more interested in seeing the zebras. That was good, he should be interested if she was going to be spending the time showing him.

”Yup,” Zoe confirmed with a nod. ”Apparently when you’re good with animals, they don’t like moving you around.”

What did it take to become a zebra’s favourite? Zoe knew that the reason was because she could understand them, and knew what they wanted. But that wasn’t exactly something she could really come straight out and say. So instead she shrugged as she started walking back the way she had come from. ”I bribe them,” Zoe said jokingly, grinning over at the man. ”I mean, how else do you get to be any animal’s favourite?”

Linc let his pace slacken and allowed the zookeeper to lead the way. A surge of accomplishment spread through his body, adding an extra zing to his step, but he slowed down his breath to keep calm. Excitement welled up in his chest. He shook his arms and jogged a little to keep it from rising any higher. They're just Zebras. Nothing more than horses with stripes.

"You bribe them?" Linc repeated her words with a slight inflection.

"You mean, you trick them into thinking the hay they get is imported directly from the plains of Africa or something? Like they're getting one of a kind hay that you don't even feed to the Elephants?" Linc snickered, and shot a couple more photos of the exhibits they were walking by.

"Make'em think they're getting a sweet deal and you become their favorite. Not bad." 

”Oh god, no,” Zoe laughed at the man’s words, grinning over at him as they walked. ”’Special’ hay doesn’t work. No, I bribe them with carrots. Much more effective.”

As she continued walking, Zoe laughed slightly. To her, it was kind of ridiculous. She didn’t need to bribe the zebras, all she really had to do was listen to them. Then she could, at least at times, give them what they wanted much more often than her coworkers could, and so obviously that would make her better in the eyes of the animals.

When the man continued to speak, Zoe just shrugged her shoulders. ”What can I say?” she asked, her voice slightly teasing. ”Gotta make yourself indispensable somehow.”

About that time, they had reached the fence around the zebra enclosure. Stopping in front of the fence, Zoe looked around to see if she could see any of the zebras.