My Last Year

A Gorilla, the Media, and two Boys

      The zoo hadn’t been getting very many visitors lately: everyone thinks it’s closed during the winter season. However, today seemed to be different. A lot of people were here, cameras, smiles and children. It got Krieg all riled up, and the African wild dogs were on edge. But the animals also liked the attention somewhat. The Polar Bears; Ditty, Luna, Hank, and Fluffers, were swimming in the tank where the visitors could see them underwater. They kept performing tricks (i.e. flips, jumps into the water, etc.)

      But it befuddled me. Why were all these people here? What made today so special? I had fed, and cleaned out the Dogs’ habitat, and currently had my last ten minutes to spend with Krieg before the end of my shift.

      I was playing catch with him, with a foam ball so that he could not hurt me by throwing it too hard. I caught the ball and threw it around to his far left, but he caught it, and I scowled in disappointment. I had missed several of his tosses, but whenever I tried to challenge him, he could always catch it before it hit the ground. Krieg turned his head at me and let out several short huffs—his way of laughing at me. Outside of his habitat, on the other side of the glass, people were taking pictures and pointing at us as though it was a miracle. And then something happened. Or rather, several things happened all at once.

      Suddenly Krieg chucked the ball away from him and looked at me anxiously. At the same time, I got a sick feeling in my stomach and throat. Krieg hurried over to me as my legs became weak and my mind went fuzzy. Then, I was sitting on the ground; I don’t remember how I got there, and Krieg was standing over me, grunting frantically. He then made a decision as though he were human. He leaned his body weight back onto his hind legs and with his two front arms, he picked me up. I heard people on the other side of the glass ooh and ahh aww at this action, but I don’t think they really got what was going on. Then I felt a wet sensation coming from my nose. I reached up and touched above my lip and drew my hand away. Red blood dotted my fingers, and was freely flowing down my nose. What was happening?! My mind was panicked and my body wouldn’t respond, but Krieg seemed to know everything.

      He rushed me as fast as he could to the back of his house and gently put me on the ground. The gorilla pounded on the door, making a grunting noise. He sensed I was in trouble. He gave up on the door and came to sit by me. Luckily, I was one of those dorky people who carry around tissues in their pockets, so I whipped one out and dabbed my nose with it.

      Finally Krieg settled down and sat beside me, holding my hand in his giant one. We sat, me absorbing the blood, and him, comforting me. He made sure I knew that I was going to be okay. Every once in a while he would sniff me, or look at me and lift my chin so that I was looking straight into his eyes and then stare at me for a moment or two before letting me go.

      “Thank you, Krieg.” I said once the blood had stopped flowing and my head felt better. I shakily stood with his help and he helped lead me to the door. He watched as I pulled out one of the keys and unlocked the door. I opened it and had to try several different times to walk through it without Krieg trying to push through with me.

      “No,” I said softly. “You have to stay home.”

      Finally the message got through his thick skull and he grumpily trudged off a few feet and then turned around to watch me leave. “Bye, Sweety.” I said to him.

      He held his gaze for a second and then he raised his hand in a small wave. I closed the door, not wanting him to see me start crying. What a sweetheart!

      After running through the restroom to make sure my face and hands weren’t all bloody, I made my way through the crowded zoo, towards the entrance/exit. Something was off with the people walking into the zoo though, they seemed excited, and the kids squealed with joy.