Calm and Calamity

Chapter 32

"No, not a zoo. I- I don't like them." Wendy looked back at Corinna. "Why are all the animals not allowed to go outside? They're probably unhappy there."

"Well, sometimes it's just safer for them to be in captivity. Some animals aren't born able to survive in the wild, so they need looking after in zoos. There are no other animals that will hunt them, and they always get food. So it's not like they're unhappy; they're well looked after."

Wendy hugged her toy giraffe even tighter. "Even still... they might be happy outside... with all of the other animals."

Corinna gazed down at the chains shackled around the wendigo's ankle, then followed the snake of metal up to the attachment to the wall, preventing Wendy from leaving.

"Do you think I could go outside, just for a little while, please?" mumbled the wendigo, her gaunt and ghostly pale face staring back at Corinna.

"The others say it's best that you stay in here, for the meantime," answered Corinna, her throat becoming dry as she slowly shuffled further from Wendy on the bed.

"Would you let me go outside, please, Corinna?" Wendy croaked, her hands wrapped around the toy giraffe's neck, suffocating it.

"It's not really my place to decide..."

"Why do Klei and Kai and Dex get to decide?"

"I don't..." Corinna swallowed. "This is really something that you need to discuss with those three." The young woman stood up and headed to the door. "But I have heard that you have been making great progress, Wendy."

"So, I'll be able to leave soon, right? Is that a promise?"

"I can't make any promises." Corinna sighed. "I'm sorry, Wendy. But what I can assure you is that you'll be happier and safer here than in that cave-"

"Would you stop me if I tried to leave?"

Corinna paused for a moment, her breath still, then a smile appeared on her lips. "Well, if you were to leave, then I wouldn't be able to visit you."

Wendy frowned in thought. "Yes, that's right." She looked back up at Corinna. "I'll stay here then... until the others say I can go outside."

"I promise I'll visit you again; I'll set a date."

"Okay." The Wendigo smiled. "Thank you."

*

"Calixte!" Kai called out to the amphibian, finally finding him by following the sound of a piano playing. The piano had been moved over to the construction site and kept underneath a gazebo in the centre of the community area.

Currently, Calixte was cleaning the instrument, brushing off any sand that had gotten trapped inside.

"Calixte!" Kai stopped and caught his breath, having run around the entire place in search of the amphibian.

"Good afternoon," greeted Calixte with a nod, his voice croaking and quivering. "How can I be of assistance?"

"I just..." Kai lowered his head. "I'm sorry about earlier; you know when I was asking you all of those questions about when you were...um..."

The amphibian stiffened his back and cleared his throat. "It is... quite alright, Mister Kai-"

"But it isn't, though." Kai sighed. "It must have been, well, 'horrible' probably doesn't quite cover it. And me asking all those questions likely brought it all back." He looked back up at the amphibian. "I'm sorry, Calixte."

Calixte glanced away, his webbed hands caressing the smooth white keys of the piano. "I... accept your apology." He let out a long and deep breath that gurgled from his damaged throat. "I would prefer not speaking about the subject again."