The Business of Time Travel Tourism

Chapter 7: At The Zoo

"So, kids, having fun aren't you?"

"Yeah, fun," said Kevin.

"A lot of it," added Cory with narrow eyes, staring at another victim. "Now, if you could make that big cat come closer..." She threw a rock at the lion. "Kev wants it a lot."

"Want me to jump in and drag him here by the tail or what?"

"Or, you could use the whip."

"What whip?"

"The thing Kev gave you."

George took out the large pencil and stared at a multitude of unlabeled colored buttons.

Cory explained, "The red button zaps." George was about to press it aiming the tool at the animal, but the girl grabbed his hand. "We don't want to use it. Not now. Push the yellow one, it's going to tickle."

George aimed the tool once again and did as told. The lion rolled on its back, twitched its head and moved his legs in the air. It appeared as if an invisible hand was scratching its belly.

"Turn it off. Let him taste it little by little and he will get addicted to it."

Soon the lion understood who the cause of the tickling was. Little by little it got closer and closer and when it got to the cage bars, Cory instructed "Now, would you please press the black one?"

George pushed it. The lion closed his eyes, swayed and dropped dead. George let his hands down. All pale, with his mouth open, he took a step back. During the moment of George's awe, Kevin jumped over the fence and put his hand in the cage. He grabbed the lion by its fur, pulled a chunk of hair out, and put them inside his pocket. He then backed off and joined his sister.

"Good job, Mister." Cory smiled at George.

George looked at the tool in his hand, then at the unconscious animal, then back at the tool. "Is it dead?"

"Nah, the black one only takes one out. It will get up, if not today, then tomorrow."

"Damn was that unexpected you, little devilish girl."

Cory accepted it as a compliment.

"What's the purpose of that thing?"

"To make others obey," Cory explained.

But before she could say more, Kevin shouted, "Let's go," and continued to the next destination forcing George and Cory follow him.

In the aquarium, George found out that the kids had only known only a handful of species of fish, all of them eatable. The shiny colors and weird shapes of specimen swimming behind glass surprised the little scoundrels. For more than fifteen minutes, they stood in front of each exposition with their jaws dropped.

"Don't you have any fish?" George asked.

"We have some that are bred for food, they are huge and ugly," Cory replied and continued to stare at an aquarium. A crawfish ran in circles around its bed.

"Beautiful, but useless," Kevin whispered to his sister.

Snakes and lizards inside the terrarium seemed to amuse the kids the most out of all animals. Luckily the same way as the fish, these creatures were protected by a thick glass and no harm came to them.

The existence of snakes defied the understanding of the world the children had. For what cause would such animal have ever existed? They had no clue. Neither they knew what evolution was, nor had knowledge about such subject as biology.

After showing the terrarium, George led the kids towards the park exit.

"Wait, you two." The girl jumped and slammed the ground with her feet. "I want the animal with the long neck!" She thought for short a minute and rephrased her words "I meant, I want to see it!"