The Little Shop

The Bit with the Monkey and the Ripped Skirt

"ROAR!" Louis says, turning to the lions then. They hardly acknowledge him, however, so when he doesn't get a bone-chilling roar in reply, he pouts and turns away, ready for the next animal, possibly one he can provoke into attacking him or something. I roll my eyes, because he can be such a child.

"Aviary or reptile house?" Liam asks, pointing to the signs. AJ taps her chin, just like Louis did. He smiles then, trying to bite it back, like he doesn't want anyone to see.  

"Reptile house! I wanna see a snake!" I cheer. Louis and AJ nod their agreement and Niall does a little happy dance, so it's decided, and we take a quick left. The trail is kind of eerie at night, with crickets chirping and blackness all around us. The only light comes from the emergency lights and our phones, and that really isn't much to go by.

"Zayn," AJ whispers. I turn to face her as Louis opens the door to the reptile house and slips inside. "Do they have monsters at the zoo? Like the ones in the book?"

"No, not this zoo," I tell her with a smile. 

"What if the animals didn't eat their vegetables? Wouldn't the monsters come then?" AJ presses. She looks genuinely scared, which breaks my heart a little bit.

"Well, lucky for you," I say with a smile, "You have us to protect you. Monsters wouldn't even dare come close to us."

"Why? Because you're stinky?" AJ giggles.

"I am not stinky!" I say, pretending to be offended. "I smell like a rose, thank you very much!"

"You smell awful," AJ laughs. 

"Maybe I'm a monster.... a tickle monster!" I shout. AJ squeals and dashes inside the reptile house after Liam. I follow them in and listen for her footsteps and laughter. It echoes through the dark corridors and sends a shiver down my spine. I tip toe after her, and when I hear her stop to catch her breath I jump around the corner and attack, fingers wiggling furiously.

Her laughter spills out of her mouth in long intervals, separated by large intakes of air. Her eyes are shut tight, her little hands trying to stop my own from moving. Her eyes crinkle with the smile her laughter brings, and her squeals are those of delight. When was the last time she had a good, old-fashioned tickle fight? 

After a few more seconds, I retreat my hands and sit back. I hadn't realized it, but I started laughing too. AJ sits up and rubs her eyes, looking at me sideways, like she's scolding me. I laugh and reach over to pull her into my lap. She curls up willingly atop my legs and we both look up. All around us, there are scaled creatures, some of them asleep, some awake, due to their being nocturnal. 

AJ watched with wide eyes as a snake slinked around in it's lit up glass chamber. It was fascinating to watch, captivating, even. I heard footsteps coming up behind us, and soon, we were joined on the floor by the rest of the lads, all of them looking up at the seemingly infinite creatures, listening to the hum of the lights and heaters, the soft chirp of crickets outside, and the animal noises in here.

It was strangely peaceful, sitting in the dark like this. I could feel AJ's breathing starting to slow down, so I slowly lifted her into my arms and stood up. The boys got the message, and we walked back out the way we came, but slower, to admire all the other animals we'd missed.

No one said anything for a while after that. We went to the aviary, but it was locked tight, so we opted to continue down the main trail, or as the zoo named it, "Safari Pass." AJ was snoring softly in my ear by the time we reached the monkeys, which made Louis shriek with excitement and jump up and down. He studied the creature for a long time, not even moving, before he turned to us and announced that we were going to break it out of its cage and take it back to the flat.