“Why are mice so much cuter than rats?” I frowned and watched the mice run around the cage, oblivious to their fate. I looked away and grabbed the binder off the cupboard to record the meals the zookeeper was preparing. I didn’t want to think about the fate of those mice. I needed to get my mind off of it. I looked over at Seth, who had his own binder and was pulling down a few canisters of birdseed.
“Outside of school and the zoo and moviemaking, what’s your favorite thing to do?” I asked Seth suddenly.
He gave me a half smile. “I like to surf and play beach volleyball.”
“You’re a beach bum?” I asked. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“I also like to read and watch movies. What about you, Maddie? What are your hobbies?”
I opened my mouth to speak and nothing came out. There was nothing to say. Was learning a hobby? “Not bowling, that’s for sure.”
He raised his eyebrows as the zookeeper dropped some insects into a container that I assumed were for the resident spider.
“We need more spiders at this zoo,” I said. “We only have the one, right?”
The zookeeper perked up at this question. “Only? It is the largest species of spider in the world.”
“So it counts as five?” Seth asked, straight-faced.
“A house of spiders would be amazing,” the zookeeper said. “We could bring them in from all over the world. I don’t know that any other zoo has anything like that.” He seemed to shake off that thought. “If only we had an unlimited budget, right?”
“It would be nice. But wait, I thought the giant huntsman was the biggest species of spider,” I said.
“It depends on if you mean by weight or diameter. The giant huntsman takes the largest diameter award.”
Seth bumped my elbow and said quietly, “You need to find some hobbies, live a little.”
After food prep, I tagged along with the zookeeper to feed Heeboo. In the wild, anteaters eat termites and ants (of course) but in the zoo (or at least in ours) they were fed a blend of cat food, spinach, eggs, and fruit. It smelled horrible but Heeboo lapped it right up with her long sticky tongue. While she ate, I got the perfect view of the new little addition she was carrying.
“The baby is getting so big,” I said.
The zookeeper dumped the remainder of the food in Heeboo’s bowl. “Yes, before we know it, he’ll be roaming around on his own.”
I reached through the fence and patted Heeboo’s wiry fur, cooing words about her beauty. Her habitat was so small. Just a square of dirt and a little hut for her to retreat to. The hut’s roof looked like it was about to cave in. I’d have to let Stan know.
My phone buzzed with a text from Beau: I’m going to be late.
My brother had dropped me off at the zoo that morning. Even though he didn’t use it most of the time, we still shared a car. I didn’t feel like I could buy my own until my lottery money officially came in. That was too big a purchase for me to make without seeing the evidence that this money existed. I still felt that at any moment the lottery would call and say, Never mind, that number you thought was a two was really a five so you don’t get the money after all.
How late? I texted back.
Maybe another thirty minutes … or so. I’m looking at a condo.
Did it really take that long to look at an apartment? Good thing I was in my favorite place.
“How did I know you’d still be here?”
Seth was walking up the path toward us. He had his video camera out and was pointing it at Heeboo and her baby.
“I’m waiting for my brother,” I said.
“I was talking to the anteater,” Seth said.
I was sitting on the ground so I hit his leg and he laughed.
“How come you haven’t left yet?” I asked.
“I wanted to get some footage of the zoo. I never know when I might need it for filler material in a short film.”
“Heeboo should be the star, not filler.”
“That is an opinion only you have, I believe.”
I smiled, stood, and wiped off the back of my jeans.
“Hold this.” Seth handed me his camera and went to a large tree in the middle of the walkway. He tugged on a lower branch.
“What are you doing?”
“The view up here will be great.”
“You’re really going to climb a tree?”
“The things I do for my art, right?” He swung himself up into the tree and climbed to the next branch, then reached down for his camera.
I placed it in his hand. He strapped it around his chest, then reached his hand down again.
I looked around to see if he had left something on the ground that I hadn’t seen.
“No. You,” he said.
“Me?”
“Yes, come up here. The view is amazing.”
“Oh, that’s okay. My brother is almost here.”
“He is?”
“No, not really.”
Seth laughed. “Come on.” His hand was still extended.
“Okay, fine. If I fall and break my arm, that’s on you.”
I clasped my hand around his and he helped me climb to the branch where he sat. His back was leaned up against the trunk and I sat sideways in front of him. I took in the view. I could see our resident camel and the tropical bird enclosure in the distance. Seth had turned his camera back on and was pointing it at me. I held up my hand, but he gently moved it aside and then asked, “Maddie, why do you love animals so much?”
I avoided looking at the camera and instead stared off into the distance at one of the many monkeys. “Doesn’t everybody?”
He laughed. “No.”
“I don’t know. Why does anyone love anything? I guess it’s just a feeling. Something that makes me want to act, to learn, to do more, to be better. That’s how I feel when I look at animals. I want to know everything about them, learn how to help them. Does that make sense?”
Seth had lowered the camera a little and was looking over the top of it instead of through the screen. “Perfect sense.”
“What about you? Why do you like filmmaking?”
“Same. It’s one of the only things I get excited about. The thing that motivates me to do.”
I smiled. “Exactly.”
He pushed a button on his camera, turning it off, and then put his finger to his lips. He was looking at something over my shoulder, so I followed his gaze. Carol was walking up the path straight toward our tree. I pulled my feet up onto the branch so they were no longer dangling and inched closer to Seth. My right shoulder now touched his chest.
I thought for sure she was coming to yell at us about climbing trees. But she just walked right under us and continued along the path. I let out the breath I’d been holding and Seth gave a quiet laugh.
“You’re determined to make Carol hate me,” I whispered.
“Determined is a strong word.”
I smiled and my phone buzzed in my pocket. As I moved to pull it out of my pocket, I lost my balance. Seth put his arm around my shoulder, steadying me.
“Thank you,” I said, my heart galloping from the near fall.
“I can’t have you breaking an arm or you’d never trust me again.”
“This is true.” Now that I was stable, I pulled out my phone and sighed at the new text from Beau.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.
“My brother needs another hour before he can come get me,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
Seth smiled sympathetically. “Do you want a ride home?”
“Yes, please.”
Seth drove an older blue Accord. Inside, there were empty water bottles in cupholders and a couple pamphlets on the ground. As I buckled my seat belt, I couldn’t help but notice the pamphlet by my foot.
“So you went to film camp this year?” I asked as Seth drove out of the zoo parking lot.
“No. I was looking into it but in the end it was too expensive,” Seth said, frowning out at the road.
“Your parents don’t support your art?” I asked as we came to a stoplight.
“Meaning, don’t pay for it?”
“Yes.”