Tomas sat
perched on top of the spiked metal fence they had laboriously climbed together.
Sarabel had jumped down to show him how easy it was, but she had stumbled
against some broken pavement and twisted her ankle, swearing all the bad words
she remembered, and a few they had made up. He grimaced down to her now. “I
don’ wanna, Sa’bel. Iwangohome!”
She stuck her
tongue out at him. “Whichair side ya choose, ya have ta jump. An’ I here on dis
side ta catch ya. So choose.” She stretched her arms up again, encouraging him
to jump into them.
He closed his
eyes and leaped out like he was jumping into a pool. Sarabel stepped back and
caught him in a bear hug, as if they had practiced a hundred times. Which, of
course, they had. Tomas flung his arms around her neck and laughed. Sarabel
kissed his cheeks and dropped him to the ground, swinging his hands in her own.
“Good jump! Now,
c’mon. I wan’ show ya sometin spesh.”
Tomas gripped
her hand tightly in his stubby fingers as they walked down the broad broken
path.
“Wha’ dis?” He
asked, looking around wide-eyed.
“Dis was a zoo. All
kinds animals here.”
“To eat?” Tomas
liked meat when they could get it.
“No, silly. Not
all animals to eat. Dese for look-see.”
He glanced up
and her and snorted. “Look-see? Why?”
Sarabel
shrugged. “Why” was Tomas’ favorite word, and she rarely had answers. “Curious,
I guess. Dese diff’rent animals than out dair.”
“Diff’ent? Like
what?” Tomas looked around with more interest.
Sarabel pointed
to the overgrown pond on their left and pulled him toward a faded sign on the
fence. “See here? Dis where alleygators lived. Dey like great big gwonnas wit
lots teeth an’ long tail. See picture?” She traced the barely visible outline
with her finger.
Tomas fingered
the picture and cocked his head, thinking. “Gwonnas wit teeth? Eat Tomas, stead
Tomas eat him?”
Sarabel laughed
and pulled him away. “That’s right! Big alleygator gwonna eat ya right up!” She
tugged him into a run. “Come on, alleygator meat! Got sometin’ spesh ta show
ya!”
Tomas laughed
and chased her down the path. He almost ran into her when she stopped without
warning. He looked up and grabbed her leg, peeking around at the giant animal
before them. “S’at live, Sa’bel? S’at alleygator?”
She ruffled his
hair and pulled him in front of her. “No, silly! Da’s alleyphant, not
alleygator. Big, big. But not eat Tomas. Eat grass.”
“Got two tails?
Look-see, Sa’bel!” Tomas climbed on the elephant statue’s curved trunk and
swung his legs on either side.
“Das his nose,
ya b’lieve? He pull grass wi’dat and put in mouth up here, look-see?” Sarabel
stood on tiptoe to run her fingers over the elephants mouth.
Tomas studied
the statue quietly. “Dis be good animal to keep out dair.”
Sarabel looked
back at his serious face and nodded. “Better dan wat we got, right? No eat
Tomas, no fight Sarabel.” She shrugged again. “Cmon, we mostway dair.”
They left the
elephant statue and continued on the path, following the curve until Tomas
stumbled to a halt. His mouth dropped open. Sarabel laughed. “I told ya it
spesh. Cmon, I show ya best part.”
She pulled his
hand, walking up to the broken shell of the old carousel. Burned and stripped
of all decoration except for one perfectly preserved zebra. It stood balanced
on its pole, ready for the next rider.
Sarabel lifted
Tomas onto the Zebra’s back, and he clutched the pole for balance. She stepped
forward and patted its neck, then walked back to stand next to its back leg.
“Wan ride?” she said back to Tomas. She didn’t have to look up to see his nod.
She leaned her
weight against the zebra’s rear to get the carousel moving. Once it started, it
quickly picked up momentum, still balanced after all this time. Sarabel hummed
a song she remembered, louder and louder as she walked after Tomas, then
jogged, then ran. He laughed and clapped his hands, then grabbed the pole again
when he slipped in the saddle.
Finally Sarabel
ran out of breath and stepped away to let the Carousel’s momentum carry Tomas
around. He rode it until it slowed all the way to a stop, on the far side from
Sarabel. She jogged toward him, and he reached out his arms for her to lift him
down. He hugged her tightly. “Tank ya, Sa’bel. Dat spesh. Yes, yes. Dat ver ver
spesh,” he whispered into her neck. He snuggled into her arms, and Sarabel started
walking back to the fence they had climbed to get in.
“Sa’bel? We
could stay here. Be zoo animals. Ride again tomorrow.”
“Sorry, Tomas.
Not enough protection here. Not like houses. We come back, kaykay?” He sleepily
nodded agreement. Sarabel tightened her arms around him.
In the distance,
they heard a single howl, then another. The shadows were lengthening, but they
still had plenty of light to get home.
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Dogs
in house:
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Houdini, Brindle
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Music:
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John Williams, Latin American Guitar Music By Barrios And Ponce
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Time
writing:
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50 minutes
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July
word count:
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15,409
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