This fic was inspired by the song 'Maybe After He's Gone' by The Zombies

Chapter 1

It was another busy day at the zoo. The entire staff was busily preparing for a visit from Bainbridge, who was coming that afternoon. Howard had pleaded, poked, and prodded to be put in charge of the preparations. He had everything carefully planned out so the event would go on without a hitch.

Howard had made sure every cage was clean and every animal was accounted for. The monkey house's windows needed scrubbing and Naboo's shop was in dire need of some organization. He trotted through the zoo wearing a pocket protector and holding a clipboard, ready to jot down notes with his brand new biro. It was the type of biro with the clicky bit at the back that made the tip go in and out. That was Howard's favorite kind.

He passed by the reptile house and sighed with longing. Mrs. Gideon was in there. His one true love. How wonderful life would be when they finally settled down together. Howard let his mind wander into a wistful dreamland at the thought. They would get a nice cottage in the countryside where they could raise all of Mrs. Gideon's pets safely and healthily. Every night they would have dinner together and talk about trumpets and lists and then go to sleep in two separate beds next to each other.

Bam!

Howard suddenly walked face-first into the side of one of the enclosures. The daydream had distracted him so much that he had no idea which way he was going. He shook himself and was about to start walking again when he heard a strange squeak and a scuffling sound.

Suddenly he heard a shriek and he jumped about a foot into the air. He whipped his head around to see what was the matter.

"Oh no…"

The enclosure he bumped into belonged to the common dwarf mongoose (or helogale parvula) and the resulting jostling caused the cage door to swing open. The latch had come loose and the mongoose managed to scamper out. The tiny footprints in the sandy ground lead right to the entrance of the reptile house.

"Oh noooo!" Howard moaned again and ran off after the tiny creature.

Howard burst through the doors of the reptile house to be met with a ghastly scene. He found the mongoose sitting in the middle of the floor with his jaws clamped around a writhing and wriggling figure with Mrs. Gideon staring down in horror at the carnage.

"My Sunny! Let go of my Sunny!"

The snake's tiny body thrashed and flailed in the mongoose's mouth. The furry creature whipped its head back and forth and the snake fell limp. The mongoose scampered off out of the building, its new lunch dangling from its jaws.

Mrs. Gideon, mouth agape, slumped to the floor beneath the enclosures.

Howard looked at her, not sure what to do.

"S-sorry about that, Mrs. Gideon. Cleaners must've left the cage open…heh…"

He glanced from side to side, trying to think of what to do.

"That was Sunny. He was my prized sunbeam snake," Mrs. Gideon said quietly.

She looked up at Howard and gestured weakly with her hands.

"You should have seen the way his skin reflected the sunlight. Like little rainbows across his back."

She choked on her words as tears welled up in her eyes.

Howard wanted to comfort the poor woman but he was so taken aback by the whole situation. He couldn't help but blame himself for what happened and he felt just horrible.

Howard opened his mouth up to say something when the loud sound of boot heels interrupted him.

"Oi! Mrs. Gideon! Does this belong to you?"

Vince trotted in, holding a shining little snake in his hands.

"Vince? What? Is that my Sunny?"

Mrs. Gideon stood up in disbelief. Howard looked at Vince with the same expression.

"Wha-?"

"Yeah! I found him in a little mongoose's mouth! I had to convince the thing to let the little fella' go. All I had to do was give him a little bit of this beef jerky I had in my pocket. It was genius."

"Is he still…ok?"

Mrs. Gideon craned her beehived head to get a better look at the snake.

"Yeah, he's in shock though. Little bloke got the tits scared off him."

Vince handed the snake to Mrs. Gideon and it weakly wound around her wrist.

"Oh thank you, Vince! How can I ever repay you?"

"Oh, it was nuffin'." Vince blushed like a child and dug his toes into the floor.

"Well, I'm sure I'll think of something. I'll go now and make sure that Mr. Fossil knows that the mongoose has gotten out of his cage. Goodbye, Vince and goodbye…erm…"

"'Oward, " Vince corrected gently.

"Yes! Goodbye Harrold!"

Mrs. Gideon flounced away with the tiny creature curling its shiny tail around her arm.

It was quiet for a moment and Vince glanced over at Howard. Howard looked back at him, a mixed expression of anger and bewilderment on his face.

"Alright, 'Oward?" Vince said sheepishly as he exited the reptile house with a little less than the usual spring in his step.

Howard just sat there in disbelief at what just happened