At first, Zoe wasn't sure what to make of the man. He was tall and looked strong and just because of that he was a little bit scary. But he had let her stay, hadn't hurt her or her family. He'd even given Daddy a job and helped save Josh when the bad dinosaurs, Slashers, attacked him and his new friends.
And so even though he looked a little scary, Zoe was set on thanking Mr. Taylor. That was why she made him a thank you card. Everyone like thank you cards, right?
She waited until school was over before making her way to the big wood building that Mr. Taylor was always at. Maybe it was his house. It was only her third day in Terra Nova, so at first she was a little confused on how to get there, but an old lady she passed by told her the way.
"Just go down the street and take a left. Are you looking for your father?" she asked. Zoe guessed that after Daddy saved Mr. Taylor from being shot everyone knew who he was.
"No, but thank you." Zoe said.
Zoe carried the card close to her to keep from losing it or risk it being torn or crumpled. The street was crowded with people and carts, but Zoe was an expert at keeping out the way.
But something she was not an expert at was being brave. The stairs looked long and high and once she reached the top, there was really not going back. She would face Mr. Taylor and give him the card.
Zoe had to reach up the grab the railing like Mommy always told her to do. One day, Zoe thought, she would be tall like Maddy and Mommy and not have to reach up. From up here she felt like she could see everything. Terra Nova looked so pretty and colorful, it took her breath away. She could remember the dark gray buildings and rust-colored sky of her old home and briefly compared where she use to live to where she lived now.
More reason to thank the man.
Zoe knocked on the door and frowned when her fist made hardly any noise. She knocked louder this time.
"Come in." It was the voice of the man she was looking for.
Zoe opened the door and hesitantly stepped inside. The room was big and had some paintings hung up and some dinosaur bones set out for people to see. Zoe wasn't sure how she felt about that, because she liked dinosaurs. Well, most dinosaurs, because she hated the ones that attacked Josh. And the ones that attacked Daddy, Mr. Taylor, and those men the other day.
The man sat at his desk, looking slightly surprised to see her. He had one of those mini-computers, the ones where you held them in your hands, in his hands, but he set it down and smiled at her.
"You looking for your father?" he asked. Zoe shook her head. She could feel her nervousness coming back, the same nervousness that appeared whenever she talked to new people.
It wasn't that Zoe didn't like people, because she did. She loved learning about them and talking to them. But back at her old home most people didn't like talking to her, or even being near her. She had faint memory of the population police storming into her house and throwing everything around and hurting Daddy and scaring Mommy, Josh, and Maddy. Scaring her.
"Your mom?" he asked. Zoe shook her head and took a few steps in his direction, holding out the card. It colored blue and green. Blue, because it was her favorite color. Green because you couldn't look anywhere around here and not see something green.
"That for me?" Mr. Taylor asked, pushing himself out of his chair to retrieve that card. Zoe nodded.
Zoe waited eagerly for his reaction. What if he didn't like the card? She worked on it all last night and made she it was perfect during lunch and free time.
On the cover there was a drawing of the earth, the way her teacher said it looked now. Above the earth was the word 'Thank' and below was the word 'You'. Inside she explained what she was thankful for.
Zoe felt her worry disappear when Mr. Taylor smiled. First at the card, then at her. He liked it.
But, just toe be sure...
"Do you like it?" she asked.
"Very much. Zoe, right?" he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Taylor." she answered. She's not sure why, but suddenly he's grinning at her.
"Did you color this all by yourself, Miss Zoe?" he asked, leaning against his desk.
Zoe nodded proudly. "I like art."
"Good. Terra Nova is always in need of more artist." Mr. Taylor said. "Did you come up with the idea of making a card by yourself, too?"
Zoe nodded proudly again. "Yes, Mr. Taylor."
"I am definitely in the presence of an artist." he said. "Is that you want to be when you grow up?"
"Maybe." Zoe decided. An artist. There weren't a lot of them at her old home, but he just said that Terra Nova needed more.
Behind her there was a knock before the door opened. It was her dad. Zoe was immediately torn between happiness at seeing her dad and guilt because she wasn't suppose to go anywhere without supervision.
"Zoe, what are you doing here, kiddo?" Daddy asked. He looked around the room. "And without Maddy or Josh?"
Zoe bit her lip and looked down. "I...um..."
"Miss Zoe came by to give me this lovely thank you card." Mr. Taylor said.
"Did she now?" her dad asked. "That's very nice of you, Zoe, but you know you're not suppose to wonder around the colony without someone with you."
"Yes, Daddy. I'm sorry." she said, meaning it with all her heart. She hadn't given it much thought before.
"I know. If it's okay with Commander Taylor, why don't we go find Maddy? You know how she is, she's probably looking everywhere for you." Daddy reminded her.
"Okay, Daddy. Bye Mr. Taylor. And thank you." she said. She took Daddy's hand and followed him out the door and down the stairs to go find Maddy.
If she were look in the second drawer down from the top of 'Mr.' Taylor's desk even months afterwards, she would see a little blue and green thank you card.
This had been bouncing around in my head for while now, and after the positive reception that my other Terra Nova story, The Spider Song, has had, I decided to give it a go. I know that Taylor may seem OOC, but when you think about how he acted around Leah Marcos, I don't think his behavior was that far fetched. He's a father at heart. As for Zoe...I don't think it was too unbelievable for her to be nervous when it comes to people, particularly a man. People were probably not kind to her in 2149 and the population police certainly weren't. But I also know that Zoe is too sweet and bright not to overcome that fear and trust people.
As for her calling Taylor 'Mr.', I think that's to be expected of a young child. When I was little, no one could get me to call a doctor by their title, just 'Mr.'. Apparently, people thought I was adorable because of that...let's just say I always got a lollipop after a doctor's appointment... :)
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this and I plan to have another Zoe or Jim related story out sometime this week.
Reviews are always loved!