The bright lights came on. It was automatic, on a timer set to turn on in the morning. It didn't bother Sans though. He can easily sleep with the lights on. But his brother Papyrus was up and awake and all excited like every morning. They had exactly 37 minutes before one of the humans came around to give them their breakfast and morning check in. That's enough time for a nap.

Sans briefly wondered which human it would be today? The nice lady named Jen, the one all the humans said was a "bitch" Sue, or maybe the older male named Bob? Sans knew their names from learning how to read their words. The humans didn't know that he learned it. It was his and Paps own little secret. They didn't know how to speak the words themselves though.

Sans hoped it wasn't Sue today. Sue didn't like monsters and was mean to Papyrus. Sans didn't like her right back, he's given her plenty of bite marks. Which got him into trouble just as many times. The old guy Bob was ok, quiet and tired looking. Sans could relate. They both probably wish they didn't have to do this every day.

The other lady Jen was nice. She would share some of her lunch with them and talk to them. Sans thinks she's lonely. From what Sans understood, there were some family issues. Sans liked the red stuff she would have with he lunch. Sans picked up that they called it ketchup. Ketchup was his favorite. He liked the other stuff too though. Like the yellow stuff, mustard. Papyrus really liked when she would share that pasta stuff with them. They had many different shapes. The long thin ones were Paps favorite.

Over his life time here, he learned it was called a zoo. A zoo for monsters. Monsters were always treated like animals by the humans. The monsters were once free to roam about, until they tried to revolt against the humans. They lost, and were put into zoos for the humans safety. They weren't dangerous though. Humans are the dangerous ones. A single human child could kill off an entire race of monster. Like the skeletons.

Humans especially didn't like the skeletons. Something about looking too close to their own skeletons inside of them. And looking like living dead humans. There were certain humans that called the skeleton monsters "satanic" and "evil" and "unholy". That was something Sans didn't understand.

So almost all of the skeletons were killed off. As far as Sans and Papyrus knew, they were the only two skeletons left. Skeletons were then put on the "endangered" list. Whatever that meant. For Sans, it meant he and his brother could never see the real sun or feel the real wind or walk on true wild grass. They could never be free.

Papyrus started to shake Sans, making almost squeaking like noises. For Sans, the sounds Papyrus made were the equivalent to someone yelling "wake up, wake up". Was his nap done already? Well he was hungry. Once they get their breakfast, it would be exactly 44 minutes until the first human visitors arrived. Fifteen of those minutes would consist of them eating their food.

Sans opened his eyes to see Papyrus's grinning face. Sans smiled back at him. Papyrus always made him smile. Papyrus made a happy squeak like noise. They noises they make were more like the humans letter e sound. Not the "eh" version, the "e" version. Sans and Papyrus call it either squeaking or chirping.

'Sans! Wake up! It's time for breakfast! Stop being so lazy!' Papyrus chirped in their "skeleton speech". Sans rubbed his eyes and sat up. 'ok bro, I'm up. I'm up.' Sans chirped back. They both left their sleeping area and started over to the door. Their living area wasn't huge, but it was comfortable enough for the two of them. Papyrus quickly ran to the door all excitedly. Sans sluggishly walked behind him. He could still see him at the door, tailbone wagging a bit excitedly.

Sans sat down next to Papyrus, who jumped a bit in excitement. Pap is always so excitable. He didn't know anything other then the zoo, unlike Sans. Sans was born in a really small human house in a city. There were other doors across, above, and below theirs. The human who kept his parents like pets was always trying to sell Sans. Until humans in these uniforms, not like the zoo humans but similar, burst in and took Sans and his parents.

Sans was really young when that happened. He remembered his parents being taken somewhere one day, then a few months later they came back with Papyrus. Sans didn't understand back then, but now he knew better. They were taken to be bred for another baby skeleton. Sans didn't mind though. He loved Papyrus with all of his soul. But now their parents were dust.

They used to be in a living area that wasn't in glass. It was more open. A human child managed to crawl into their living area once. It wanted to see the baby skeleton closer, Sans thinks. But when his mother went to show the human child, she was shot by different humans. Sans father got angry and threw bone attacks at them. They shot him as well. Then Sans and Papyrus were moved into here.

That was a long time ago though. Sans and Papyrus are young adults now. Sometimes Sans wondered if they would be taken to breed like their parents were. Or maybe the humans didn't want any more skeletons to live. Maybe they were just waiting until Sans and Papyrus dusted as well.

Papyrus squeaked excitedly as the door began to open. Sans looked to see the male zoo worker Bob. Seems like its going to be a quiet day today. Sans liked quiet days. He can take naps during quiet days. Bob placed two bowls of food down, waved at the skeleton brothers, and closed the door. Papyrus immediately brought the bowls over to Sans. He sat down and began to eat while talking.

'Bob seems tired today Sans! I hope he slept enough!' Pap chirped. Sans shrugged and started to eat as well. 'he's always like that bro. You know that. At least it will be a quiet day. Maybe he'll take a nap too.' Sans replied. Papyrus frowned a bit.

'Aww. I like interacting with the humans. They're so weird! Nyeh heh!' Papyrus said. Sans shrugged again. 'eh, I'd rather keep my distance. They're not cool like you are.' Sans commented. Papyrus beamed with joy at the compliment. Not too long until the first humans arrive to stare at them and take pictures and talk and stuff.

Sans often thought about trying to escape. He wanted Papyrus to be free and see the real world. Papyrus would be so much happier. As the first humans began to come in, right on time, Sans thought. Trying to escape would be too much of a hassle. It probably wouldn't work either. Sans looked as Papyrus was all excited to see the humans. Waving and showing off his "moves", posing for pictures and whatnot. Sans felt tired. A nap would be good. They could never escape this cage.

Right?