Chapter 2
The ZOO
He felt a hand on his shoulder and he was being gently shaken.
"Hello, hello little boy, are you OK?" Squeaked a little voice.
The boy opened his eyes to see a small girl about his age with glasses and bushy brown hair wearing a green jumper with a white and green button down sweater over.
"Yes I am; I'm alright, I guess I dozed off."
"Is this your dog? May I pet him?"
The boy realized the dog had his head in his lap and was wagging his tail. "Umm, yes sure you can pet him. Easy now Paddy."
The little girl reached out and gently stroked the dogs head. The black dog wagged his tail and woofed. "He's a big dog. Are you waiting for someone?" Asked the girl.
The boy looked around warily and decided that he would agree and just nodded his head.
The girl said, "I'm waiting for my mom. She's across the street picking up things for her office and she said I could come here and play on the swings. But I'd rather sit on the bench and read my book. Do you like to read?"
"Yes sometimes, when I can get a book."
"What do you mean?"
The boy looked down and mumbled about his cousin always taking his books. A slight burn rose on his cheeks, he was ashamed to look at the little girl.
"You don't talk much do you?" stated the girl.
He looked at her with a slight blush blooming on his cheeks. "I don't have any friends, umm, I mean I don't often have anyone to talk too."
The little girl looked at him for a moment. "Neither do I, I, I don't have any, any friends either I mean. At school they all think I'm strange."
"Why, you seem OK to me?"
"Well, I'm the smartest one in my grade and get the best marks all the time. So that does not help. And there are some bullies in the class that like to pick on the smart students. They tried to trash my books one day and something happened and they got boils all over their hands. Since then most everyone stays away from me."
The little girl was looking at the ground and sighed. "I suppose you think I'm strange too?"
The boy looked at her intently. He could feel that she was nice and sincere and he felt emotions in her he did not understand. But more than that, a sadness, filled with a longing to fit in and belong. The boy said softly,
"No, I don't think you're strange. I think you're a freak like me."
The girl was startled. "What did you say?"
The little boy said: "Strange things happen to me too. Like my cousin and his friends were chasing me to beat me up and I found myself suddenly on the roof of the school, or my hair growing back over night when my Aunt cuts it. My aunt and uncle call me a freak because of the weird things that happen. But I don't do it on purpose, only when I'm frightened."
The girl looked at him long and hard, with an unsettling intensity that scared the boy. He was confused at the emotions that ebbed and flowed in intensity inside her; rage, indecision, fear, and then reluctant acceptance. He started to nervously look around.
"I'm sorry I did not mean to stare and scare you. I was trying to decide if I could trust you. There is something about you, so I think I can. Stuff happens to me when I'm scared too; like I broke the windows by my desk in school when Joey Shoemaker grabbed my ponytail and yanked me to the floor. He ended up covered in glass and I got sent to the principal's office. My mom was not happy."
The boy interrupted her. "Are you hungry, asked the boy? I have bread and jam in my back pack. I'll share with you."
"No thank you. I ate my breakfast already. But go ahead if you want".
Just then a trim looking and smartly dressed woman appeared and took the little girls hand saying: "It's time to go dear. Who are your friends?
The little girl held out her hand towards Harry. "I'm Hermione, what's yours?"
The little boy was dumbstruck but managed to whisper: "I'm Harry, Harry Potter and this is my friend Paddy."
"Well I'm pleased to meet you Harry and Paddy;" said the older women.
"Say goodbye to your friends dear".
She whispered in his ear. "We come here every other Saturday morning."
The little girl looked over her shoulder and waved as she walked away. She said "Bye Harry, I, I hope I see you here again."
The boy looked after her. He felt sad to see her go and wondered if he would ever see the little girl again. No one had ever called him a friend before; no one had ever said they hoped to see him again. A terrible feeling of melancholy swept over the boy and he began to cry. The dog sat up and licked his face and whined. The boy started to laugh and pushed the dog away. "Ok, Ok, I stopped."
He took a sandwich out of his bag and ate breakfast. He shared half with the dog. He looked across the street at the clock sign and was surprised to see it standing at 7:45. He had slept a lot longer than he realized. He looked around and the black dog was sitting on the grass watching him. He held out some more of his sandwich and the dog greedily snapped it up. The boy laughed. "I guess you're hungry too!" The dog wagged his tail at a furious pace.
Meanwhile back at his family's house his Aunt asked her husband if she should let the boy out. "No, best leave the ruddy freak thing in there to think about what he did for another day. Let him out tomorrow or Monday." She nodded and went back to begin making breakfast.
Opening the refrigerator she commented, "That's' odd the roast beef is almost gone. That little man, must have been our little Duddy Dinkins, he's growing you know. Must have needed a midnight snack. Well at least he cleaned up after himself." It's strange, thought the Aunt as she sipped her tea. "Must be, because the other boy was locked up tight."
The boy at the park got up and continued walking towards the Zoo. He came to a bus stop and saw that the sign said Zoo, bus route 71. He sat down on the bench and was rewarded with a 71 bus arriving in a few minutes. He climbed aboard and flashed his student pass, getting a nod from the driver. The dog tried to follow him onto the bus. The driver said, "No dog's son."
The boy looked at the dog and then spoke to the driver. "Mam he's not mine. He's just been following me. Will you please tell me the stop for the Zoo? I've never taken the bus there before."
The driver smiled and said "Not to worry small fry, I'll let you know." She looked at the dog. "What am I going to do with you?" The dog looked at her with big eyes that seemed to plead and a tail wagging back and forth. He reached his paw out to her. "Oh alright come on board. But any trouble and off you go." The dog walked back and sat quietly next to the boy.
It didn't take long before the women told him that this was his stop. He thanked her and got off the bus followed by the dog. He saw many school buses and groups of students were queuing up. He saw a sign that said Student Discount Day, 90% off regular admittance. He looked around for a group about his age and size and stood near one without trying to be noticed. In a few minutes a teacher appeared and led the group to the entrance. The boy left a few feet between the last person in the line and himself and passed through the gate pretending to be part of the group. The black dog slunk in right behind him.
He immediately moved away from the group and followed a path that had a sign for Lions. He wondered what it would be like to be a lion? "GRRRRRRRR!"
He wandered around the zoo all day with the dog by his side. He especially liked the elephants. He found a large almost full bag of peanuts that someone had forgotten on a bench and spent a long time tossing the peanuts one by one to the elephant. The elephant seemed happy to get them even taking a nut at a time from the boys hand as he held it out between the bars. When it was near closing time, he headed for the entrance, passed out the gate and walked up the street continuing on the way he had come that morning. He felt satisfied and free. The dog was right there with him. The boy looked at the dog. "Why are you following me? You got nobody either? I guess we both found a friend." The dog barked and started wagging his tail. "Well Paddy, I guess it's just you and me now." The boy thought the dog understood him and he knelt down and hugged the dog. The boy felt safe and peaceful with the big black animal. Soon he smelled food cooking, the lovely aroma of grilled meat. He let his nose lead him to a small take away establishment. It had room for two small tables and a counter. The boy looked at the menu on the wall and asked for the grilled cheeseburger with chips for himself and a plain hamburger for the dog. He took a five pound note out of his pocket and passed it across the counter and got back his change.
"Do you want anything to drink young sir asked the women at the counter?"
Counting his change, he answered: "No mam, I need to make this last. Can you fill my water bottle from the tap please?"
The boy and dog ate their meal at the table and when finished cleaned up after himself, said good bye to the nice lady and left. He continued in the same direction, and the day grew short and twilight dropped over the city finally turning into darkness. Soon the sounds of day dwindled and calmness settled over the area. The boy walked onward unerringly in the same direction, and always away from where he had left. The dog followed silently beside him.
He came to another playground and went inside the gate and to the back where he sat on the bench. Paddy jumped up and put his head on his lap. Soon the boy fell asleep with his arms around the dog.
