Welcome to chapter 18 of this story. Marlene may now be in the Zoo and part of the TV show, but the story goes on. Let's skip ahead a bit to mid-2009.

CHAPTER 18 – Outdoors

(P staying with Diana) I woke up suddenly with a start, instantly opening my eyes and gasping. I had a nightmare again. Since Marlene had been taken from us 6 months ago, I had been getting them. It was definitely a result of post-traumatic stress. I hadn't had it this bad since I had lost my parents all those years ago. Losing a child was one of the most painful things you could ever experience. *

I had no idea where Marlene even was or how she was doing. She was very strong, but surely she was missing us, too. Hopefully she had made friends at her new home, Otter or otherwise. Marlene's natural outgoing personality would clearly help her in that regard. **

I wished that we all had been transferred though. We wouldn't be here anymore, but at least we would still be together. I was glad that I knew we would see Marlene again someday, as that kept Sebastien and I going, along with still having Emily with us. She was coping with her loss much like Sebastien and I were.

Since the day Emily had been born, my two little girls had been inseparable. They had their rivalries, but I knew deep down that they loved each other. That's what was making this so painful. Without Marlene, we weren't a complete family. It hurt us all to our cores to be without her.

As I was thinking that, Sebastien and Emily began to wake up. "Good morning you two," I said to them. "Good morning," they replied, as they awoke. It took a few minutes, but they were then as awake as I was. "Are you ready to be trained again today Emily?" I asked her.

Emily smiled. "Absolutely Mom. I'm glad that soon I'll be able to leave the aquarium if I wanted to thanks to this training," she said. "I bet you're glad we were born in the wild so we can help you," Sebastien said to her. "Absolutely Dad. I bet the wild is a lot different from here at home," she said. "Oh it is sweetheart. While we won't be going to the wild, it will be good for you to see natural light and get fresh air whenever you want," I said to my youngest.

Emily smiled. "Thanks Mom and Dad. I'm glad repairs are continuing on the aquarium, letting us be able to do this during the day," she said. "We are too. Now let's get going after our breakfast," Sebastien said, before our bellies grumbled. We had just woken up and were hungry, so we left the cave. After chatting with everyone for a few minutes, the keepers showed up and proceeded to feed us. It was excellent.

Once that was over, they left for the day to work on other stuff they had to do. They wouldn't be back until dinnertime, so we had all day. Sebastien, Emily, and I climbed into the vent mounted on the wall and after making sure the air conditioning was off, proceeded through them.

"Are you ready Emily?" Sebastien and I asked her, right at the gate. She took a few deep breaths, making sure to calm herself down before she stepped outside at all. After a few moments of that, she said, "I'm ready." With that, Sebastien and I opened the gate and she walked right through it.

Just as it had happened with our friends, Emily had been getting much better over time. From just lasting only a minute or two at first, she had now reached close to an hour of being outside with no issues. Our goal today was to break that one-hour streak. If she broke that, Sebastien and I knew that she would be perfectly fine to go out for any period of time.

"How do you feel so far Emily?" Sebastien asked her. "Pretty good, actually. I don't feel myself losing control or wanting to go on a mindless rampage," she replied. "Very good honey, you're getting the hang of this," I said happily to her. "Thanks Mom. It sure is bright today though," Emily said.

"That's because it's almost summer. That's why it's hotter too," Sebastien replied. "That seems to make sense," she said, trying to block the sun with her paws. "I'm glad that the sun will go down eventually. Thanks for taking me out during that last time. There were so many colors," she said happily. "We know honey, we were there," I said to her, making us laugh.

We just milled around on the roof, making sure to avoid the wandering eyes of any humans. If they spotted us, there would surely be negative consequences for us. The keepers would know that we really were as smart as them, instead of somewhat smart. Surely they would run tests on us and Sebastien and I would prove to be very smart, due to the fact that we could read and use the computer. It was more complicated now than during the dial-up era, but we would definitely be able to figure it out.

It wouldn't just get to us either. It would rock human-animal relations to their core. *** For millennia we had always been perceived as rather dumb, except for a select few species, like chimps. If they found out some of us could read and even drive, we'd have a real problem on our paws.

But for now, it was fine. As the hour progressed, Emily wasn't feeling any feral tendencies. She was remaining her calm, normal self. Training her was paying off. We then only had a minute to go. "How do you feel sweetie?" Sebastien asked her. "I just feel normal Dad. I think I'm going to make it to our goal," she said.

"Very good honey. Once you pass this threshold, you'll be able to last outside as long as you want," I said to her. "That's good. It would be nice to take a break from being inside all day occasionally," Emily said. "We hear you on that honey. It's nice to be in a climate-controlled habitat, but fresh air is the best," Sebastien said.

Finally, it was time. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," all three of us said. Finally we had reached the one-hour mark. Emily nervously looked herself over and checked for any claws popping out of her paws. We waited another minute or so to be sure. "I think I'm good Mom and Dad," she said happily. We got into a great hug, the three of us.

"Great job honey. We always knew you could do it," I said to her in our hug. "Thanks Mom and Dad," she said happily. We continued milling about on the roof until we felt done with it and proceeded back down into the aquarium. We dropped right into the pool and no keepers were present to notice our actions, so everything was good.

That's the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review, as they mean a lot to me. I have just three notes today, before you head off until next time!

* I obviously have no experience with this, but from what I've read that is the case.

** Yes, Marlene has made a bunch of friends. I'm putting this on the same day as "Popcorn Panic" aired in the US, May 9th, 2009.

*** I'm referencing "Wishful Thinking," when Kowalski's wish blew the Penguin's cover.