A Day at the Zoo

	The day was beautiful.  It was the perfect day to be outside.  I'm
surprised that more people aren't here at the zoo.  I had never been to
this zoo before.  I just moved near the city a year ago.  Today was the
first day I had time to just do something.  The zoo fliers said that they
just remodeled a large part of the areas also.  The cats got larger
cages.  The apes new area looks just like a jungle.  They did a really
good job fixing up the place.

	I was at the petting zoo watching the children feeding the
kangaroos and zebras and other animals, when I heard the intercom come
on.

	"Come see the Seal Show!" a voice over the speakers said.  "Those
energetic swimmers can't wait to put on their show for you.  Starting in
ten minutes at the seal pond."

	That sounded pretty interesting.  So, I headed off toward the seal
pond.  The stands were already crowded when I got there.  The only spot
was one the side at the front.  There wasn't a fence or anything between
the stands and the edge of the pool ten feet away.  Just after I sat down
in the empty spot at the front, the trainers came out onto the stage on
the other side of the pool.  Then the five seals came out and dived into
the water.  After making introductory comments, the trainers had the
seals do various tricks.  They raced back and forth in the water.  They
jumped through hoops.  They even did coordinated dives off platforms of
varying heights.

	"For the next trick," said one of the trainers, "Suzy is going to
play music for us."  The other trainer brought out two identical stands
of the "famous" seal horns.  "Now, all we need is a volunteer."  With
that half the crowd raised their hands.  "I know," said the trainer, "why
don't we let Suzy pick?"  The crowd cheered.  "Ok, Suzy, go find a
volunteer."

	Suzy dove into the pool swimming to the side the stands were on
and got up on the walkway.  She turned her head looking up and down the
front row.  Then she came over to me and barked.

	"It seems we have a volunteer," said the trainer.  "Come on down."

	The people next to me encouraged me to get up.  I slowly stood up.

	"Just walk around the pool, mister," instructed the trainer.  I
proceeded to the stage.  "What's your name?"

	"Lance," I replied.

	"Ok, Lance, what I want you to do is to stand behind these horns.
Suzy is going to be behind the other ones.  Now, all you have to do is
play the horns.  Suzy will duplicate what you played."

	"Ok, sounds easy," I said.

	The trainer turned to the audience again.  "Let's hear it for
Lance."  The audience clapped.  "He's going to try to stump Suzy.  She is
going to imitate what Lance plays on the horns."  The audience cheered
more as Suzy did a confident bow.  "Ready, Lance?"

	"I'm ready!" I yelled.

	"Ready, Suzy?"

	"Ark!" barked Suzy.

	"Ok, Lance play a little something."

	I honked the horns in no particular sequence.  Suzy repeated what
I played exactly.  We did this for a while.  Suzy got every note right.

	"Let's hear it for Suzy," yelled the trainer.  The audience
cheered.  "Sorry, Lance.  It looks like you couldn't stump Suzy."  Suzy
let out a loud bark.  "Thanks, Lance.  Let's hear it for Lance,
everybody."  The audience clapped as I walked off.

	The seals did a few more tricks and the show was over.  I looked
at my watch.  It was about time for the zoo to close.  I started toward
the main gate.

	"Lance!" yelled a voice behind me.  I turned around and saw it was
the seal trainer.  "Lance, I saw how the seals really took to you.  Do
you want to help us get them prepared for the night?  We just have to
feed them and stuff."

	"Sure," I said.  I didn't have anything else to do.

	We headed to the back area of the seal pond.  There wasn't too
much to do.  I helped then clean the area and feed the seal.  The seals
seemed to enjoy someone new helping the other workers.  They were
constantly showing out.  When we were finished, the zoo had been closed
for thirty minutes.

	"I really need to go," I said.  "The zoo is closed, and I need to
get home."

	"Thanks for you help," said the trainer.

	"It was very interesting," I said walking out of the building.
The zoo was dark now.  Not many of the lights were still on.  I reached
the front gate.  It was locked.  I looked around for somebody without any
luck.  I headed back toward the seal pond to see if they could let me
out.  Just then a woman stepped out from a corner of a building.

	"Could you let me out?" I asked.

	"Why, Lance, you don't need to leave.  This is were you belong."

	"What?!  I don't work here.  I was just helping out the seal trainers."

	"I didn't say you worked here.  I said that you belong here."

	With that, two big strong men came out from behind some bushes
and tried to grab me.  I managed to avoid them and ran looking for a pay
phone to call the police.  Why would the zoo hire some crazy people like
that?  I finally found a pay phone next to a tree.  I reached in my
pocket to dig out some change.  It took me awhile because the pocket was
tighter than it usually was.  I pulled out a dime and stuck it in the
phone.  It was dead.  I retrieved the dime from the coin return and put
it back in my pocket.  I looked around for any other phones.  When I
started to run, the seams in my pants ripped apart.  "What the...?"  I
looked down and saw that my legs were very thick.  It might have been the
light, but my skin seemed to be tough, wrinkly, and gray.

	"He's around here somewhere," said one of the men that was chasing
me.  I forgot about how my legs looked and just used them to run away
from my pursuers.  I must have run really fast because my shoes flew off
my feet.  But the more I ran the harder it was to run.  My legs were
getting heavier.  When I found another phone with the same result, my
shirt ripped.  I saw that not only my legs were bigger, everything was
bigger.  My arms were just about as thick as my legs.  My body was much
bigger than before.  Proportion wise, I even think my legs were stubby.

	I heard the three people coming around a corner.  There was a
building with the door open near by.  I dashed inside and hid in one of
the dark corners.

	"No use of hiding," said the lady.  "We know you are in here.
You came right were we wanted you."  She shined a flashlight on me.  "We
knew you would come back here."

	"What are you doing to me?"

	"We aren't doing anything to you," she said.  "Your time is up.
It's someone else's turn."

	"What are you talking about?"

	"Let me ask you this.  Do you remember anything before this time
last year?"

	"Sure, I lived with my family and moved to my new house just
outside of the city."

	"No, that is general stuff.  I mean, do you remember any details?
What did you get for your birthday two years ago?  How many people were
in your high school graduating class?  When was the last time you saw
your parents?"

	I sat there thinking.  I couldn't remember any of those details.
"What's going on?  Tell me!"

	"All of the memories that you have before this time last year are
not true.  We implanted them in your brain.  Your parents that you call
every week are just actors.  The job of yours was prearranged.  Even your
house and car were supplied for you.  You were to have a normal human
life for one year."

	"But, I am a human."

	"You were.  Just for this past year.  All the animals here at the
zoo get a chance to live as a human for one year."

	"What....?"

	"Don't ask anymore questions.  Your old memories will return.
You will also keep the memories from your human experience."

	The two men walked in from behind the woman and stood next to me.
I was much bigger than they were now.  I had been changing during our
conversation.  My arms and legs were the same size.  My hands and feet
had three toes with large pads on the bottom, so they looked like tall
cylinders.  My face pushed out and two large horns sprang up from the top
of my nose.  Memories flooded back in.  I remember how happy I was when I
found out is was my turn to be human.  But, I'm glad I'm back to my
normal self.  I tried to thank the woman, but all that came out was a
bellow.

	"You're welcome," she said patting me on my nose.  "Come, let's
go back to your area with the other rhinos."

	She led me to the back of the room I was in and through several
large doors, and we were in the rhino cage.  My home.  There are all my
friends.  They all ran over to meet me.  I told them about my human
experiences.  "It was a nice form to visit, but I wouldn't want to live it."