Another Hairy Tail 4

by Campbell, Jamie

  ANOTHER HAIRY TAIL 4

  JAMIE CAMPBELL

  CHAPTER 1

  Music was pumping around the food court of the zoo. The cafes had closed a few hours earlier, giving way to the homemade chips and dips, bottles of soda, and muffins.

  It was a hastily put together gathering, having only two days to organize it. The staff of the zoo had done their best, even though it was done with a heavy heart.

  It was Logan’s going away party.

  Nobody wanted to see the popular and fun vet leave the Mapleton Regional Zoo. Even the animals were upset and they hadn’t been told of the change yet. But the one most devastated by Logan’s departure was Hannah.

  Cradling a plastic cup of orange soda, she stood in the corner away from all the lights. She didn’t feel like being a part of the crowd and throwing good wishes at Logan. She wanted her goodbye to be said in private, somewhere she could say what she really wanted to say to him.

  “I’m going to miss him like crazy,” Alicia said as she found her friend’s hiding place. “I can’t believe he’s going. Logan has been a part of this zoo forever. It’s not going to be the same without him.”

  “I know,” Hannah replied.

  Alicia’s gaze went from Logan, as he talked animatedly to his friends, to Hannah. “This must be really hard for you.”

  She shrugged off the comment, trying to hide what was going on inside her head. “We weren’t together for long.”

  “Doesn’t make it any easier.”

  No, it didn’t. And Hannah was grateful that somebody understood that. They may have only been on a few dates, but the small amount of time still had given her millions of butterflies and the possibility of so much more. Relationships weren’t about the quantity of time, but the quality.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Both the girls jumped at the sound of Harry’s voice as he joined them.

  Alicia spoke quickly so Hannah didn’t have to. “Just saying our goodbyes to the big man. Parties aren’t going to be the same without Logan.”

  “Neither are our shifts. I learned a lot from him,” Harry agreed.

  “He’s always happy to explain things.”

  “In a way that you understand.”

  Hannah wasn’t really listening to the conversation. She was focused on watching Logan as he talked and joked with his colleagues. There was something magical about the man, he lit up the place like he was on fire. His presence would definitely be missed by all.

  She caught his eye and he left the group to head in her direction. “Hey, Hans. Can we talk for a moment?” She nodded and allowed him to lead her further into the zoo area, somewhere away from the noise and people of the party.

  Hannah didn’t know where to start so she kept to the facts. “So you’re leaving for Africa tonight?”

  “Yeah, on the redeye. Hopefully I’ll sleep for the entire flight so I can get started straight away when I land,” Logan replied. There was excitement dancing in his eyes, as well as sadness. Any goodbye was always bittersweet like that.

  “You’ll have a lot of fun, I’m sure.”

  “I hoping to do a lot of good things for the animals. I really want to make a difference.”

  And that was why she loved him so much. He was on a noble mission, ready to leave his mark on the world so it could be a better place with him in it. Hannah had no doubt he would do everything he set out to achieve.

  Logan took the soda cup out of her hand and placed it on a bollard so he could hold her hands in his. “I’m going to miss you more than anything else. I’m so sorry to be leaving you, Hans.”

  “I’m going to miss you too. It’s not going to feel right being here without you.”

  “The intern program finishes in two weeks. Then you’ll be going to college where you’ll forget all about me.”

  She shook her head. “I could never forget you, even if I wanted to. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve taught me this summer.”

  “You’re going to be an amazing vet, Hans. Even more, you’re going to be an awesome animal warrior. You’ve got it in your heart, you’re going to defend and protect these animals for the rest of your life.” Logan stared into her eyes as he spoke, making sure she knew he was being nothing other than sincere. “You’ve got much bigger things to do in your life.”

  Hannah liked the words ‘animal warrior’. That’s how she felt about the animals. She wanted to protect them, go to war for them, be their voice because they couldn’t talk. “You’re the original animal warrior. You’re going all the way to Africa to do it. I’m really proud of you, Logan.”

  He pulled her in for a hug. “Be awesome, Hannah Banana. Our paths will cross again in the future.”

  “I know they will.” As the words left her mouth, Hannah knew they were true. The connection they had wasn’t something that could be easily broken. Their lives would intertwine, weave in and out. Maybe they weren’t supposed to be together, but fight side by side for the animals.

  After their private goodbyes, Hannah found Alicia so they could leave. Neither wanted to party until late when they had an early shift in the morning. Especially after Logan left to catch his flight.

  “If you need to cry, feel free to,” Alicia said as she drove home.

  “I don’t feel like crying,” Hannah replied, surprising even herself. “I feel happy for Logan. He’s doing something he’s wanted to do for a long time. He’s living his dream. I can’t be sad about that.”

  “But you’ll still miss him.”

  “Every second of every day.”

  They were silent for the rest of the car journey home. Hannah crawled into bed and stared up at the ceiling, letting the day’s events scramble through her mind. Her last shift with Logan had been like every other one. He’d taught her amazing things and she’d absorbed it all.

  Whoever his replacement was had gigantic shoes to fill.

  CHAPTER 2

  Hannah couldn’t sleep. She had been staring up at the ceiling for over two hours with no signs of sleepy eyelids about to take hold of her. She had tossed and turned more times than she could count.

  She kept asking herself why she was so calm about Logan moving to Africa. She should have been angry at him for leaving her so soon after starting their relationship. She thought she was falling in love with him and then he just moved to another country?

  She had reason to be angry.

  She had reason to be sad.

  Yet all she could feel was calm and collected. Logan was on a plane right now, soaring away from her, and she didn’t mind all that much. Perhaps it was knowing that he was living his dream, or maybe it was that he would be helping endangered animals, that she could feel happy for him. Or, maybe, it was that she hadn’t loved him as much as she thought she did.

  When Logan was around, it was easy to get caught up in his effervescent personality. He made you feel good about yourself, he made you laugh and joke. He was easy to love and Hannah had been well and truly caught up in his aura.

  Even those thoughts were unsettling too. Hannah forced her eyes to close and tried to switch off her mind. It was the only way she was finally able to drift off to sleep.

  In the morning, Hannah was sluggish as she reached the zoo. She was dreading being there without Logan, knowing it wouldn’t feel the same anymore. Everywhere she looked, she had memories of him and could feel his absence strongly.

  Still, she was happy for him. Whenever she started to miss him, she pictured Logan helping to save the animals of Africa and it made her smile. Logan was where he needed to be, he was in the right place.

  There was an intern meeting first thing that morning. All the interns in the program were called in to attend and meet the new vet who was also res
ponsible for the intern program. There were rumors about the new vet but nobody actually knew who it was yet.

  They all assembled in the zoo’s food court. The public weren’t allowed in yet so they had some time to attend to official zoo business before their daily chores and tasks. Alicia quietly sat next to Hannah, giving her a smile in greeting.

  The new vet was five minutes late as he strode to the middle of the courtyard and stared everyone down. He was in his forties with a thick head of greying hair. His glasses were dark-rimmed, showing all-seeing eyes in magnified detail.

  It wasn’t long before he spoke. “Welcome, interns. I am Dr. Johnson and you will address me as so. You do not have a need to know my first name. I will be responsible for you for the remainder of the summer intern program. Which, thankfully, is only for another two weeks.”

  Dread started to pit in Hannah’s stomach. She got the feeling the next two weeks would drag past instead of leaving her spinning with their speed. The whole summer had gone so fast she could hardly keep up, that was probably largely due to Logan and all the fun he insisted they had.

  Nobody dared to interrupt the speech. “I only have these two weeks in which to make a recommendation for your future prospects. That is not enough time for me to tell whether you are terrible at your job or not. I can’t recommend you on this basis. Instead, I will only be sending one intern away with a personal recommendation that you can keep with your CV.”

  All the interns gasped and looked at one another. A recommendation from the intern coordinator at the zoo was a huge big deal. It would place them above others in job prospects and even getting into some of the more exclusive training programs. They’d worked all summer for free in the hopes of walking away with a personal recommendation. It meant the world to them.

  And now he was only giving it to one intern? Dozens of dreams were being crushed in his one speech.

  Dr. Johnson stared them all down, oblivious to their pain. “To win this recommendation, I’m holding a competition. You will each redesign one of the existing enclosures at this zoo. They will then be presented to the public who can vote on their favorite. Whoever wins the public vote after two weeks will win the recommendation. Good luck, interns.”

  He left through the silence of the interns. They all started shuffling away, talking amongst themselves in low voices. Harry caught up with Hannah and Alicia, all of them still shocked about the challenge.

  “I can’t believe we have to compete in a stupid competition to get a recommendation,” Alicia seethed through gritted teeth. “We’ve all worked so hard this summer, he can’t do this to us.”

  “He can do whatever he wants, he’s in charge,” Harry added.

  “Logan would never have done this,” Hannah said. Logan would have ensured everybody got a recommendation based on their hard work and dedication to the program. He would never have approved of only one intern getting the golden ticket.

  “I wish he was still here,” Alicia said, her shoulders sagging. “There is no way this is fair. It’s our future he’s messing with, it shouldn’t come down to a competition with a public vote.”

  Hannah knew the competition would come down to a popularity contest. All the interns would try to get as many of their friends and family to visit the zoo so they could vote for their enclosure. And when anything came down to popularity, Hannah had never won.

  As it turned out, they weren’t even allowed to choose which enclosure they could redesign. Dr. Johnson distributed a chart, carving up the zoo between the interns. Hannah received the elephants’ enclosure, needing to give it a makeover good enough to win the public’s vote.

  She was still trying to calm down an hour after the meeting as she stood leaning on the railing of the elephants’ home. She had spent a lot of time there over the summer, watching the massive creatures as they moved elegantly around. She did have a soft spot for them, especially the baby that had been born only two weeks’ earlier. The little mini-elephant followed her mother around, sometimes running to keep up.

  The elephants originated from Asia, one of them being rescued from a life of exploitation. Tourists thought it was funny to see elephants dance, but it was cruel. Most of the time they were kept in horrible conditions and forced to do tricks that were completely unnatural. No animal should be there to entertain humans, that wasn’t their role in the world.

  When Hannah thought about the way the poor elephant had been treated before she was rescued, she got so angry her hands clenched into fists. She had to remember that she would help save them all one day, just as soon as she went to college.

  Considering the elephants all originated from Asia, she wanted to give them an enclosure design that reflected their heritage. She wanted to give it an Asian feel, something bright and colorful, while still being extremely comfortable and engaging for the animals.

  The ideas started rolling around in her head as she stared at the enclosure. Whatever she ended up designing, it would have to be outstanding to win the recommendation. She had to convince the public it was the best one and that was a feat in itself.

  As her gaze roamed over the elephants, something beyond the fence caught Hannah’s attention. She stood up straight again and squinted to see what she was looking at.

  In the staff-only area, on the other side of the enclosure, were two people. It took a moment to work out who they were because they were kissing. Their arms were around one another as they were locked in an embrace.

  When they came up for air, Hannah could finally identify them. One was Jasmine, the girl Harry was dating. She instantly groaned, not wanting to see her ex-boyfriend making out with his current girlfriend. As if the day couldn’t get any worse for her.

  But the boy wasn’t Harry, it was Chris, one of the other interns. They started kissing again but Hannah couldn’t watch. She turned her back to them as her mind reeled. Her main thought was that of anger toward Jasmine. She had no right to go behind Harry’s back like that and betray him. She was hurting one of the sweetest guys on the planet and she shouldn’t be doing it.

  Hannah had to go, she couldn’t stay there any longer and know what was going on beyond the fence. She didn’t know what to do with the new information, whether she needed to tell Harry or not. She didn’t want to be the one to hurt him, but he deserved to know at the same time.

  She made it to the other side of the zoo before running into Alicia. She was cleaning out the wombats’ enclosure, shoveling dirt into a wheelbarrow underneath the shade of a gum tree. Hannah made a beeline for her. “I need to talk to you.”

  Alicia startled, her hand covering her heart as if to keep it within her ribcage. “Geez, Hans. Can you not creep up on me like that next time? I almost had a heart attack.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “That’s okay. What’s got you all in a tizzy?”

  “I just saw Jasmine making out with Chris.” She hadn’t exactly planned on blurting it out, but it was impossible to keep the information inside. She needed advice about what she needed to do, otherwise it would tie her up in tight knots.

  Alicia’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you sure?”

  “Definitely.”

  “But isn’t she with Harry?” Hannah nodded as the scale of the news started to sink in for Alicia. “Oh my gosh. She’s cheating on him? How could she do that to him?”

  “I don’t know. Do you think I should tell him?” She chewed on her bottom lip, silently pleading for advice. Animals were so much easier to deal with than humans. A thousand percent easier.

  “He’s going to be really upset.”

  “I know.”

  Alicia shoveled a few more scoops of dirt before she replied. “I think Jasmine should tell him. It wouldn’t sound right coming from anyone else.”

  “So we just wait?” Hannah didn’t like the sound of that. If Jasmine chose to keep both Harry and Chris, she might carry on with the two of them for ages. It would only make the hurt even worse over time.<
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  “I guess.”

  “Hannah, this isn’t your assigned task today.” The stern male voice interrupted them, making Hannah spin around quickly. She came face to face with Dr. Johnson. “I hope you don’t regularly disobey your orders and neglect the animals you are assigned to. Otherwise we are going to have problems.”

  “No, Dr. Johnson. I’m sorry, I was just on my way to the monkeys.” She could feel her face burning with embarrassment. She’d never been in trouble before.

  “Good. Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

  Alicia gave her an apologetic look by way of goodbye. Hannah hurried to get away from the new vet. She thought he was scary before, but now he was terrifying. He knew her name and she already had a strike against her. The next two weeks were going to be very long.

  For the rest of the day, Hannah did everything perfectly. She applied herself to her assigned tasks and hoped Dr. Johnson would notice her good work. Maybe then he would forget about their encounter that morning.

  After work, she waited for Alicia to finish and they went downtown to the craft supply store. They didn’t have much time to put together their redesigned animal enclosure so it was important they got straight onto it.

  Hannah had a handful of colored paper as she wandered the aisles. “This is so silly. I feel like a first-grader getting things to do my homework with. We’re adults. I thought my days of crazy glue and safety scissors was over.”

  Alicia picked up some green crepe paper that would work for grass. “I know. But it’s not like we can change it. We need to make the best out of the situation and make the best enclosures Dr. Cranky-pants has ever seen.”

  “I don’t think he’s easily impressed.”

  “It’s a good thing the public is voting then. We just need to win them over and then we can go to college with the recommendation.”

  “But only one person can get it.”

  Alicia winked. “Not if it’s a tie.”

  Hannah laughed. She didn’t think for a moment Dr. Johnson would give two recommendations, even if it was a tie, but she loved the way her friend was always looking for the silver lining in things. She could see the positivity in everything.