THE ZOO

by John T. Van Dijk

  It makes it impossible to stay uninformed."

  "Are you saying that people have always been this wretched?" asked Sam.

  "I think, Samantha, that kindness has possibly never been an innate trait of this civilization. After all, it wasn’t until 1945 that the notion of Crimes Against Humanity was even conceived."

  "What an odd way of putting things you have, Per." Once again, Sam realized how little she knew about him. She tried to recall what knowledge she had of Scandinavians and quickly realized it was extremely limited. Despite the passion and caring she had found in him, there seemed to be an esoteric edge to Per.

  Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, yet the feeling nagged at her.

  "Enough of this distressing talk of war and corruption. Come have another glass of wine with me and then I must leave. It is getting late."

  Sam accepted the glass Per held out to her. By tacit agreement they spoke of other things for a time. Far more pleasant topics. It became quite late and Sam, to her abashment, could no longer suppress her frequent yawns.

  "I will go now and let you get some much required sleep." Per grinned, as he started to rise from the couch. But Sam stopped him with a light hand on his arm.

  "Stay tonight."

  "Are you sure?" questioned Per.

  "I’m sure," Sam replied firmly. "Besides, you must admit, it would certainly be convenient. You’d already be at work in the morning."

  Much later, after Sam had fallen into a deep sleep, Per softly left the house and rapidly walked out to Hockamock Head. As he silently made his way, he surveyed Happy Joyce’s property. All appeared tranquil. Both Happy and Spike were apparently slumbering soundly. Per walked to the very edge of the cliff overlooking the water and patiently waited. He knew they were coming. He had been receiving internal signals all day. It was just a matter of time now.

  Chapter 22

  Per had been mistaken. Despite the fact that his house stood entirely dark, Happy was not asleep. In fact, he was wide awake. One of the admittedly few benefits of achieving old age was the reduced requirement for sleep. Stretched out comfortably in the old Chevy’s back seat, with Spike asleep on the floor beside him, Happy had just begun to think about dozing off when he’d heard someone approaching. Spike’s hearing not being what it once was, of course, it had taken the animal a bit longer to detect the presence of someone unfamiliar to him. But Happy had quickly muzzled him before he could sound the alarm.

  It was a clear night with a fine moon. Happy had no trouble at all making out who it was wandering around on his property in the middle of the night. The question was, why? So, gently holding Spike’s collar, he was content to wait patiently. Because, that was one of the other benefits of old age ........ you find you have plenty of time on your hands.

  Per kept his vigil for almost an hour longer before he saw the airship just to the left of Marshall Island. Stealthily, it moved invariably towards him, coming to a complete standstill only a few yards above his head. A portal in the underbelly of the ship silently slid open, emitting a peculiar green glow that fell downward, directly onto Per’s waiting form. Within seconds, his body began to disintegrate. Slowly at first, then swiftly picking up speed, Per began to disappear from his head to his feet. Molecule by molecule. When he was completely gone the craft’s door closed, sealing off the strange verdant light.

  Then, as silently as it had arrived, the ship withdrew.

  The night was, once again, completely still. The hush was broken only once by the sound of Happy bellowing,

  "Holy shit!"

  Chapter 23

  The beginnings of a working theory hit Sam like a thunderbolt.

  It was her monthly excursion to the Mainland for supplies. With the extensive shopping list completed, Sam was treating herself to lunch and a salty rimmed margarita at THE MEX before heading back to catch the late afternoon ferry.

  Sitting alone in a corner booth, she was mulling over the recent happenings, trying to gain some sort of prospective on it all as she ate.

  The very idea was so ludicrous that it caused her to choke on her chicken burrito. Got to take it easy on that hot sauce, the waitress mumbled, as she quickly brought Sam a glass of ice water.

  Sam put her fork down and found her cigarettes and lighter. Try to think sensibly, she admonished herself wordlessly. Deliberately, one by one, she mentally began to lay out the recent events, trying to place them into some kind of order.

  Where to begin? Her abduction. Happy’s abduction. Start with those. There had undeniably been many similarities between the two unrelated incidents. The same type of unfamiliar craft, light and faceless beings. Could they both have dreamed it? No, Sam didn’t believe in the possibility of that strong a coincidence. Besides, what about the disc - like object? If, as Happy claimed, it had really come out of his eye, wasn’t that some sort of physical evidence?

  Next there were the enigmatic radio beacons. What if they hadn’t meant to be contact signals to Earth at all? Perhaps the signals really weren’t overtures from a friendly, distant civilization as she had assumed. What if they had simply been mistakenly intercepted?

  And what about Wanda’s recent visions? Well, Sam reasoned, why not? Christians claimed to see Christ; Buddhists saw Buddha, so why couldn’t Wanda see Gluskabe?

  Was there any significance there? Of course there was.

  Here Sam paused to finish off her margarita in one gulp.

  The one common thread running through all of these episodes was the constant allegation of an imminent end to the entire world.

  Sam reluctantly weighed the possibility. Doom and damnation.

  Now, that’s a cheerful hypothesis, she thought as she paid the bill.

  She was queued up in a long line of cars to board the ferry in Bass Harbor when the next incongruous notion occurred to her.

  Was Per somehow entangled in this pattern of events? Where had he in reality come from? Was it truly Norway, as he had claimed? Perhaps more importantly, why was Per on Swans Island? Once again, she realized how very little she actually knew about him. He, on the other hand, seemed to know a great deal about her.

  Before the ferry had even begun to dock, Sam spotted first Spike, then Happy sitting on the wharf. She had to assume they were waiting for her. She departed the ferry and pulled off onto the side of the parking lot to pick them up. Sam tried very hard not to wince too noticeably as Spike eagerly clawed his way into the back seat.

  As it was now the middle of June, the tourists were out in full force. Sam had to wait a bit before she could turn out onto Harbor Road. Traffic jams on the Island were generally a rare occurrence.

  She took a quick glance at Happy as she drove. He had said absolutely nothing.

  On the other hand, he didn’t have to. The audible crunching on the stem of his pipe spoke volumes by itself. For the first time in all the years Sam had known him, Happy looked every day of his age.

  "When are you going to tell me what’s wrong?" she asked, pulling the car neatly into her driveway.

  "I saw it again ..... last night." Sam nodded quietly, waiting for the other shoe to drop ..... knowing it would. "This time, though, I wasn’t alone. Someone else was there, too."

  Sam was elated. "Happy, that’s wonderful! Someone else has seen it, too.

  Who? Who was this person, Hap?"

  Clearing his throat, Happy tried to pick his words carefully. "It was that Per fellow standing out there. He was waiting. That’s just what he was doing." He finished strongly.

  "But Happy, I don’t understand. What’s the problem here? God, I’m delighted that someone else besides us has finally seen it!" Sam quickly snapped her head up to look Happy in the eye. "What do you mean, he was waiting? Waiting for what?"

  "Them." Happy stated flatly. "He was waiting for them to come. And another thing, he’s not a he."

  Sam couldn’t suppress a short, humorless laugh. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  "I watched him, Sam. S
tayed out of sight in my old Impala, don’t you know, and I saw him ....... disappear before my very eyes. Jumping Jesus! His body just started vanishing from his head on down! People can’t do that, can they Sam?" He sounded like a plaintive child desperately seeking reassurance that all was right with his world.

  Chapter 24

  Sam didn’t believe Happy. She couldn’t. She reminded herself that, after all, he was well into his eighties and everyone knew he did like to go on a good bender every now and then. Obviously, this fantasy was the end result of the latest one.

  The air at first light was heavy with mist. Sam had given up on sleep, found a warm sweater and was walking the lonely stretch of beach at the Carrying Place well before dawn. The only sounds were of the gently lapping water and a sleepy night owl hidden above in the trees.

  She had just rounded the bend when she saw him, thickly shrouded in the vagueness of the early morning light. Somehow, she wasn’t at all surprised to see him standing there. As if compellingly drawn to him, she intensified her pace over the rough pebbles until she was standing in the short dune grass beside him.

  Per’s eyes were warm and friendly, so damned attractive the way they looked deeply into hers. He didn’t say a word as he cupped his hand under her chin, lifting it in order to touch her lips lightly with his own. Then he touched them again. This time a little longer and firmer. Gently, he skimmed his thumb along her cheek before he dropped his hand.

  "How was your excursion to the Mainland yesterday?" he asked.

  "Crowded" Sam replied briefly. "What have you been up to while I was away?"

  "Not a great deal." Per responded nebulously. He took her hand in his and they leisurely made their way along the path that dipped in and out of the rocks until it came to her house.

  Sam could hear the insistent ringing of the phone as she opened the door. Martha sounded frantic on the other end.

  "It’s Nana." she said brokenly.

  Wanda was gone quickly. A massive stroke. Without any warning, Martha said.

  "But, Mom," insisted Michael, doggedly tugging on her arm, "Nana said she was going to go away to be with Gluskabe."

  Eventually, though, he gave up, joining his brothers to play outside in the sunshine.

  Geez, no one ever listens to us kids, he thought disgustedly.

  Chapter 25

  It was just before 3:00 in the morning when Per noiselessly slipped out of the warmth of Sam’s bed, leaving her alone to her dreams. In the heavy darkness, he left the house and made his way to Hockamock Head.

  Sam’s eyes flew wide open the moment he left her room. With a single determination, she pulled on nearby jeans and a sweatshirt before following Per out into the moonless night.

  She stumbled along the rocky track that was barely visible in the dimness. In her haste, she tripped, smashing her left foot into a rough outcropping of granite. In reflex, she frantically grabbed at a bush on the side of the trail.

  The sharp thorns that studded it’s gnarled branches penetrated deeply into her hands. She staggered a few more steps before going down completely, painfully scraping the skin from both her knees as she fell. For just a moment she lay where she was on the ground, waiting for her pounding heart to pump needed oxygen back into her body. Stubbornly, she regained her feet and pushed on. She was almost there.

  Sam saw the eerie green glow ahead just before making her way out into the open.

  She hurriedly dropped to her belly, oblivious to the sharp rocks and twigs that tore at her body, momentarily knocking the breath out of her.

  The massive airship vibrated as it hovered over the cliff about two hundred yards away. It almost seemed to hum with a life all of it’s own. Per was no where in sight. Sam lay there, remaining perfectly still on the damp earth, waiting. For what, she wasn’t sure.

  There was no actual way to determine how long she had been laying there, but the far eastern sky was just starting to streak with a silvery gray when Sam saw the portal soundlessly gape widely open. Within moments, Per materialized before her on the stony cliff.

  Sam had to remind herself to start breathing again.

  Happy had been right after all.

  Probably in a state of shock, she lay where she was until the intensity of the morning sun began to beat down upon her. Slowly, her body feeling bruised and fragile, Sam got to her feet and looked about her surroundings dazedly.

  The morning was peaceful. Lobstermen were already pulling their traps out in the bay. The glint of seagulls diving in and out of the boats in hopes of scrapes was reflected by the sun. A soft breeze delicately ruffled Sam’s hair. It was all so deceptive.

  Wearily, she made her way home. With each of her foot falls, her mind repeated what had become a sort of mantra.

  What do I do now?

  Chapter 26

  It wasn’t much later that day when everything seemed to go to hell in a handbasket in a big hurry.

  Peering out the window at the sound of crunching tires on her driveway, Sam spotted Fed Larson’s dusty Ford Ranger. Fed was the lone constable of the Island.

  Had been for over twenty years now. There were only two reasons for a visit from Fed. He was collecting money for the local firemen’s auxiliary or there was bad news. From the expression on his face as he climbed out of his truck, Sam knew he wasn’t here because of the first.

  "Happy’s holed himself up in the abandoned lighthouse with a rifle." He stated bluntly at Sam’s questioning look.

  Jesus H. Christ, she breathed, as she climbed into the truck beside Fed.

  By the time they reached the Head, a crowd had formed. At least, a crowd by Island standards.

  "Out of my way," bellowed Fed, letting his large frame shoulder it’s way through the mass, clearing an open path for himself and Sam.

  "Is he drunk?" she shouted to Fed through the wind as they carefully climbed their way to the lighthouse door on the rickety, wooden steps.

  "Blistered."

  Sam could hear him before she reached the top, but she couldn’t quite make out the tune. It could possibly have been I’ve Got The World On A String, which was an old favorite of Happy’s. However, when it came right down to it, he was so atonal that it really didn’t matter what the song was.

  A distressed Fed turned to her in mid-step, "You need to talk to him, Sam. Get him out of there before he goes and hurts himself."

  "This could take some time. When he’s this drunk, Happy usually likes to sing for a while first before he feels like talking."

  She was about to assure the Sheriff that she would do her level best when the window above her head banged open just enough to allow a protruding gun barrel through it.

  "Who’s out there?" Happy’s voice, though belligerently loud, was seriously slurred. "Don’t try to sneak up on me, now. I’m armed, you know. Armed and goddamned dangerous."

  "Hap, it’s me. Let me in." Sam had to yell in order to get herself heard above the constant blow of the wind off the Atlantic.

  The lighthouse door snapped open so fast it almost came off it’s ancient hinges.

  "Sammy! C’mon in here, girl. Hell, just the one I wanted to see. How’d you know where to find me?"

  S am leaned against the cracked and peeling paint on the interior wall and glanced out the dirty window. Down below she could see what by now must have been most of the town milling about. She could make out Mink Ollenburg and a few of his cronies sitting in the bed of a pickup truck just like they were attending the annual Fourth of July picnic. Per could also be seen, standing alone, off to the side of the throng.

  "It wasn’t too hard to track you down." She replied dryly. She walked over to Happy and slid down beside him onto the filthy floor. "Is that thing loaded, Hap?" she inquired, gesturing to the 30/30 Winchester tucked between his legs.

  "Hell, yes, Sam - ‘course it’s loaded." Happy snorted at such a ridiculous question, "Not much good if it isn’t."

  Surprisingly spry, Happy jumped to his feet and started dancing a lurc
hing waltz with the shotgun nestled tightly to his right cheek.

  "I’ve got the world on a string ....... sitting on a rainbow ............

  wrapped around my finger......... duh, duh,duh .... what a world ..... duh, duh."

  Okay, stay calm. You can handle this, Sam thought. "So what are we drinking, Hap?"

  Abruptly, Happy stopped whirling and reached behind himself to the window ledge.

  "Meet Jack ..... my good, old friend Jack." There were only a couple of inches left in the bottom of the bottle. Obviously, Happy had killed off most of the Jack Daniels all by himself. This was going to take even longer than she had thought.

  "How about a toss for me, Happy?" Sam smiled.

  "Sure thing - sure thing, where are my manners?" he grinned amicably, handing her the neck of the bottle. "Anything for one of my favorite girls."

  Abruptly, Happy’s mood swung to the other extreme. "Of course, I had another favorite girl, too, but she’s gone now."

  In a voice beyond sad, Happy said, "Everybody always goes away, Sammy. You’re always left alone." Morosely, he shook his head. "Mark my words, girl.

  Friendship, love ...... in time it all just gives you the illusion that you’re not all alone ...... but you are, no mistake about it. In the end, you’re always alone."

  Happy, with his chin resting down on his chest by now, was starting to mumble drunkenly.

  Sam put the bottle aside and took Happy into her arms. "I’ll miss Wanda, too. We all will." She tried desperately to think of something of solace to say. "It was just her time, Hap, that’s all."

  He exploded. "Just her time? What the hell are you talking about?

  Haven’t you been paying attention? It’s EVERYBODY’S time now. Annihilation, Sammy ...... we’re standing on the fucking edge of annihilation."