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[ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] "What's the weather supposed to be like?" I craned for a look out the window at the sky. White clouds. Patches of blue sky. "Cold but no snow until tonight." Mom poured more batter onto the griddle. We'd stopped doing family things about a year ago, when Abria´s behavior meant she wouldn't sit still through a movie, would run away from us, or stand on tables or horror of horrors drink from other people´s beverages at restaurants. Taking her anywhere meant we lived with our nerves exposed. Not a relaxing way to spend time together. "I can't." Luke cut into his stack of pancakes. I wasn't surprised he was backing out he hated being seen in public with Abria. "Gonna look for a job." "On Saturday?" I asked. "Isn't that a Monday through Friday afternoon thing?" "It's a whenever I can do it thing. I need a job. I'm going to go look today." He'd tried holding down jobs before, but had flaked off, not sticking with anything for longer than a couple of months. I hoped that he wasn't pursuing work to support his habit. I tried to shove that idea out of my mind because it brought gnarly dark feelings with it and the morning had been pleasant. "They're hiring at McDonald's," I suggested. I remembered seeing the sign posted when I'd eaten there with Britt, Weston, and Brady. Luke nodded and filled his mouth with a bite. "Okay. Thanks." I was still mulling over going to the party later at Weston´s. I figured Britt was the one behind Brady s invitation. She probably envisioned us making up. Usually, I was the first one to extend myself when Britt and I argued. I swallowed pride easier than she did. "Zoe, do you want to go with us to the zoo?" Dad asked. I grinned at Abria. "Princess Abria's favorite place." bð-að bð-að bð-að Hogle Zoo was a rather utilitarian home for exotic creatures. What the place lacked in natural atmosphere it made up for in efficiency. All of the exhibits were arranged in one long time-saving loop. Once you'd made the loop and taken each short offshoot, you were done. This was good for Abria because her attention span for any supervised activity ranged from five seconds to five minutes. So she wouldn't run away, we rented a heavy-duty plastic red wagon. The zoo had an entire fleet for toddlers and young children, pushed and pulled along by panting parents. I got the job of pulling her. She clung to the side, eyes wide, so excited to ride, she barely noticed our first stop: the monkeys. Mom took her head in her hands and turned it so she'd see the black, swinging creatures. Still engaged in the novelty of riding in the wagon, Abria flicked her gaze at the squawking monkeys, flapped then gripped the sides of the wagon in a sign of: forget-the-monkeys, I'm-ready-to-go. The elephants were my favorite pachyderm; the large, African beasts must have been a favorite for a lot of other people, because the crowd around their outdoor exhibit was large. Dad, Mom and I waited behind the five-people deep gathering for our turn to move to the front, so Abria could see. As we inched forward, I saw that the wagon and its bulk were getting in the way. "I'll park the wagon over there with the others." Dad took Abria into his arms. "Come on, Abria." Her eyes locked on the wagon. In spite of Dad's gallant efforts to show her the elephants, Abria squirmed and writhed her focus on the red wagon parked a few feet away. We moved onto the next exhibit: polar bears. One massive beast lay sprawled near an icy cascade of water. The other was nowhere in sight. Sleeping bears are dull, so we moved on to the tigers. The orange and black beauty roamed the "tundra" back and forth, back and forth, in a repetitive motion that caught Abria's eye maybe she could relate to the animal's need for repetition. I wasn't sure. But she focused on the zigzagging tiger long enough for us to cheer once and describe in a short sentence that tigers were big cats. When it was time to move on around the loop. Dad gingerly placed her into the wagon and pulled her down a slow [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |