Present day.
Kyle and I took Liam to the zoo, but there weren’t really any cages or exhibits. Most of the animals were roaming free, with only the most dangerous animals residing behind low, wooden fences. Tigers, rhinos, hyenas… sitting behind wooden fences, which could easily be climbed or jumped over. Either no one noticed, or they just didn’t care.
We noticed. We cared.
Instead of leaving the zoo, we walked around trying to convince everyone that we came across that the zoo was extremely dangerous, and that we all needed to leave. No one listened. They all went about their business, with creepy smiles plastered to their ignorant faces.
I put Liam on my shoulders, and we ran around frantically, trying to find help. The more time that passed, the scarier the zoo became. The more docile animals suddenly started becoming aggressive, lunging at unsuspecting zoo visitors, violently attacking them. The more dangerous animals crept closer and closer to their shoddy fencing, growling and being terrifyingly menacing.
The scary animals were moving in slow motion, like an awful horror film. Each time I turned to look, the were closer to their freedom. And they were all eyeing us.
The color slowly started to fade from my surroundings, and I lost Kyle. I was at the far edge of the zoo, with Liam still on my shoulders, and we were walking out into a field. There were cherry blossom trees and a sparkling stream spread out in front of us. It was beautiful. I could hear the screams and the growling coming from behind us, but I felt oddly at ease.
Until I turned around, and walked back into the chaos of the zoo.
There was blood everywhere. Blood and dead bodies (all female, I believe). All the animals were gone, at least from the area that we were in. I found Kyle, who was sitting at a picnic table, eating cotton candy. He handed me my cell phone, which I had apparently dropped, and we started walking, stepping over dozens of dead bodies. Liam was still on my shoulders, pulling my hair, laughing happily.
The buildings and enclosures started to fade away (literally, they just started fading), and there were giraffes roaming around. I didn’t see any other animals.
We were in Africa now, in full color, or some other savanna-esque locale, but there was a large city in the distance, lcoated at the base of a mountain chain. There were prides of lions scattered around, but they left us alone. There was also a huge bird flying over our heads, but I have no idea what kind of bird it was. It cast a huge shadow.
I also vaguely remember something about being in an Asian country, in a marketplace, but nothing else.
And then I woke up.
My Life as Jan 