First senses are a troubling thing. The first one to kick in is smell. It takes a moment to realize; but when you sense it after unwilling unconsciousness, it hits hard. Before my eyelids could peel open I could smell the heavy scent of freshly cut grass. Next comes the sensation of touch. I felt earthiness, and my brain made the connection that I was lying on my back on a patch of lawn. There was no uncomfortable aspect to my state that I could suss out at the time. When my eyes finally decided to open, an overwhelming amount of light was clearly observed. Pain started to drift into my nerves, something had obviously happened. How strange it is that we cannot comprehend our state of mind until out eyes are open; for a moment I envied the blind. A form began to take shape; It must be a tree. It must. It was. Pale green, sickly green with leaves flirting about with the wind. Taking a moment, I suddenly recognized my breathing was slow- grasping a meditative rhythm. It was time to move something requiring more than just my normal motor functions.
Sitting up felt labored. It was almost as if my spine was being ratcheted up by each individual vertebrae. A flurry of colors overwhelmed my brain before each individual object began to take shape, as if being snapped into focus by a rusty shutter. Yes, grass- moist to touch but still shaved down and groomed. I must be somewhere where people are welcome. My arms began to move now, I felt my body and knew that I was still around and more importantly; intact. Something was still wrong with me, for my hands seemed before my eyes, to grow and shrink in size. A byproduct of my previous treatment at the hands of a man. Not a man; somebody that I knew once before, somebody familiar to me. As if in a single simultaneous loop my memory remembered everything that had happened before being struck by the handle of a handgun.
I can see now. My vision snapped back to normal. Everything was back to normal; and the rapidity of my cause to regain my senses was somewhat startling. So startling that it was all that I could focus on. Once I had been able to get myself back on my feet, I took stock of where I was.
Instantaneously, I realized that at the trunk of the tree that I had first noticed when my vision came back; was a Leopard. And it was staring at me. It wasn't alone, there was another tree not too distant, and another chained Leopard. Without thought, I darted back as fast as I could from the large cat. Once at an appropriate distance, I became immediately confused. Removing my gaze from the Leopard for a moment I looked behind me, and could clearly see that it was morning, and I was at the zoo. A zoo. But the only occupants of the zoo at this time was me and two Leopards chained to large trees. We were unwilling company.
Perhaps the Leopards were as confused as I was, for they did nothing. In a way, I was sure that they felt sorry for me, and they merely basked in the early sunlight. Myself, I could do nothing but feel embarrassed. Without a single thought, I relieved myself from the Leopards' presence and ducked into the nearest building that I could find. There was no respite in the exhibit, it was full of nothing but jabbering monkeys and primates; who seemed to be mocking me and feeling sorry for me being outside of an enclosure.
I left the place fast. Walking in no determined direction. Looking to neither left or right, I just walked. My hand happened to make it's way into my back pocket, obviously looking for the wallet I keep there. Pulling it out, I unfolded my wallet and could see that all but forty dollars had been stolen. This was somewhat shocking to me. Perhaps my former clients hadn't recognized me. Perhaps they had just taken me as an accessory, mugged me for a small amount of three hundred dollars and dumped me in a zoo.
Sounded reasonable. Anything sounded reasonable in this fucked up situation; how much more strange could it get?
Eventually, I reached the gates of the zoo. For embarrassments sake, I was thankful that I had not encountered a single soul since regaining consciousness. Hastily, I breached my way past the gates and down a corridor before reaching the zoo's parking lot, which was completely empty something was not right. Nothing had been right for a long time. The situation with the Rap group that had loathed me, the drug deal that was in progress, the chained Leopards. None of it made any sense to me, but I couldn't help but feel that I had some part in all of it. Nothing actually fit. And I stood, in a parking lot; a space that had been so cruel to me before, but seemed somewhat redemptive at this moment.
End Of Part II
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