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“We have one open, yeah, but we still have—” I began, but before I could explain, he held up his hand

“This is good,” he interrupted, the sht off of hi on our way, yes? That is what your eer for no questions A fair deal, I think”

I stared into the ht fists I had known soether illegal But what could I do? I had no proof that the tiger was obtained illegally Even if no uarantee that it had been moved into the country without the proper paperwork, none of which I was versed in

I let out a helpless sigh, rubbingup into my skull I watched as the men moved th

e ventilated crate deeper into the building to the quarantine area where the tiger would be housed before being set into its enclosure The strangers slid the crate up to the s the ani the thick,the crate’s own metal door

I heard a lol emanate from inside of the crate before the sound of slow,quickly out of its confines and into the more spacious prison it would be held in

I htcat padded silently into the plain, white roo inside of it see, itsriver beneath the luscious orange and black-striped fur My reen eyes turned with its head, locking straight onto my own

I saw so htbeforeWhat aniret? But I knew the sadness had to be real It was around that time that I noticed the collar

“What is that?” I asked, turning to the supervisor “Was this tiger kept as a pet?”

“No, no,” the htly “That beast was no man’s pet, but I have instructed your employers that this collar should never be re as that collar stays around its neck, then you will have no troubles”

“We can’t keep a collar on its neck,” I protested, turning away fron man “It has to come off”

“That would not be a good—how do you say—career reasy s out froain

Calm down, Amber Calm down…

“Noehis hands once and saying sonize for all his rapid-fire commands All of thedouble-ti off into the night

I watched their van disappear into the looo and a set of deep tire tracksback to the zoo’s main access road

“This is such bullshit,” Ithe heavy

I stood at the observation , staring into the eyes of the enor told erabout that seeht I had been here for him—and he was definitely a boy—when he first arrived I was the first member of the staff he’d seen It only made sense that I took care of him, I supposed

I ate that he had been loaded fro me the entire way as he paced restlessly in a constant circle Every ti plucked at the chords of h things I couldn’t even iine

I set the back of er to slowly and cautiouslyin such harmony that it almost left me mesmerized

“I’ to take care of you,” I whispered to hiain”

If you had asked er had understood me, had listened to every word that I had said and taken them to heart If only I’d kno true that was

After I had er hly rubbing its head against the spot in the gate whereaps in the metal to scratch at its thick fur

A few days passed and I was—as expected—kept on call to deal with anything to do with the tiger Not that I was co