A Ticket to the Zoo

A story that rhymes

There was a woman named Latrice who was almost 32

and she knew just what to do:

for her birthday she would buy herself a ticket to the zoo.
.

Yes it seemed to her to be just the perfect thing to do

on next Thursday, March eleventh, for her birthday she would view

all the happy little monkeys in their cages in the zoo.

.

Oh Latrice, she had a habit of collecting lots of mail 

in her silver metal mailbox fastened just beside the rail.

It was not for lack of trying, no she often dug her fingers 

down inside the tiny mail slot but it was no use at all.

No, the mailbox was intended to be opened from the front

where she once had owned a key that fit inside the small keyhole.

.

No, she couldn't seem to find where that key had disappeared to

and her landlord never answered when she texted or she called.

So it wasn't until Monday, just four days before her birthday,

that the mailbox busted open from the letters bursting forth.

.

Yes on Monday, when she heard it (that old mailbox bursting open),

sweet Latrice came to the front porch where she found a stack of mail:

there were letters for her birthday, advertisements for insurance,

and then something which she recognized that made her face turn pale.

.

There was something every person grew to recognize from hue -

just a simple slip of paper that was colored powder blue.

It was written from the government and sent to those unlucky few

who hadn't found a useful means of work or jobs to do.

.

People knew it as "The Blue Slip" - it was officially The End, 

just the governmental way of "making space for those who spend" --

-- making space by first removing folks who take up quite a lot

and who never seem to add to the advancement of the plot.

.

In the fine print, on the bottom, she could see it writ in bold:

that the government officials had officially determined

that her life was to be terminated on her turning 32.

.

So she sat down in her comfy chair and thought about it all

and it seemed to her a fair decree for someone like herself

who had nothing much to show besides some photos on the shelf.

.

She searched her phone for contacts for a person she could tell

but she didn't want to bother all the people that she knew

so instead she just decided that she'd find some things to do.

.

First of all, she knew she needn't go to work again

and she figured she could use her measly pocket change to spend.

So without responsibilities or worries about cash

what was left for her to do - her last hurrah, her final splash?

.

She could call on someone dear and share her bitter news,

but she didn't want to bother or to bring about the blues.

.

So she spent the next few days on her own like any other

walking through the streets observing like a detective undercover.

.

And she witnessed all the children and she witnessed all the mothers

and she wondered and regretted having never caught a lover.

.

No, Latrice had never found someone that filled her empty cup

and now she was alone, her last few days were almost up.

.

But she didn't let her mind grow dark, she simply walked back home

and she numbed herself a while with all the pictures on her phone.

.

Before she knew it, time had lapsed - the finale had arrived

her final day to celebrate her having been alive.

It was her birthday, after all, and she knew just what to do.

Yes, she still wanted to buy herself a ticket to the zoo.

.

So Latrice put on her jacket and her favorite pair of shoes

and she drove herself to visit all the monkeys in the zoo.

.

After purchasing her ticket and receiving her free map,

she directed herself promptly towards the purple pebbled path.

.

As she passed by the enclosures on her way to see the monkeys

Latrice observed that all the animals were not how she remembered.

As a child she recalled witnessing all the creatures thriving

but now it seemed to her that all these animals were dying.

.

And arriving at the monkeys, it was plain upon their faces

they were miserable just sitting in their tiny monkey cages.

.

From the back of the enclosure came an orange-vested man

marching towards a small capuchin with a something in his hand.

Yes a something that was paper-like and colored powder blue

and he gave it to the monkey who did not know what to do

~

with the paper she was given - after all, she was a primate,

but Latrice could understand it from her vantage point outside:

the zoo had sent a blue slip, they informed her of the date

of her professional officially commissioned biocide.

.

Then something special happened that most listeners deny:

Latrice and that small monkey shared a moment with their eyes.

.

"I can help you," said Latrice, and she thought and thought and thought

for a solution to the problem of her friend inside the zoo.

Hanging from that monkey cage door was a wanky wonky lock

that reminded her of something she had long ago forgot...

. . .

Then she saw it, just a twinkle, somewhere deep within her purse:

the missing mailbox key - she found it! - and she held it up beside

that strange lock on the enclosure. The small key would fit inside!

!

So to make a story shorter, Latrice let loose all the monkeys,

and the zoo was filled with chaos as she made her way back home.

.

On her last birthday of living she had visited the zoo.

Yes it seemed to her to have been just the perfect thing to do.

.

As the sky was turning pinker and the air was feeling chill,

she sat down in her cozy chair and felt the world grow still.

.

"Now I guess I've gotten older," said Latrice on her last day,

but she wished that there was someone there with something more to say.

.

And just outside the window came an orange-vested man

with a shiny leather briefcase and a blue slip in his hand.
.

And sure enough she heard it -

someone knocking on the door.

.

If this was how it ended, then what was it all for?