My brother took me to the zoo, because he had a job there, so I got in for free.
"Listen sis, I need you to keep your phone with you and keep it on at all times I need to know where you are" he said
7 / 19
"Okay Aaron, now go do you job!" I told him. He shook his head and left. I went over to the learning center for foxes. I was in love with foxes. They weren't rare, their quite common which made me very happy. The foxes that lived behind my house (my brother doesn't know about them) are very friendly. I feed them every month before school and every evening after school, and they would always play with me.
"Foxes are a shy species" the person explained "they might attack you if they feel threatened...." After awhile of her explaining she took us to the snow foxes one male one female. They were so cute, I fell in love with them. "You can pet these ones" she said. I walked over to the foxes, they were afraid at first but then they came to me and weren't as shy. Everyone was amazed, especially the people that take care of the foxes.
"How did you do that?" One asked me.
"Well I have two foxes at my house, they live behind my house. I take care of them, but they still know how to hunt and stuff. I usually bring them the things that they like. The foxes love me" I explained.
"She is young but maybe she could help us with our new male fox" one whispered to their boss.
"Little miss, what's your name?" The boss asked me.
"I'm Alix Hunter" i answered.
"Well Alix Hunter I would like it if you would take a job here in the Fox Center" he asked.
"Really! I would love too!" I answered.
"Go get her a uniform" he told a worked "I'm your boss, Rio Grande, you will be working under Zeno he is my son so he knows a lot about foxes, but he only started working here since last year." Someone holding a uniform walked up.
"Hi I'm Zeno, and I'll be in charge of you" he said in an accent I couldn't figure out what it was I think it was Australian.
"Are you Australian?" I asked.
"Yes, my mom is, love" he said winking at me.
"Okay thank you" I said taking the uniform and standing up. I was 5 foot, Zeno looked like he was 5'8; and I couldn't help but feel small.
I went and put the uniform on, and told my brother about the job. He didn't seem to be okay with it at first but he okayed it. "Alright so my dad, your boss wants you to help with our male fox" he told me.
"Okay so where is he? Does he have a name? How old is he? Tell me about him." I demanded.
"Okay, he is about 3 years old, he ain't that big, and he does not have a name" he told me.
"Okay" I said following him. He took me into the foxes in closure which wasn't that big. Zeno walked around making the fox come out of hiding.
He started growling at Zeno, which scared me. "Calm down boy, it's just me" Zeno said calmly. I watched how Zeno walked slowly towards me. "This little guy only trust me to give him food, no one else can. That's why I was put in charge of you, girly" he told me "now please do your thing, and show me how it's done." I looked at him and motioned for him to be quite. I got as closely as possible, then I sat on the ground. It was easier to do when the fox was already trained but this one was pure wild. "Hand me his food" i whispered to Zeno. He handed it to me, and I broke it up into little pieces. I put some in my lap, and some in my hand.
8 / 19
I held out the hand with food in it. The fox sniffed the air, then did a little low growl. I started humming and he walked over to me. He stopped growling, and ate some food then backed up. I place a little bit of food on the ground and made a trail of food that lead to me. He start to follow that trail and eat the food. Then when he go to me, he stopped and look up at my eyes. I showed no fear, and I showed him I meant no harm. Then the fox ate the food in my lap, after he ate the food he crawled up into my lap and sniffed all over me. I knew he was getting to know me by smelling me. Then I lifted my hand and put it in front of his face, it was my way of asking him if I could pet him. He put his head in my hand and I started petting him. Zeno walked over and the fox didn't growl. Zeno did the same thing I did with my hand, and the fox let him pet him.
We sat in there for awhile with the fox. Me and Zeno talked the whole time, and the fox stayed in my lap and slept. "So you gonna work here, and stay?" Zeno asked. I looked at him and nodded yes. Then after a while the fox crawled out of my lap and went back into hiding. Me and Zeno left the closure, and went and talk to our boss.
We told Rio everything that happened and then we went to the other fox closure and fed the foxes, we washed some of the foxes and clean their dens.
When I got home I changed my clothes and put my uniform up. I ate dinner then I got in bed. I sat there for 30 minutes, then my phone started buzzing. I ran over to it and it was Zeno. He was texting me and telling me to get to the Fox Center right now. I got my shoes on, and pulled my hair up. Then I ran down stairs and told my brother I was leaving and I told him where I was going. I ran faster than I have ever ran before. I was panicking, what if something happened to the male fox.
When I got to the center Zeno pulled to the male fox in closure. The fox wasn't breathing, they had a vet in there but the fox wouldn't let her get close enough to help him.
"I was about to leave after I checked up on him, and he wasn't breathing" he said.
"O-okay" I said trying to not cry.
"I called you because he won't let me get close to him" he said.
"Okay let's go" I said walking into his closure "let me take a look miss."
"Alright" she said. I walked over to the fox and sat down, I pulled him onto my lap and did exactly as the vet said. After we finished it, he took awhile but he soon came back to us. "I'll stay here with him tonight, okay Zeno?" I asked him.
"No, I will stay you have school" he replied.
"You have school too, so we both can stay" I said.
"Okay deal" he answered. The vet left and I sat down on the ground. The fox walked over and sat down on my lap and went to sleep. Zeno sat beside me and talked to me. "His name should be Zero" I mumbled before I fell asleep on Zeno shoulder. Zero stayed on my lap all night
