The Chronicles Of Juniper Ross

Chapter 6

Nick and I didn't say a word to each other the following morning, perhaps something good was going to come out of the ground rules. 

So I had breakfast without any interruption in my pajamas. Still without seeing Nick I changed into a pair of denim shorts and a black tank. I put my hair in a braid so it would be out of my face while I worked.

I got to the veterinary center where Audrey and Flynn were waiting for me.

"Hey Juniper!" Flynn greeted me with enthusiasm and I smiled.

"Hey guys, what are we doing today?" 

"Well apparently they need extra hands at the WRC" Audrey answered. 

"WRC?" I questioned. Not knowing what it was. 

"Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. Sorry for the abbreviation." 

"That sounds really cool." I was excited, I've always loved working with animals and this was the first real chance I was getting to explore that properly. 

"They said something about needing some help with new animals that they've brought in." Flynn added, he drove us over there in the blue pick up truck that was always available to us. 

The first thing that I saw when we pulled into the parking lot was the deep green trees that surrounded the double story building. The outside was painted white and you could see all the activity on the inside through the glass windows. 

We walked in side by side not saying anything, through the glass doors and into the reception area where all around us were pictures on the wall of animals and the people that worked at Shamwari 

We were introduced to the people that we would be working with. 

A girl who was shorter than me with blonde hair gave me a hug, she had pearly white teeth and freckles on her face from living under the African sun. She was wearing eyeliner (that further outlined her piercing green eyes) along with a t-shirt and shorts. 

The boy who stood next to her was Owen, who was her best friend and I did admit that they looked perfect together. He was wearing a stripy grey and white v neck with black shorts and vans. His brown hair pulled upwards on his head with the help of some gel. 

We needed to sweep up a couple of enclosures that some baby gazelles would be moving into. Their mothers were killed by some poachers and the babies needed someone to take care of them and then later release them back into the wild. 

So we got to work and set down some fresh hay and filled up their water so everything would be ready for their arrival. 

After that was done we lounged about on the same blue chairs that we had in the veterinary clinic, until we heard that the gazelles had arrived. 

They were the cutest things I had ever seen. The two of them huddled together in fear with their wide doey eyes staring at us. We tagged yellow chips in their ears with numbers on them so that we could identify them later. Flynn and I grabbed a bottle of milk each and started feeding them. They enthusiastically sucked like they hadn't been fed in days. 

By the time we were done with them they were fast asleep in the hay. 

There was still sometime left of our work day. So it was either hand around with Imogen and Owen or go back to some more paperwork at the veterinary center. Hence we chose the first option. 

I learned that Imogen was great at playing the violin and Owen hated seafood in our hilarious conversations. they were both really cool and I knew I was going to enjoy spending time with them when I had the chance.