City Of Hearts

§27§ Zooyard

Bryce POV

" Oh my..." I heard Aranda whisper beside me as all of us, except for Lyria and Dayn, stared in awe at the mini 'zoo' before us.

It was amazing how Lyria's mother cramped so many animals into her gigantic backyard but it still looked so clean and organised.

And the thing that shocked me was how the animals behave.

They appeared so innocent like Lyria...

Ahem, anyways, her mother must be the Flash since she has to juggle between housekeeping, work and maintaining this little 'zoo' of hers.

It's quite a feat.

I swear that if you were here right now, you would understand.

The carnivores were mostly young animals and they were all kept in the same 'enclosure'. Okay, there was only two leopard cubs so the 'all' was quite exaggerated...

But still, what the hell.

You must be guessing what I'm feeling now.

A mixture of curiosity, disbelief, wonder and excitement. Yeah, that's me currently.

Anyways, the herbivores were free and roaming so I bet the little carnivores were getting a little jealous.

" You all are free to explore our 'zoo' and remember to meet specifically at this spot at..." Lyria paused for a while to check her watch before completing her sentence, " Seven in the evening. Have fun!"

She sounded like a tour guide for a moment.

" Heeeeeelllooooo... Earth to Bryce. Come on, let's go" Lyria waved a hand over my face as I snapped back to reality in a second.

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me across the 'zooyard' , avoiding a ton of rabbits and puppies along the way.

Isn't keeping too many animals illegal in a country? I wonder how does Mrs. Jackson do that...

"... and I want you to meet the new addition in the 'zooyard'. This is Coco Crunch," Lyria pointed at a little baby brown sloth with a cute nose that was hanging upside down  from a tree branch.

" Wow, a sloth... Wait, I have a question. How does your Ma keep so many animals? Isn't it illegal?" I stared at Coco Crunch as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and turned to Lyria.

" Uhhh, Ma is a fan of rabbits and puppies  so that explains the number of those animals in the 'zooyard'. About the two tiny leopard cubs... My mother is a veterinarian so her current job is to take care of those two premature and abandoned cubs and nurse this cute sloth here back to health. The cubs and the sloth would be returned back to the zoo once they're alright," Lyria smiled sweetly as she looked at the adorable Coco Crunch which was grasping tightly onto her finger with its long claws.

" Can I hold her? " I said as I pointed to Coco Crunch who was looking intently into my eyes.

" It's a him and sure, you can," Lyria nodded her head vigorously as she carried Coco Crunch off the tree branch without any effort.

" Boy, is he heavy!" I gasped as soon as Lyria handed me Coco Crunch. Taking in a deep breath, I took a good look at Coco Crunch as Lyria chuckled softly in the background.

Coco Crunch looked at me as though he was mocking my strength.  What a crooked sly smile he had...

" Don't look like you're gonna have a fight with him," I looked up to see Lyria's alarm face and I stifled a laugh.

" What's so funny?" Lyria asked, walking closer towards me.

" You look cute when you're alarmed," I said and instantly, she blushed as I continued laughing even harder at her red face.