The local zoo offers adoptions of its animals for one year. It means people pay a certain amount of money for food and then they will get an adoption certificate and there will be a sign with their name by the animal´s cage.
Smallone loves animals. Any kind of animals. So we were talking about some adoption for a long time. We were discussing goats, a peacock, a duck, a suricate, or a chameleon.
The first disappointment came when she had realised we are not allowed to bring the animal home. Her dream is to have a duck in a bathroom, she planned to build a sandpit for suricates in the corner of living room, and peacock and goat could live anywhere in the flat. And chameleon could sit on her shoulder as Pascal, a chameleon pet in Tangled.
Tangled (2010) is our favourite fairy tale, so Smallone decided to adopt a chameleon. On Thursday we went to the zoo with an intention to observe where our Pascal lives. Something like a last check, before we would adopt him. We ended almost running around the whole zoo, browsing every single corner to find our Pascal´s vivarium. It was nowhere. After an hour we decided to ask a zoo keeper.
Me: "Excuse me, can you tell me where we would able to find a chameleon´s vivarium?"
Zoo keeper: "Oh... I am very sorry, but... what.... err... you would like to adopt him or something like that?"
Me:"Yes, that´s the plan."
Zoo keeper: "I am really sorry but I should talk you out of this idea. Our chameleon, by the way his name is Charles, is a very old one."
Me: "Well, we do not mind, it is ok."
Smallone: "Yes, we do not mind to adopt an old Pascal."
Zoo keeper: : "Errr... you know, Charles is three years old. And chameleons usually live only for two years. So he is very old. And today we had to put him to a different vivarium which is in our back facilities..." (Smallone took my hand and was still staring at the lady who abundantly started to feel uncomfortable) "Yesterday he was quite fine, but today he started to have problems with his legs, so we... we had to put him to that different vivarium. He was very old. Very old."
Smallone said nothing. He was just staring at the lady and then at me while holding my hand. And I started to panic. I had remember the day when Smallone´s hamster died. She was so sad that we had to buy another hamster the very next day, we had to arrange a funeral with the old one with a tomb, flowers, candles and everything. And till that day she is constantly afraid of her hamster dying when she doesn´t look.
Later she decided to adopt a goat. But I suspect her that she agreed only to make me happy as I do not feel any passion from her decision. We have to wait for another Pascal. For a new and young one.
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