My lovely wife, Rose, has passed away. She had a vision of peace for this zoo, for these animals. But it wasn’t to be. Sickness and death has overtaken us all, and her mind had turned against the ones she vowed to protect. To watch over. To feed.

Free now, the animals made their choices and chose to feed themselves. To quiet her screams after so many night hours and to refute her pseudo-authority over that which cannot be tamed. I’ve open up the freezers. All the cages. They’ll hunt for themselves now.

Written by Jeffrey Holmes, MFA – December 2, 2024