Zuzu and her Many Beds

Zuzu and Petal were almost always running (figuratively), and they were getting tired. The two humans pursuing them were proving to be relentless. The humans were like two gurgling brooks, their waters gradually smoothing the rough edges of two small pebbles, a black and brown one named Zuzu and a white one named Petal.

Two small pebbles that didn’t ask to be smoothed, and don't want to be touched.

Zuzu stopped running to catch her breath (again, figuratively), and Petal stopped alongside her. Lately, Zuzu was stopping more and more often, and she was even resting a lot. She had beds everywhere. New beds kept appearing, and each one was a new place from which she could keep an eye on the humans, even when resting.

The funny thing was, whenever she did stop to rest, and even though she was doing it for longer and longer periods of time, the humans always seemed to stop chasing her, and they kept their distance.

It seemed they could be trained.

Zuzu said, “Petal, don’t you like this place? I think it could be a lot of fun if you were down here with me. Oh please play with me, Petal. I can show you all the things I’ve found!”

For several seconds, Petal just stared down at Zuzu, from her throne, as Zuzu knew she would. Zuzu and Petal were spending little time together lately, even though they saw each other all day long. And they had stopped allowing their eyes to meet, most of the time, but not during this magical moment of connection they were both trying to stretch out, like a beloved rope tug-of-war toy between them.

A small but growing part of Petal really did want to leave the throne and play, or at least explore, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to play during the day, or even to move around unnecessarily. What was the point?

She finally said, “Zu, I love you, I really do. But I’m still really depressed. I don’t know why. I think I’m getting better, though, so don’t give up on me.”

A flash of amusement twinkled in her tired eyes, and she added, “You know, Zu, they’re not that bad. They like us a lot. I think they care about us a lot. I see you following them wherever they go, and you don’t have to keep them at such a distance. I don’t think they will ever hurt you.”

Zuzu was cherishing the moment of connection with her Petal, and she gazed into Petal’s eyes for a few seconds longer than she should have.

But she didn’t respond to Petal’s last contention. Instead, she just turned away from Petal and started running again.

So Petal said nothing more. She followed Zuzu and they ran. Even when Zuzu was tucked safely into one of her many beds, and Petal was napping on the sacred throne, they were running from the two humans.

Four of Zuzu's many beds