Lemur Fright

The night air was dry but cool, and as Tabitha strolled along the path she welcomed the soft breeze heralding the beginnings of winter. It would normally be a quieter time of year for the park, at least on the guest side of things, but the higher ups had decided to try and do a form of winter celebrations, including nights stargazing with guides to point out the different constellations, Christmas lights and even a few funfair rides.

But Tabitha wasn’t here for the stargazing or any other celebrations. She moved purposefully through the steadily growing crowds, one hand on her radio as she scooted past a family that seemed determined to block the entire path as they stood chattering like starlings. She pushed down her annoyance, focusing instead on her task. She passed beneath the African Plains sign, glancing briefly at the statues of roaring lions on either side – an ironic decoration, considering the only lion the zoo currently held was an Asiatic lion in the Asia section. Soon she could hear the reason she had been called across the zoo; the frantic shrieking of the resident lemurs. She quickened the pace, now dodging agilely around the crowds, grateful for her ability. Moving swiftly across difficult terrain wasn’t usually all that useful in a zoo where all the paths were paved… but at times like this, it did come in handy.

She reached the lemur enclosure and ducked beneath the guest fence to get closer to the animal barrier. Devlin was already there, eyes somewhat narrowed as he ran a hand through his black hair.

“It’s been a while since I saw them get into this kind of state!” he commented. “Reckon a fox went by or something.”

“Did you check we didn’t have any escapees again?” Tabitha frowned, noting the lemurs seemed to all be staring into the same corner of their enclosure as they shrieked, close to their heated house. “Or that none of the Wilds snuck into the park?”

Devlin shrugged. “Best I could without shifting. Wasn’t gonna scare all these guests off though.”

“Better scared than hurt by something.” Tabitha’s voice darkened as she spoke. Devlin only shrugged again, seemingly unbothered by the potential risks.

Tabitha sighed. She had to admit, he did have a point though. They were under strict orders not to do anything to reveal their abilities or ‘true’ selves to people; technically, the subjects weren’t meant to be out in public without direct supervision, and few would consider the myriad of cameras around the zoo as ‘supervision’. If a subject went rogue, there would be nobody close enough to stop them. Not that any of them would; to be out in the zoo they had to prove themselves many times over first.

None of this was helping with the current situation though. With a sigh she took out her keys, heading around to the gate to the lemur enclosure and letting herself in. The lemurs shrieked at her, Daisy in particular sounding rather loud before they realised it was only her. The young female lemur darted over to her across the hanging beams, leaping onto her shoulder and clucking nervously.

“I know, girl,” Tabitha murmured, rubbing her hand through the lemur’s soft grey fur. Her very presence seemed to be calming the animals, even the new male lemur, Aster. His gaze was still fixed on the enclosure fence though, and he was flicking his tail threateningly towards it. “Alright. Let’s see what the fuss is all about, shall we?”

Tabitha moved closer to the fence, frowning as at first she saw no signs of trouble. Only a pile of fallen leaves, which rustled slightly as she grew closer. Wait. They rustled? Cautiously, Tabitha crouched beside the leaf pile, ignoring Daisy’s anxious clucking as the lemur leapt away from her and darted back to the safety of the climbing beams. She shifted the leaves to one side before giving a short bark of laughter at what she saw.

“Seriously, guys? You’re freaking out over a hedgehog?”

“What?” Devlin hurried to her side of the enclosure, looking through at the curled up ball of prickles before he too began laughing. “A hedgehog, of all things!”

“I guess the little guy’s trying to find a warm place to hibernate. Must be able to feel some of the warmth from the house.” Carefully she removed her jacket, wrapping it around the hedgehog and scooping it up. “Come on, little one. This is no place for a hedgehog.”

Ignoring the lemurs’ shrieks growing louder as she passed them with her bundle, she let herself out of the enclosure. The moment the hedgehog was outside the lemurs seemed to calm down, Daisy even coming closer to the enclosure fence and reaching her hand through to demand treats.

“Maybe later, girl. I should get this guy somewhere safe and warm.”

“Should we keep him?” Devlin suggested as he came back around to join her, peeking over at the hedgehog. “He’s a cute little thing.”

“No, he’s wild. The Keepers won’t want to keep a wild animal. Might bring disease or something in. Do you think he’ll be safe over by the hyrax, where we’ve been building that insect house and stuff?”

“I’d say so. Would be a good place for him to find food, too. Hide mentioned seeing lots of bugs where he’d been planting wildflowers.”

“Sounds like a plan then.” Tabitha gently tried to soothe the hedgehog, which only seemed to curl up tighter at her at her attempts. “Wonder what it was about a hedgehog that freaked these guys out so much.”

“Maybe one of them touched him? I wouldn’t put it past Daisy to give him a poke, then freak out about being spiked.”

“Once we got this guy somewhere safe I’ll check her and the others, make sure nobody got hurt,” Tabitha decided. “Hopefully they’re all just spooked, though.” She shook her head, still chuckling slightly. Scared of a hedgehog. What would be next?