
Photo by: Al Forbes
Brendan the zookeeper showed the new girl around to see the animals.
“Ooh,” said Megan pointing into the fence. “He’s beautiful.”
“That’s Yamantaka. We’re lucky to have him. Snow Leopards are very rare.” Brendan began angrily digging around in his satchel.
“Everything okay?”
“Oh, I keep losing chargers for my tablet,” sighed Brendan. “Anyway, Yamantaka is especially rare because he has a mutation.”
“What’s that?”
“He doesn’t age. We’ve had tons of vets check him. He’s over 300 years old.”
“Wow! What has he learned in all that time?” she mused.
“Right? He’s a treasure. We try very hard to keep him happy and healthy.”
“Is that a tablet he’s got?”
“Yeah, he’s had that for years. No way it works anymore. He kinda plays with it like he knows what he’s doing right?”
That’s when Megan noticed the book hanging out of Brendan’s satchel. “Hey your satchel’s open.”
“Oops! It always falls open.”
“What’s the book?”
“Oh it’s great! It’s a murder mystery. Takes place in a zoo. The guy writes in such detail, he had to have worked in a zoo to know all this stuff.”
“What’s the author’s name?”
“Oh, it’s this mysterious guy: Leopold Snow.”
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Written for Sunday Photo Fiction: https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2018/01/14/sunday-photo-fiction-january-14th-2018/
Author’s Notes:
Snow Leopards are rare and are a Threatened Species: “…As of 2016, the global population was estimated at 4,500 to 8,745 mature individuals…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_leopard
I got the Snow Leopard’s name from a list of Tibetan deities. Interestingly enough, Yamantaka, means, “Conqueror of Death.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierce_deities#Eight_Dharmapalas
Haha, well he’s been sitting around with nothing else to do, might as well write a novel 🙂
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Exactly. He’s got plenty of time for it. 😉
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LOL, now we know where all his chargers are going! And hey, I bet I could get to be a pretty good novel writer if I had 300 years to practice my craft!
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I wonder how “Leopold” gets paid?
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That’s an excellent question. Maybe via paypal account. Then he can order cans of tuna from Amazon or get subscriptions to Leopard Hotties Online? 😉
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That’s good – really enjoyed it
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Glad to hear it. Thank you very much! 🙂
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That’s really funny. I love that the Leopards a murde4 mystery writer. He’s gotten quite smart must have other mutations if he can write like a human as well. I hope his murder mystery doesn’t come true.
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I wondered if someone might comment on that. Yes, the mutations aren’t limited to aging. There’s unusually high intelligence for a leopard, and unusually dexterous paws. 😉 Glad you had fun with this. Thanks Mandibelle! 🙂
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Ha ha ha ha, so much fun! I would love to get my hands on that one 🙂
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Could be fun, especially if you can get the author to sign it. 😉
Thanks kindly! 🙂
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He’ll be writing stories for Sunday Photo Fiction next! A brilliant little tale.
Click to read my SunPhoFic
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Haha! Who says he isn’t? Thanks most kindly! 🙂
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Good o e Eric 😊 Brendan isn’t the sharpest pen il in the box, is he. Surely he realises the phone chargers only seem to disappear when he’s around Yamantaka. I bet Yamantaka subscribes to National Geographic 😸
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Hehe. Brendan’s smart enough. People get kinda funny when they believe in something so strongly, they still believe it despite evidence to the contrary. Brendan just couldn’t imagine Yamantaka was anything more than an animal. Such things happen often. Recently a lot of allegedly educated people believed a politician would build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. Hard to believe anybody ever bought that, but they still did.
And yeah, Yamantaka subscribes to NG, Nature, Discovery, and…Bird Monthly. 😉
Thanks Lyn!
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LOL Yes, the wall. I still shake my head about that one. But hey, I gotta nice bridge I can sell you 😁
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The chargers are only useful if there’s an electric outlet in the cage. 🙂
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You don’t think they use electric tools to clean the cages?
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You mean, like those Roomba robots? 🙂
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Haha! No, but the Roombas cold be fun Big Cat toys. They’d have to be especially durable though. 😉
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Really enjoyed very much.
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Thank you! That’s so good to know. 🙂
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Ha, ha. Leopold Snow, huh. I think the snow leopard has quite a few more brain cells than the keeper. He’s found a way to pass the time all right. Hilarious, Eric. 😀 — Suzanne
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Hehe. At least he’s being productive. Glad you got a laugh. Thanks Suzanne! 🙂
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