Chapter 2

"You see that?" A finger pointed to a fat little penguin happily nipping at another penguin's flipper.
"They're fighting!" the little girl cried.
"No, they're playing. See?" The zookeeper answered.
"Oh." the little girl looked at them and smiled. Her father was standing at the fence, smiling to himself as his daughter watched the penguins play.
"Over here we have the leopards..." the zookeeper steered the girl away from the penguin pen and towards the leopard cage.
"Whoa..." the little girl's eyes widened as she took in the sight of a leopard. It's spotted fur was in tufts, and it was licking it's paw, smoothing down the fur. "It's like Fluffy!" she exclaimed, referring to her pet kitten.
The father laughed, moving towards the leopard cage. He had to admit that the leopards were pretty cool.
The leopard looked up and stared at the little girl, who squeeled with delight. The leopard snuck away, hiding behind a tree.
"The birds are over here..." the zookeeper walked over to a building, and the father followed. They walked into the building together, forgetting about the girl as they watched exotic birds fly overhead.
The father gasped as a parakeet pecked a toucan, then laughed when a macaw flew right in between the two. He wished this day would never end.
Sudently, a high-pitched scream echoed throughout the little structure. The father's face went ghost white. He and the zookeeper looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
They raced out of there quicker than possible, straight towards the leopard cage. There, in the middle of the cage, was a gruesome sight of a little girl getting eaten by a leopard.
"Daddy! Daddy!" The girl screched. The father screamed some inaudible words at the leopard. Tears streamed down his face. He clung to the wire fence, wailing, sinking to the ground. The horrific sight of his very own daughter dieing right before his eyes stayed in his mind.

"Ezra? Ezra? Are you okay?" The pshyciotrist asked gently. Ezra's head jerked up.
"Oh, um... Yeah. I mean no. I mean...!" he stuttered.
The pshyciotrist wrote this down on her clipboard. "I understand. Why don't you tell me about it?"
Ezra sighed. "I's rather not."
The phyciotrist nodded. "And why is that?"
"It's... too... painful."
"Can you explain why it's painful?"
Ezra put his head in his hands. This lady isn't giving up. Why did he even sign up for this, anyway? "I could've saved her..." he mumbled, not thinking.
"Who could you have saved? From what?"
"No one!"
"It doesn't sound like no one. How do you feel about bot being able to save that person?"
Ezra gaped at the phyciotrist. Does she really expect him to tell her that? She's got to be joking.
"Can we talk about something else?" Ezra asked, shifting his postion.
"Uh huh..." the lady mumbled, jotting something down on her clipboard. She looked up. "What do you want to talk about?"
Ezra shrugged.
"Well, what do you like?"
"What do you like?" he counters.
"I like animals and travelling. What do you like?"
Ezra closes his eyes. Why did she say that? "Family..." he whispers.
"What?"
"Nothing! Geez. What's your name, anyway?"
"Dr. Pyimtri."
"Oh."
Dr. Pyimtri scribbles something on her paper. There's an awkward silence.
"So, do you feel like talking about... it yet?" Dr. Pyimtri says it like it's some sort of creepy disease.
Ezra shakes his head no. "Can I leave yet?"
Dr. Pyimtri sighs. "Fine." She gets up and searches for something on her desk. She hands him a buissiness card.

Dr. Pyimtri, Experienced Phyciotrist

Ezra glances at it. "Um, thanks."
"Bye, Ezra. Feel free to come back anytime you want."
Ezra then walks out the door, careful to avoid looking at the leopard poster hanging in the hallway.
Ezra turns around and shuts the door. He doesn't know that he also just shut the door to a sane life...