Kristina and I walked into Central Park. She always loved the zoo. I remember back in elementary school we went to Central Park Zoo for a field trip and she would talk the whole bus ride there about animals. Her father is a zoologist and works for the New York Wild Life Protection Department. Kristina loved animals and always wanted to learn more. Mike never really took interest, instead he's taking sports medicine classes. And Vick is looking in the film industry. Everyone knows what they want to do with their lives, but I'm still not sure. There was one thing that scared me. It was as though the universe was tired of waiting for me to figure out my life that it chose a path for me. These powers could give me a lot of opportunities for my own choices in life. But I don't wanna be thinking about that right now. Today is a day to hang out with the coolest girl in the world.
"Look, there's some cotton candy." Kristina said pointing to a group of concession stands right in front of the entrance to the zoo. I looked into her eyes and they looked like they grew 3 times their size.
I giggled, "Well why are we standing here, when the sweets are over there?" She smiled and rolled her eyes. We walked over and bought two cones. We both laughed and made jokes while entering the zoo. "So where too first?" I asked, "Or would rather like to feed the birds right above you?"
She jumped back when the pigeons flew down at her feet, "Ahh, these things always like to jump scare me." She bumped into my chest. I got tense again, only for a second. She looked into my eyes, "Oh, sorry."
"Don't be." I replied. We continued to look in each others eyes. I could sense a lot of mix feelings active in her brain. My ears could hear her heart beat faster.
Kristina grinned, "Do you think you could protect my cotton candy?"
I smirked, "Watch this." I turned back towards the birds and focused hard on one of them. Then all of a sudden, they scrambled faster than a cheetah could run. The pigeons were miles up in the air before we could even take 3 steps.
"My hero." Kristina snickered.
We continued through the animal park looking at all the different animals and species. We took the bird exhibits first and looked at all the colorful feathers. A falcon flew over and landed next to us.
"Wow, the peregrine falcon is my favorite bird." Kristina started, "They can fly around 240 miles per hour and catch their prey in mid air. The falcon stays with it's parents for about 6 weeks after birth, then leaves the nest to make their own family."
I smiled at her, "The peregrine falcon is an amazing creature. When I'm walking around the city, I would look up and see a falcon flying above. When I was walking over to your apartment, a falcon flew overhead and dove down at 200 miles per hour. It pulled up at the last second and glided only a few feet above me."
"These birds are very special. Sometimes I wish I was a falcon so I can fly above the world and see the amazing view." Kristina finished.
I nodded and wrapped my arm around her, "One day, you will see the world at the greatest heights." She looked up at me, then to my arm around her. "Is this ok?" I asked.
She smiled and looked back at the falcon, "Yea, it's ok."
We walked over to the reptile enclosures. It was something I was interested in and I thought I could learn more about crocodiles. That dream last night is still confusing as hell, but if there is a threat to my city I will do whatever I can to save it. I love this city. Yes it can be dirty, full of psychopaths', and the people can be extortionary rude, but it's my city.
We came to the croc enclosure. It was a long and wide river with a grey rocky beach. There was a bridge that goes across it where people cross to get to the other parts of the park. Kristina and I leaned over the edge to get a good look at all the gigantic "river lizards" as Jacob called them. I like that name.
Kristina was whipping her head left and right as if she was trying to look for something. "What's wrong?" I asked
She still just kept looking, "I'm trying to find Ruddy."
"Who's Ruddy?" I asked again.
Kristina paused her head movements, "The first day my dad took me to the Central Park Zoo, there was this really big crocodile. He was like the alpha predator. My dad and I named him Ruddy."
I nodded and looked out at the population of crocs, "I bet I could find him."
"You can try, but Ruddy is a Master at hide and seek." Kristina acknowledged.
I looked around to see if anyone was looking and focused on the large river. Everything went a blue shade. Every croc was blue as well. Ruddy wasn't with the others. I turned to under the bridge. Something huge glowed gold/red. It was swimming right down the middle of the river. I relaxed my eyes and everything went back to normal. I tapped on Kristina's shoulder, "I think I found him."
Kristina followed my finger pointing at the biggest thing in New York. She smirked at me, "Damn Alex, you have an eagles eye." We watched as the monster flowed through the water making the waves crash against the shore. Ruddy cut through the water like a big aircraft carrier sailing slowly into battle with it's powerful jaws and claws ready to fire.
Many other people walked over to see him tread by. I tried looking closer at him. Then, something happened. Ruddy stopped dead in the water. He turned directly at me and looked me in the eye. That was my que to get the hell outa there. I looked at Kristina, "Kristina, you wanna go check out the other animals?"
She looked at me and moved her hand to grab mine, "Of course. Follow me."
We walked over to the lizard and snake house. She walked over to the doors, but I stopped a few feet away.
Kristina looked back at me giggling, "Mike told me that you hate snakes. Don't worry, I'm right here with you." I took in a deep breath and took her hand as we walked in.
We walked around the room and looked at the lizards in their little cages, but I kept my distance from the snakes. I couldn't stand snakes. They gave me shivers down my spine.
"Alex, look at me. Most of these snakes aren't even harmful. The only thing harmful in here is the Easter Brown Australian snake." Kristina explained. I looked at the Eastern Brown. My brain was doing a million calculations a second.
I didn't take my eyes off the snake, "The Eastern Brown is one of the most venomous snakes in the world and only a gram of its venom could kill a fully grown adult human in seconds. Its fangs are about an inch long and can strike as fast as a human could blink its eyes."
Kristina raised an eyebrow, "Wow, looks like someone did their research." We both chuckled. I was still confused on how I was able to get that much information just by staring at the damn thing.
I kept staring at the Eastern Brown. One part of me wanted to throw up and the other part of me wanted to run away. The snake then turned it's head and looked at me stopping dead in the cage. I looked back at Kristina while she looked at some of the small lizards. I turned my gaze back at the snake. It still didn't move and kept its eyes on me. My heart rate started to rise. Now I defiantly was going to throw up.
The snake finally moved slowly backward. Then rocketed forward into the glass wall smashing it. Everyone screamed and panicked. I felt like I was in shock. Kristina went wide eyed. I pushed her behind me. The snake laid between us and the door. It raised its head at me and struck.
My brain gears and reflexes kicked in. The snake was moving at 98 miles an hour. Its fangs extended to their full length. The only way to immobilize it was to grab it directly behind the head and grab it's tall. My hands moved lightning quick and I caught the snake in mid-air. It's fangs were only 5 inches away from Kristina's face. She screamed at the sight of its head that close.
Security and animal control ran in. I was still holding the snake when I came out of shock, "HOLY SHIT!!!!"
One of the animal control guys slowly approached me, "Easy, kid. Keep an firm grip on him and slowly walk over to the cage." He pointed at a steel crate. I did as he instructed and slowly moved over to the crate.
"Ok, now how do I release it?" I asked still trying to keep my stomach under control.
Another guard gently approached me with a needle, "I'm going to paralyze it." There was only one question going on in my head. How is that tiny needle going to put this crazy freak of nature to sleep?
He inserted the needle and the snake flinched several times. "Ok, now place him in head first and hold the tail tightly." The head guard instructed. I closed my eyes and slowly lowed his head into the metal box. My breath increased every second. I could hear Kristina's heart accelerate like a race car engine. My hand held the snake's head in the box. I quickly let it go and retracted my hand to my chest. The limbless scaly reptile laid there limp. I lowered the tail in next and pulled my hands away. The guards shut the crate and locked it up tight. The glass that was all over the floor was already being cleaned up by other staff members. They would give long stares at me. I grabbed a bunch of hand sanitizer and rubbed it all over my hands and arms.
Kristina gently grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes, "You saved me. Thank you, Alex." She then kissed my cheek. I completely forgot about the snake. I JUST GOT A KISS FROM KRITINA!!!! I looked around at everyone. They were still in awe at my quick response.
"Kid, that was some of the most insane thing I have ever seen." The animal control staff said, "How did you know how to grab a snake? Have you done it before?"
I shook my head, "No, in fact I have a huge fear of snakes. I just grabbed it when I saw it strike."
"Well then, that is even more impressive. You two take care." They finished and walked off. Kristina and I walked out of the house and immediately exited the reptile section.
"Alex, you saved my life." Kristina repeated, "I can't believe the coolest guy I know just saved my life."
I was a little surprised by what she just called me, "You think I'm the coolest guy you know?"
She smiled, "Well, of course. You're super smart, can throw super far and run super fast. And you just moved your entire body quicker than a snake could strike."
I wrapped my arm around her again, "If I'm being honest, I've always thought that you were the coolest girl in the world. You're incredibly intelligent. You love animals. And you placed first in the gymnastics competitions 3 times in a row. You are so unique and amazing."
She blushed, "Really? I've always thought I was just an average teen with too many problems to count."
"No, you are so much more." I answered, "How about we go check out the wildcats?"
Kristina grinned, "I thought you'd never ask."