Free The Viral Epiphany by Richard McSheehy

anyone about the mammoth.   His doubts were allayed almost immediately.   Sam didn’t have much to say in their meeting and spent most of the time looking at the floor or his feet.   It was clear to Stephen that Sam was trying hard to be friendly, but at the same time he was extremely shy – a young man lost in a world of men like Stephen that was too confusing, too fast.   Stephen almost felt sorry for him, but he didn’t.   Sam was just what they needed.
      During his usual workday Sam bathed the animals, cleaned their cages, fed them, and did whatever else was necessary to ensure that they had as healthy a life as possible while confined in a cage.   Sam didn’t mind doing these menial tasks. No, not at all.   He knew what they were experiencing: a mind-numbing life behind the bars of the zoo, the cruel punishments for misbehavior, and, for some, the frustration of trying to learn meaningless tricks.   He understood this very well and so he did his best to make their lives a little more comfortable.   Animals were his true friends.   He knew that from long ago.   It was people he couldn’t trust.
    Sam was waiting for Stephen at the locked gate to the elephant nursery.   Now that the mammoth had been born no one was admitted to this part of the zoo without special permission and escort.   Stephen had expected the mammal section manager to be there too, but it appeared that he was late.   No doubt due to Tokyo’s horrendous traffic.   Stephen didn’t hesitate a moment; he didn’t really need the manager anyway.
    “Let’s go in,” he said
    “Yes sir,” Sam replied and took the key from his pocket.   They went in through the main door and then walked through a corridor to a changing room where employees could change into their work clothes. Sam was already wearing his zoo uniform, but Stephen decided to put on a coverall to protect his suit.
    They crossed to the other side of the changing room and Sam opened the heavy steel door in front of them.   They entered the straw-strewn mammoth nursery.   It was an old wooden structure that smelled of elephants, dung, and damp straw.   It had three windowless walls that reached twenty feet up to a corrugated metal roof.   The fourth side was open to the air except for a low iron gate that would prevent the baby from wandering into the main elephant compound.   The mother elephant was across the room, chained by her right rear leg to a massive iron stanchion.   The baby was calmly standing near her side.   It had just finished nursing again and it looked curiously but without fear at the newcomers.
    Sam immediately walked over to the baby mammoth but Stephen hesitated a moment, unsure.   Then he followed slowly, keeping an eye on the mother elephant.   The mother elephant shook her head and stared at Stephen while ignoring Sam.   Stephen stopped walking and decided to stay where he was for a few moments.   He watched from a distance while Sam began stroking the hair on the baby mammoth.   He was talking to it in a soft voice and the mammoth responded by curling its little trunk around his arm and seemingly caressing it.   Sam continued talking and stroking the baby for a few more minutes then he turned and picked up a bucket and brush and began giving the baby a bath.
    Stephen stood watching with a mixture of emotions.   The sight of the mammoth enraptured him, he felt almost giddy with excitement, he wanted to go over and hug the creature himself but the mother continued to look at him with a baleful look that was unmistakable.   He looked at the chain that bound her and decided not to take the risk.   He would speak to the mammal section manager about the problem later this morning. Maybe they could have the mother removed when he was visiting.   Meanwhile, for now, he would content himself with watching Sam bathe the baby.
    Because one side of the building was open to the air, birds and insects occasionally flew inside the building but