Bruno, the Sea Lion (1)

'Well…this is a strange arrangement…' Calla did not if she should be pretend to smile, or just blame the heavens for her bad luck.

She and Lacy were in the same group supervised by a female worker named Luna.

Her parasitology lecturer divided all the students into ten group with ten individual students. From the division, the number of students could be seen, though few groups were eleven, twelve and even thirteen in number.

She was unfortunately in the same group with Lacy, and not only Lacy. Her two friends were also with her as usual, and judging by the similar clothing styles of some girls with Lacy, Calla had an inkling that her followers in the group.

Just her luck.

Perhaps Lacy also realized that they were in the same group that the glare on the side of the masked side of her face was very obvious and scorching.

''Hmph! I can't believe this…'' With a flick of her hair, Lacy harrumphed to the opposite way, not wanting to look at her anymore.

''What is it, Lacy?''

''Who made our Lacy angry?''

As usual, her two inseparable friends would follow her in speaking. They seemed clueless about her being in the same group, or maybe they knew but behaved clueless about it. Perhaps, they were waiting for Lacy to talk about it?

Calla really did not understand how Lacy and her friends work, with one of them being the leader of their group.

Anyway, since Rose was not around, Lacy was now subject of attention as most of the people in the group surrounding her with obvious bootlicking.

'When do we start?' Calla thought, quite eager to see many animals as possible. It was a dream come true for her to be in a zoo as they were many animals that she had studied, but had never seen in real life.

''Alright everyone.'' The female worker enthusiastically drew many eyes to her figure with a clap. Her lips bore a welcoming smile. ''My name is Luna and I will be taking you the sea lion which is not far from here, and the penguins and sea birds. We might see the polar bears if no group has been there yet.''

''Please follow me, and If you need anything while I am explaining the animals, my colleague Amber will be behind you all.'' Following these words, Calla turned to look behind and just as she said, her colleague was indeed behind them.

The other groups had two workers each with them as well.

''Let's begin the tour with the sea lions.'' Luna said with a smile, and they were the first group to venture deep into the central park zoo.

____

''Sea lions are seal or pinnipeds characterized by their ear flaps, long fore flippers, the ability to walk on fours, short and thick hairs and a big chest and belly. This guy's name is Bruno, the biggest sea lion in the family of sea lions of our zoological garden.'' As Luna talked about Sea lions, all eyes focused on the dark skinned animals swimming around in the big pool of water with its head peeking out from time to time.

Sighting them, the sea lion swam to the edge of the pool. The water from the big pool continuously spilled, and the animal made a unique sound as if welcoming them to its own section of the zoo. This time, its head stayed out of the water only for a moment, before it swam away from them. His series of action made most of the student to take some steps backward, out of fright.

''Don't be frightened. Bruno is only saying hello. He's quite a friendly one…'' Luna explained with a grin as if not aware of the cautious gazes falling on her and the sea lion.

''The sea lions are….'' As Luna was speaking, Calla who was the last person in the back, took out her phone to take a video of the swimming sea lion. Because of this trip, she made sure to free as many space as she could on her phone. This videos would be a documentary for her, as it was her goal to capture many videos of many animals live, as possible.

''Hi dear…'' She whispered, smiling to herself, as she positioned her phone to capture the moment of the sea lion. At times like this, she wished she had money for a good camera. Doing documentaries of animals required a good camera with an amazing lens, not a used phone that she bought after selling the expensive one she had gotten from her family for money.

''You're one of a kind, Bruno.''

Though her voice was very quiet that not even her course mates heard, but the sea lions appeared to have heard because the animal made a loud calling. The sea lion was also swimming in her direction with its head peeking out from the water.

'Does it understand me?' Calla couldn't help but think that because of the loud bark, and the fact that the sea lion was now directly staring at her.

''That's a first. Bruno seems to like you, Miss.'' Amber who was behind pointed out the odd behavior of the sea lion.

''Luna forgot to tell you that sea lions have great hearing, even when they are underwater.''

'Ah…' Then it might have heard and understood her words. Amber also might have heard her since the distance between them was quite narrow.

As though the sea lion was trying justify Amber's words, the animal made one last bark, before swimming back and did something quite surprising.

Thrusting deep into the water, the animal suddenly leaped up in the air, with lines of water following after its leaps and gliding back deep into the water with a loud splash before repeating its actions continuously.

''Oh…''

Calla wasn't the only one astonished. The people who were also around the sea lion, were amazed with the performance. Most took out their phones and camera to record and capture the spectacular sight. Calla, on the other hand, only held her phone, momentarily forgetting to record the astonishing display.

Seeming to have finished, the sea lion swam back to calla, looking expectant for her words.

''Bruno seems to really like you, Miss.'' Amber was also surprised that Bruno did his amazing leaps for a stranger. Unlike they, the zookeepers, who had to cultivate a deep bond with the cautious animal for it be free and have a dependency on them.

Now…Calla understood that the sea lion had really taken a liking to her. What the animal liked, she did not know, but she couldn't deny the joy of seeing it perform just for her.

From this, she could tell that sea lions, or perhaps Bruno was a smart animal.

''Thank you, Bruno.'' Calla beamed with a laughter. Her mood brightened up just with a performance from the sea lion.

This was exactly why she loved animals. Unlike humans, there were not hypocritical to show that they disliked someone.

As though the animal was replying in response, its fore flippers clapped together, indirectly splashing droplets of water on Calla who giggled in return and Amber who admonished the animal for splashing water on their guest.

On the other side of the pool, somewhat behind the fake mountain, eyes were deeply focused on the bright calla, and the zookeeper discussing with the sea lion swimming near them.

When honey brown eyes belonging to Calla, faced the sea lion again, the person quickly took back his gaze, and casually shifted his body to hid completely behind the fake mountain.

It would be a problem if he was discovered…that is if he was recognized.

Staring down at his was a phone with a lighted screen, was a picture of Calla smiling and laughing to the sea lion. The model of the phone was not cheap, so the lenses of the camera was very clear and detailed. Not blurry sight could be seen in the picture.

Looking at the perfect picture made the man very pleased.

''Boss will thank me.''

>>>Enjoy and Post soon!<<<