Zoo revelation

[moonshadows]

The tiger opens one glorious golden eye, looks at me, and his tail curls up and down again in recognition of a kindred spirit. He yawns, stretches, and pads sulkily to a more shady patch of ground before curling up again, back to me and the rest of the zoo visitors watching.

“Selina, are you okay?”

Startled, I look up to see concern on Bruce’s face, his chocolate ice cream cone half-eaten while my vanilla soft-serve is dripping, untouched. Daintily, I lap at it until I’m no longer in danger of sticky fingers.

“You look…intense. Is something wrong?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

My gaze returns to the gold and black form sulking in the shade, and Bruce follows it. “Maybe the zoo wasn’t such a good idea. I’m sorry, Selina. I thought you’d like seeing the big cats.”

“I do, Bruce, it’s just…I know how they must feel. Kept in an enclosure, unable to go where they please…” My other hand curls into a fist on the cement wall separating human from feline.

“But…”

“Oh, Bruce, tell me I’m not in a cage now. You don’t know what it’s like. Catwoman was more than just a costume, she was…my soul. My inner self. To never be able to go back to that…” I can only guess at what’s on my face, from how serious he looks. “I feel like I’m going crazy. Every time I look out my windows, my fingers itch to throw them open, to leap out into the night and run free.”

“What’s stopping you?” Bruce asks carefully.

“You know what’s stopping me. The judge said-“

But I’m warning you, Ms. Kyle. If you ever don your Catwoman costume again to violate the law…

To violate the law…violate the law…violate the law…

I realize that my mouth is open and ice cream has dripped onto my fingers, but I don’t care.

“Oh, Bruce, I could kiss you!”

He represses the flash of hope that flared briefly in his eyes, and gives me a sheepish grin instead. “What did I do?”

My ice cream falls to the ground; let the seagulls have it. Overjoyed by this realization, I throw my arms around Bruce’s neck and kiss him soundly on the cheek. The judge’s words will be on record; as long as I keep my nighttime prowls innocent, they can’t take Catwoman away from me.