London Wildlife Park

In my dream last night I aimlessly walked the streets of London like a flaneur, waiting for Li to finish a conference meeting. It was a cold but sunny afternoon and, perhaps drawn by the greenery, I eventually found myself near Regents Park and the zoo district. Adjacent to the zoo was a dilapidated public garden called London Wildlife Park. A signs on the premise indicated that it was an extension to the zoo which had been built a long time ago during Victorian times. It was however, poorly maintained, overgrown, and with a general air of mildew hanging over it. Several ponds, lakes, and water fountains dotted the area, with paved walks interconnecting them.

A flock of bedraggled and pale feathered flamingos sulked beneath a weeping willow, and other water birds mooched sullenly across lily pads. Sea-lions and small crocodiles basked in the warm patches of sunlight that filtered down through the trees. A groundsman appeared on the scene with a bucket of feed and began to prepare the afternoon meal. Immediately the animals roused themselves from their inertia and kicked up an excited clamour. The flamingos squawked and called to one another, the sea lions bobbed up and down with expectation, following the keeper's movements, and even the crocs craned their heads in the direction of the lunch pail.

I took my camera out to take some photos of this unexpected menagerie just as one of the crocodiles lunged for the nearest sea-lion. They got their jaws locked together and thrashed about in rage, but were ineffective in inflicting serious injury. As I was about to take a photo, a young man in tight pink spandex blocked my view with his head and asked what I was doing. I tried to angle the camera around him but he thwarted me a second time, at which point I lost my temper and told him to get out of the way. "You don't want to go on a date with me do you?" he asked scornfully, and I assured him that I did not.

Missing my opportunity to photograph the fighting beasts, I tucked my camera away and decided to visit the main zoo to kill some time, but the young man persisted in following me. "What do you want?" I asked. "I think you're attractive," he said. "Well the feeling's not mutual, so piss off!" I retorted, but he refused to budge. He began telling me about the wildlife park and how it was reserved for aquatic animals, with the more interesting ones such as 'big cats' next door. I told him that I happened to prefer aquatic animals, at which point he wandered off and I was free to continue my visit.