Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Tris yawned and stretched hard as soom as he got down from the bus.

He'd been in the bus for hours on end, dozing off and on throughout the ride.

His friend, Gideon came down too and so did the rest of the students before the long, yellow school bus drove away and out of sight.

"So, who's ready for the excursion of their lives?!!" Mr. Paul hooted in excitement, but the responses he got were tired groans and frustrated grunts from the students.

Earlier this month, the kids were getting ready and excited for the annual excursion. There were chats and rumors spreading round the school, that the school management was planning to take the students on a trip to Disney Land.

Tris got so excited, he and Gideon got their dresses ready, a week before the D-Day. In fact, the both of them had both dreamt of meeting Mickey Mouse in person. That was how much they want it.

It wasn't until earlier this morning, that Mr. Paul burst their bubble, telling them that they were going to visit the same zoo that they'd been visiting for the past five years, consecutively.

They all yelled out their frustration and disbelief when Mr. Paul dropped the bomb on them. Some of them burst out in tears. It took a whole thirty minutes to calm them all down.

Soon, the children came to the realization that their crying wouldn't change the minds of the school management, so they stopped.

It was a long journey that took them three hours, and so everyone was tired by the time they'd arrived at the zoo.

"Come on, guys. I need some enthusiasm. You guys are going to enjoy this, trust me. This won't be like the last ones, I promise"

"That's what you said last year," Choi grunted with an angry face.

Mr. Paul had no words to defend himself because Choi was right, so he silently led them to the zookeepers.

They went through the usual formalities and began the tour. They allowed them play with the baby monkeys, so that counted for something, at least. They showed them section A where the snakes and the crocodiles.

They were about to go see the section B, C and D so the teacher led the way. Tris was tired, so he was behind them, not trying to catch up.

All of a sudden, he felt a a force pull him into a corner.

Out of fear, he was a about to scream, but the man covered his mouth with his hands and brought down the mask covering his face.

Tris's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's you! You're the janitor!!" Tris exclaimed.

"Yes, it's me," he said with smile.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I have my ways," Cole replied with a grin.

"What do you want from me?" Tris asked, narrowing his eyes at Cole.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Cole asked in perplexity.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"You almost had me in trouble the last time we met," Tris looked away.

Cole sighed, disappointed in himself. "I'm sorry about that. Please forgive me," he pleaded.

"But you taught those jerks a lesson. Thank you," a smile form on Tris's face.

"So what are you doing here?" Cole asked.

"We're here on an excursion." Tris replied.

"Are you enjoying it here?"

"To be honest, no,"

"No? Why?"

"This is the fifth time we've been here for our excursion. Except for the new baby monkeys, there's nothing new and fascinating to me and the rest of the students. We were hoping they'd take us on a trip to Disney Land, but we ended up here," Tris explained with a sad face.

"I have an idea," Cole replied, his eyes lit up.

"What's it?" Tris asked inquisitively.

"I may not be able to take you to Paris right now, but I could take you to an amusement park somewhere around,"

"Really?! I would really love to go!" Tris was excited.

"Is that so? Why don't you follow me to my car, then?"

Tris had a look of suspicion on his face.

"Don't worry. You can trust me. I'm your friend, remember?" Cole coaxed him.

It took Tris a minute or two to contemplate, but he finally agreed and took his hands.

***

Cole couldn't believe he had his son in his car!

He kept stealing glances at him, to check how he was doing. Tris was enjoying the popcorn Cole bought for him.

Thoughts crossed his mind. Thoughts of holding him captive. The boy wouldn't mind it anyways, since he was going to live in a huge house, eating everything he would ever want.

Desperate thoughts of changing the course of his journey and taking him straight to the hospital for a DNA test to confirm that Tris was his son.

"Cole, keep your cool. The young boy has trusted you to take him to the park. You have to be patient. You can't lose his trust now," his wolf told him over and over.

They finally got to the park and Tris jumped down gingerly. Cole was amused by the look of awe in the boy's face.

"Have you ever been to a park before?"

"Yes, but just once. My mum took me, and it wasn't even half as good as this," he replied, still in awe.

Cole took him in he began having fun immediately. He jumped on different rides, both the scary ones, and the funny ones. At a point, he urged Cole to join him too.

As Cole stared at him enjoying fun, his heart was filled. His wolf was joyous. He'd never felt this kind of fulfilment in his life. He wanted to do this over and over.

They played games and won a small teddy bear that Cole suggested he keep in his possession so his mum wouldn't get angry.

They had all the fun they could in a short time before Cole called him.

"Time to go, Tris,"

"Already? Just one ride?" He begged, his body still fluffing with excitement.

"You need to be back to the zoo before they'd notice your absence. Another time, I promise," Cole replied with a smile. Tris shrugged, but smiled back at him.

****

"And this is the last animal we'll see today, because it's getting late. As you all know, the Kangaroo's name is Hailey. Those are her children-"

"Mr. Paul?" Gideon spoke up, interrupting the zoo keeper.

"Yes, Gideon?"

"We have a problem,"

"What's wrong?"

"It's Tris... He's missing," Gideon replied with a panic expression on his face.