The man glanced out through the glass and sighed. He thought going to the jungle just might give him some privacy! But even there, no, in the most secluded of spaces, they still managed to find him. All he wanted to do was write! Now he was stuck sitting on a hard plastic rock in a zoo exhibit previously used for penguins.

A small girl ran up to the glass and pressed her face against it. “Look, Mommy! Look at the man!” Her voice was muffled through the glass.

“Yes, that’s very nice, sweetie. C’mon, let’s go…”

Another adult came up and pointed the sign out to his child. “Look, Tommy. It says ‘Caucasian Male rescued 7/25/06. Species: Authorus Penicuss.’”

“Mrs. Kolman said they were endangered.”

“Yep, he’s one of the last ones,” the father said, and walked away.

The man jolted. One of the last? A dying breed? It couldn’t be! But the sign outside didn’t lie. It didn’t lie about the other exhibits.

He was a loner.