To relinquish all worldly possessions

I wasn’t sure how much longer it would take for me to be able to move into the zoo. I had canceled pretty much every service imaginable. Without a job to go to my life now was basically to hang on the couch, watch some TV, and go to bed again.

The commercials had just interrupted the nature documentary that I was watching, so when Siri began telling me there was an incoming call I simply said ‘yes’, and I had accepted the call.

“Bridget, Jack Petersson speaking, the zoo director”

“Hi Mister Petersson”, I said, hoping that he’d have good news.

“Bridget, I wanted to give you an update before the weekend starts. It doesn’t go as fast with the insurance company as we’d hoped for, but we are making steady progress. We’re also working on a sponsorship deal that I think we can also finish early next week. All in all, I expect that you can move in next Thursday, maybe Friday.”

“Okay”, I said. It was a little bit longer than I had hoped for. But I was happy to hear something from the director and get some concrete dates.

“Also, “ the director continued, “I had proposed that we put all your things in storage here at the zoo, but there’s a bit of a hiccup there. There are two sheds that I was thinking of where we could store your stuff, but I had forgotten that one of them was damaged in a fire a while ago. The other one turns out to be really leaky and moist, and is due for demolition in a few months. So we don’t really have a place to store your stuff.”

My mind raced. The idea had been that my stuff would be boxed up by a moving company after I had moved into the zoo and my condo had been sold. All my belongings would then be moved to the zoo for storage. But now that the last step didn’t go through, what did that mean for the rest of the plan?

“So what I would propose to do, Bridget”, the zoo’s director continued, “is that we let someone appraise your stuff for replacement value, and then we’ll donate it to Goodwill. The zoo will then pay you the value of your belongings. How does that sound?”

“Great,” I said, “I guess I don’t need most of it it anymore anyway.”

I didn’t really think about it. In my mind the end result would be the same. While I’d be in the zoo I wouldn’t be able to access my stuff anyways. And I wasn’t really thinking about my time after the zoo. If that were to ever get out. At the moment I didn’t know and I didn’t really care.

“Maybe you have some stuff of emotional value to you. Perhaps you can put that in a box and send that to your parents or something.”, the director said.

I realized he was right. I had some small things I had made in primary school as well as some photos that I’d maybe like to keep somewhere. It’s not that I really needed them, but maybe I’d like to look at them when I would be some kind of old person?

“Alright Bridget. Before I go, do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes, I have a question, actually.”, I said. “I have canceled pretty much all my subscriptions, except for my phone subscription. Do you think it would be possible to bring my phone into the zoo? Maybe I could have access to it outside of visiting hours so I can stay in touch with my friends and my mom?”

“Hmmz, “ the director said, “I can see why you would want that. I’ll tell you what, we will provide a small box that you can fill with some personal belongings, like your phone. You can then have access to that box occasionally outside of visiting hours. But not during the first six to twelve weeks, while you’re settling in. How does that sound?”

“I think that’s a good solution, Mr. Petersson. Thank you. And what about things like tampons?”

Mr. Petersson burst out laughing; “You really don’t need to think about that, Bridget, we’ll make sure that you have everything you need.”

It almost felt like it had been a stupid question, hearing his answer. But it was good to hear that I did not have to concern myself with things like that.

We ended to conversation after I wished him a good weekend. Weekends were not something I thought about anymore. The days somewhat seemed to flow over in one another without there being any significant differences between them for me.

I took an empty moving box and filled it with some photo albums, some photo frames, and some of the handiworks I had made in primary school. Besides that, I also put my birth certificate, driver’s license and diplomas in the box.

It was time to call my mom.

“Heya Bridget, long time no see! How are you doing? How was your first week at work?”

“Hi mom, it was only last Wednesday that we still spoke when I moved out of the house”

“Well, it feels like forever”, my mom said. “So how’s your work?”

I was wondering if I should be honest with her, or not. I decided I would be. “Do you remember I’ve always like to show off my body to strangers and got some kind of thrill from it?”

My mother surely knew. When I had been in my early teens she had always tried to get me to cover up. But once I had reached the wonderful age of eighteen, she had sort of stopped doing that, and rather tried to at least let me show off in a somewhat safe and responsible manner.

“Yes honey, I know. But how is that related to your job at the clinic?”

“Well, I sort of took another job. It’s a job at the zoo, mom. Though I’m not sure if’s officially considered a job.”

“Okay?”, she said questioning, no idea where this was going to lead to.

“Have you seen the news about a new zoo exhibit here in town?”

“No, not really?”, my mom said. It wasn’t fully true. She had read some headlines, but hadn’t read the actual articles.

“The local zoo decided that they wanted to have a human exhibit. And I’ll be starring in it as its first inhabitant”

“You mean you’ll wear a costume or something?”

“No mom, I’ll be naked like the day I was born. And I get to do the same things all of the other animals get to do all day long. Like sleeping in, get fed, and get to gawk at the zoo patrons all day long!”, I tried to say as excitedly as possible.

“Oh honey”, my mom stuttered a little bit. Not sure what to say or think of it. She must have realized that she couldn’t stop me from doing it, like she hadn’t been able to stop me when I had been planning something for a very long time. “How long will this exhibit last for?”, she asked.

“I don’t know. They’re calling it a ‘permanent exhibit’, but I’m sure they mean that it will be more than a couple of weeks. I guess when people get bored of watching us the project will end. I dunno really.”

“I see,” my mother said, “and what about your condo and your things?”

“The condo will be sold again. And my stuff is what I was calling about. Can I ship you a box with some stuff that’s difficult to replace, like some photos etc?”

“Sure honey. Feel free to ship to me whatever you like. There’s plenty of room in the attic. Can I come visit you sometime?”

“Of course mom. The opening hours are listed on the zoo’s website. It really is a lovely zoo, mom!”

My mom was probably thinking that it was going to be some fad that would fade after a few weeks. I was counting on it to last way longer, however. We’d see…

I wrapped some tape around the moving box that contained the stuff I had packed, and wrote down my mom’s address on the box. The UPS website showed that they could pick up the parcel within the hour. So I scheduled a pickup with them and they picked it up within 45 minutes or so.

What I didn’t know, however, was that the private investigator’s office that was following my every move would intercept my parcel and remove the birth certificate, driver’s license and diplomas. When the box would be delivered at my mother’s place it would only contain the photos and handiworks.