Short Story: Leopard infatuation

Shelly was beginning her new job working a concession stand at the zoo. It wasn't very glamorous, but she did have a fondness for the leopard exhibit. On every lunch break she would admire these majestic creatures while chowing down on her grub.

On one particularly sunny day the wildlife was out in force at the zoo. Peacocks strutting their stuff. Squirrels stealing peanuts from Shelly's concession stand. Bunnies hopping feverishly across walking paths; avoiding trampling from zoo goers. Just a smorgasbord of creatures running amok with no natural predators in site. Well except for in the cages that is.

A rabbit managed to hop over the guard rails into the area where the leopards were prowling. Talking about jumping into the fire. A male leopard noticed this intrusion and stooped down low in hiding. Slowly the leopard began stalking its pretty, crawling inch by inch. Then suddenly he exploded with a burst of speed in pursuit of the rabbit. With a primal growl the leopard leaped at the bunny with claws fully extended. He quickly pinned the rabbit down and snapped it's neck in half with one quick swipe. He quickly dug in and devoured the rabbit.

Onlookers were stunned. Shelly's friend Martha shrieked "Oh my god! That poor rabbit!". Shelly slyly grinned. "You think this is funny Shelly?" said Martha. Shelly explained that this was the natural way of life, and what was sad is how the leopards had been denied this natural activity. Martha thought this was just plain weird. She had pet rabbits herself and thought that live prey was unnecessary for the leopards.

Shelly continued on with her daily leopard watching routine. She never saw a repeat of the rabbit incident. The zoo keepers never feed the leopards while she was watching. "What exactly do they feed them?", she thought. During non-work hours she got a view of what they were being fed. Shelly wasn't sure what it was exactly so she asked the zoo keeper. He said it was a mix of ground horsemeat, soybeans, and other nutrients. "Soybeans? Acck, they shouldn't be eating that hippy crap" she told him. The keeper explained that the leopards normally get vegetables in the wild by eating the contents of the stomach and intestinal tract of the prey, and that soybeans were a substitute for this. "Yeah, but I don't think they have wild soybeans in their stomach, do they?", she replied. The zoo keeper was getting annoyed by this point, "It's a perfectly fine diet, they had nutritionists test it out. Stop worrying about it!". Shelly shrugged and walked away, "accidentally" bumping into the keeper on the way out.

Shelly was furious inside. She loved and admired the leopards. There was no way they should be restrained to such a desolate and artificial life. They just had to have their natural prey. She had pickpocketed the key to the leopard enclosure when she bumped into the keeper. Shelly knew that she would have a chance the next morning to put her plan into action.

Before work she stopped at Martha's house to pick up a rabbit. Martha's pair of rabbits had just had babies several weeks ago, and now they were ready to move out. Martha never suspected Shelly's true intentions (she thought she just wanted a pet rabbit). She knew Shelly was a freak for leopards, but she never could have imagined that she would go through with what she would.

Shelly slide open the door to back of the leopard enclosure and threw in the bunny. She then locked it up and waited for the killing. As before a leopard began stalking the prey. It leaped out at the rabbit, engulfing it with one motion. The rabbit scratched and gouged this insides of the leopards throat as he tried to swallow. The rabbit severed an artery in the leopards neck and the cat fell to the ground writhing as blood poured into his throat. The rabbit scurried out of the leopards hold and ran for safety in the brush. Shelly cried in agony as the leopard choked on it's own blood and died.

The zoo keeper later confronted her. "What did you do!" "I thought I lost my keys but now I realize you stole them!". Shelly sobbed thinking of the death she had brought to her beloved leopard. "I was just going to feed him a rabbit mister, but he choked on it.". The keeper explained the reality of things. One of the reasons they don't feed zoo animals live prey, is because the prey can fight back, sometimes killing the "predator". That too is the natural way of life.