Esther put her fingers to her lips and pointed to the toilets. Both doors were open and the first cubical was empty. In the second, a man sat on the toilet, his trousers round his ankles.
Esther stopped. The man’s face was grotesque, his mouth open, and his eyes wide open as though surprised. It was horrible but strangely mesmerising. She took a step forward, intending to check the man’s pulse, but Mel pulled her back.
“Stop, look” The zookeeper pointed at the radiator around which was coiled a long black snake. Both women backed out and closed the door behind them.
“Is it poisonous and did it bite him?” she asked as much to herself as the other woman.
Storyteller
Abigail Thorne 