The zoo had some clear rules: strays didn’t belong. But as the dog edged forward, sniffing, Zachary knew he was about to break that rule. From his pocket, he pulled a crust of bread meant for his own lunch. For a dog so obviously hungry, she never grabbed, just took it from him gently. In that moment, Zachary knew that she was a keeper.
Day after day, she appeared near the staff entrance, tail curled low but wagging faintly. He began saving scraps, sometimes an entire sandwich. Soon she shadowed him on his rounds, slipping between shadows of enclosures. The zoo became hers, unofficially. No one, except a few animals, noticed, and they wouldn’t tell.