GIRAFFES FAKE OWN DEATH. ZOOKEEPER DISTRAUGHT OVER CRIMES AGAINST NATURE. PSYCHIATRIST TALKS ANIMALS OUT OF MASS SUICIDE. HOSE IS TO BLAME?

From his hospital room at Saint Sebastian’s, the zookeeper puts in a call to the benefactors. He has sustained a mild heart attack. Tiny metal electrodes from a monitor stick to the hair on his chest. His wife, Matilda, is by his side. He is nervous when she is not with him. She knows this, and when he sleeps, she tucks a corner of her skirt into his hand.

Matilda holds the phone receiver to the zookeeper’s mouth as he reads off the list of demands. On the other end of the line, there is silence. The benefactors are not happy. The negative publicity has already affected ticket sales at the zoo. Citizens, outraged at the photographs of “dead” giraffes, are organizing a boycott. There is talk of scruples, and rumors of investigations. The benefactors are angry at having been put in this position by the giraffes. They tell the zookeeper not to release the demands to the public. This is not the time to renegotiate contracts, they say. What we need is damage control.

Side by side in their pen, in their third day of protest, Doë, Lulu, and Francesco discuss their odds. Francesco is losing hope. The zoo has installed portable fences in front of the giraffes’ pen to keep the protesters hidden. Francesco is upset that the public can no longer see his performance. He misses his view. He is tired of ants crawling up his nose and longs to climb to his feet.

Doë is not bothered by being so close to the ground. She feels more a part of the nature of things than ever before. She is confident their demands will be heard and met. She believes they all must be patient.

Lulu says nothing. She can feel her heart working. She imagines the blood flowing through her body horizontally. What fun, she thinks, it must be having. Such an easy time moving where it wants to go. When the day is over and the zoo closes, she hesitates in the last moment before rising to her feet.

The benefactors hold a press conference. We are happy people, they say. We want our animals happy too. They announce their decision to hire the psychiatrist, who subsequently drops the suit he was bringing against them on behalf of the giraffes by the SPCA. The psychiatrist spends several days in the giraffes’ pen, sitting in a chair, pulling at his mustache, and taking notes on a yellow legal pad. He informs the benefactors that the giraffes are understimulated, and gives an impassioned plea for entertainment. The benefactors contact the Guild of Nightclub Performers and comprise a rotating list of magicians, impersonators, and cabaret acts.