Don't Feed the Penguins by Vivien Natalie

Author:Vivien, Natalie [Vivien, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rose and Star Press, First Edition
Published: 2013-12-21T08:00:00+00:00

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A sea lion was sitting on top of Dana.

Not exactly on top of her, more like leaning against her, but it was still an odd sight to see. Gwen shook her head as she let herself into the sea lion enclosure and took in Dana crouched against the wall, partially visible, but mostly covered by the sea lion’s bulk.

“Athena, get the heck off of her,” sighed Gwen, hands on her hips. Athena rolled her warm brown eyes up at Gwen, and then the sea lion decided that she’d done enough tormenting. She slid off of Dana, and Dana stood, rubbing her hands on her thighs.

“They’re just all crazy,” Dana declared, but she was grinning affectionately. “I was working on the lean-and-dance trick, and then she just wouldn’t move. Have you ever stared into a sea lion’s eye for five minutes straight?”

“No, but the penguins keep eye contact like mobsters,” chuckled Gwen, hands still poised on her hips. “So, what do you want me to do?”

Athena was currently swimming large circles in the deep pool, glancing mischievously at the two women between each lap. If sea lions could grin, Athena was most certainly grinning now.

“Well, could you grab the target pole?” Dana hefted up the bucket of fish. “We’re going to work on just having her hit the pole. It’s the easiest, right? But it’s the one she’s been giving me the most trouble with.”

Sea lions were often trained to touch or hit a target with their nose. This was helpful for training them to loop rings around their necks, jump up into the air and hit a balloon target. Targets were essential to training the sea lions for pretty much every trick in the show (including the old balancing-the-ball-on-the-nose routine). Gwen ducked behind the door to fetch the target pole, a three-foot-long white pole made of plastic with a white bumper on the end.

“Okay, Athena!” called Dana, patting her leg. The sea lion thrust herself out of the water and moved over to Dana, eyeing her with an amused expression. “Good girl!” said Dana, blowing into the whistle around her neck. The whistle, Gwen knew, was to tell the sea lion she’d done a good job and to respond to Dana’s request to come over. Athena gulped down the fish that Dana offered her as Gwen held tightly onto the target.

“Away!” called Dana, and the sea lion leaped into the water, Dana jumping smoothly in after her. When Dana surfaced, Gwen tried very hard not to stare at the gorgeous woman who grinned up at her from the water, her hair now slicked back and very, very sexy. “Okay, I’m going to try to ask her to jump up and hit the target,” said Dana, swimming to the center of the pool. “So hold it up about five feet high, okay?”

“You got it!” said Gwen, offering an awkward thumbs-up and drawing in a deep breath. All she was doing was helping out a co-worker, really, just like she’d told David.

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