Short Story: Sami's Fantasy With Giraffe's

Short Story: Sami's Fantasy With Giraffe's

This piece has not been edited by the ShortbreadStories team.

Sami’s fascination with giraffe’s had held since she was a small girl, when her favourite fantasy involved riding way up high on the head of a swaying giraffe as it strode through the African Bush, and then sliding down its long neck to reach the ground.

One of her early boyfriends explained it as a sexual fantasy, and that being a girl (of a certain disposition) she desired a penis; his penis in fact. But she could only borrow it.

Even then she wasn’t entirely convinced; informing him it didn’t go that deep. He took offence, providing an early insight into the male obsession with penetration.

She told him she also enjoyed the seductive quality of the long giraffe tongue as it curled around leaves and shoots, before tearing them out by the roots. He accused her of being a lesbian, and a castrator. She dropped him pretty quick.

It was all a long way from giraffe’s, but even then she was learning.

What she didn’t declare to that particular boyfriend was that for her the giraffe was simply the noblest, and gentlest of beasts. And riding up high she felt safe – out of reach of the world and its unpredictable barbs.

The fantasies had started as dreams; beginning after her father walked out of the family home and had continued throughout childhood into her adolescent years. Thinking about giraffes made her feel better, and able to cope when life became shit.

It was shit again; days since her most recent boyfriend had dumped her. She knew there was no way back after he started something with another girl. They had been together eight months, going through enough rough patches to allow her to believe they were a settled couple. Recently however, even sex had grown to be predictable. He walked out, leaving her in despair.

She cried easily, rocking back and forth upon the bed, looking for someone to blame even when there was no one but themselves. Breaking up remained a big thing at any age, and Sami was eighteen and three months. He was her fourth real boyfriend, and the longest lasting. It brought little comfort to acknowledge the fact, and even when a good friend bought her a toy giraffe to provide comfort, and another gave her a mug with two giraffe’s necking amorously, she still cried.

It made little difference to her life when told she would meet someone better.

Then the zoo was suggested, and she went on her own to visit the giraffe’s as they stood tall and majestic, silently looming at an unreachable height. She looked into soft brown eyes, wondering what it felt like to stand at a great height and survey the world while remaining untouched. Finally, she sat on a bench to fantasise.

She was interrupted in her thoughts by a young man with dark curly hair, Italian or Spanish, who handed her an orange flavoured drink on a stick. Behind him two other similar looking young men awaited the outcome. She met his lively eyes in some confusion.

“I say to my friends – she is sad. You must make her happy. Does this make you happy?”

She glanced down at the dripping lolly in her hand, before placing it between dry lips. “Yes.” She smiled. “Oh yes.”

The three crowded around, and she had never felt so popular. She found herself hoisted onto their shoulders, as they raced between enclosures. Her secret wish had been granted, and she was up high, able to look down and see things she had never noticed before. Still, it was a strange feeling to be carried like this, and she felt a little disconcerted to be handled by young men she barely knew.

When finally placed upon her own two feet again, they told her noisily they were on vacation, visiting the sites. “Today the zoo, tomorrow a palace, a museum, another day somewhere else.” She listened, as they slipped easily between languages. “You come with us. We show you everything – make you more happy.”

She wanted to agree, but shyness crept over her, shaking her head. “No. It’s very kind. I just came to visit the giraffe’s. They make me happiest of all.”

The young men protested she should change her mind, but after discovering she could not be swayed left her alone. She followed the sound of their voices as they ran from cage to cage emitting squeals of delight. They were like excited children really, and so was she, underneath.

Sleep did not come easily after the excitement of the day, and she grew restless, fumbling for what was kept hidden in a bedside drawer. When her fantasies returned to more wholesome thoughts she was cuddling the toy giraffe and sighed, wondering if she had the courage to search for the young men the following day, to allow herself to be carried on their shoulders once again.

She kissed the toy giraffe goodnight, turned out the bedside lamp and fell back smiling. Life could be strange, filled with strange adventures and even stranger desires.

© Desmond Kelly 5-8/4/2012