Short story written by Daniel Kirkpatrick published June 2020
“This – ahem – this is the most important challenge we face in our century. The most important. Without the freedom to say what we believe, what have we? However, if left unguarded, we risk losing everything. Is that what you want? To lose everything? No. We need to regulate it. Freedom must be protected, and that’s what we are doing. We can’t have people spouting off evil ideas. That is, after all, how we get terrorism.”
The radio channel was abruptly changed as the barista, evidently frustrated by the political monologue, decided it wasn’t appropriate for his cafe’s clientele. Calming music quickly replaced the offending tones of the politician’s voice. Soon most forgot the words were ever spoken, happily continuing their innocuous conversations or returning to their reading; most that is, but not all.
Anna was intently reading her picture book on zoo animals. This was a new-found delight, a recent birthday present given only yesterday. Her tiny hands held it delicately as if it were made of chocolate, fearful that if she gripped too hard it might melt or become damaged. She couldn’t read the words, but she didn’t care about that. No, that only added to its value.
“Papa. Papaaaa,” she said waving impatiently at her snoozing grandpa. She tapped repeatedly on his knee.
“Yes-”, he replied with a sigh. This was meant to be a quiet morning. Why did I have to get left with Anna? I can’t keep up with all of her energy.
“Papa what does ‘freedom’ mean?” The question caught him by surprise. Freedom. What a strange question? She can’t even read. How could she possibly even know such a word?
Smiling he replied: “Why do you want to know about that? Just keep reading about your little animals.”
There was a brief pause, but Anna was determined. “I think it must be a good thing. Nana always tries to get them when we go shopping. She says to me: ‘Why pay when you can get one freedom?’ But I don’t know what she means – what does she mean?”
“Oh stop being silly. She doesn’t say freedom – she says free. The two words are quite different. Well I mean they can be similar-” His voice evaporated off as he thought. Why is she asking about freedom and free? Did she hear it on the radio. Those hateful politicians. Wonderful. Realising he’d become silent, he saw Anna’s eyes expectantly staring up at him. “You know what? Don’t worry yourself about it. It’s all much too complicated for little girls.”
“I’m. Not. Little.” Anna replied staring at Papa fiercely.
That was a mistake. Who tells Anna she isn’t little? Great. Now I’m going to have to try and explain this somehow. “Of course. I’m sorry. So what does free mean then, eh? Hmm.” He began looking around him for some sort of example, but all that he could see was the barista cleaning the coffee machine, another older man reading the day’s paper, and a young couple gossiping excitedly about some story or other. Nothing. Turning back to Anna, an idea hit him.
“Well it’s not like the shopping,” he continued. “It’s more like the animals in your picture book. In fact, you probably already know all about it and don’t even realise.” This thinly veiled flattery had its desired effect, as Anna returned to her usual smile.
“Like a lion?” she said, mimicking the lion’s claws, and baring her teeth. “Rawwr”.
“Well, yes. Just like a lion. What’s your lion called?”
“Peter!”
That’s her brother’s name. What silly children. “Sure, why not? So in your book Peter – the lion – is locked up in the zoo. He can prowl around his den, get fed and looked after; but he is always locked up inside. Each day he wakes up, roams around as the king in his pen, but every night he must go back to sleep in his cage. You see, Peter was not made for cages. No, he was made to be the King of the Jungle.”
At this Anna again jumped up with her claws and roared a childlike roar.
“Yes exactly, just like that.” Papa continued. “Just image being kept in your bedroom all day, even when the sun is shining; like being grounded forever.” He finished, stressing the final word for effect.
“Nooo. Never. Mummy would NEVER do that.”
“I know. You’d hate it and you mummy loves you, so you’re right, she wouldn’t do that. And that’s because you are made to play outside and see the world around you. Locking you in your room would be bad. It would mean you’d never see the beautiful sunshine, play at the beach, visit friends, or even to come spend the morning with me.” At this Anna wrapped her little arms around him, hugging tightly as if afraid he might disappear.
“Oh don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.” He gently stroked her head, running his old hands through her fine blond hair. “Now you asked about freedom. Well, just as our lion Peter is caged in your book, it’s the same with freedom of speech. Like Peter, we too are caged in what we can say. At least that’s what the man on the radio wants.”
“Is he like the zookeeper?”
“Yes, very good. He is. But he’s not a very nice zookeeper.”
“Oh I don’t like him. I think all lions should be free.” At this, Anna picked up her book – still treating it carefully – but placing it face down to hide the picture of the smiling zookeeper on its cover.
“Yes. But the zookeepers are worried about the danger. Lions are strong and wild. If they let them out then they can no longer control them. In the zoo the lions are fed and cared for. They’re safe and so are we. The cages are meant to be there to protect us and them.”
“Peter’s not bad. He wouldn’t hurt anyone! We should let him be free.” Anna picked up her book again turning to the page with her lion, making him now dance across the table as she sung “Free, free, free. Lion’s should be free.”
Papa smiled. She has more wisdom than she realises. There is much wisdom in the innocence of youth. Why do we all end up losing it? Her joy is truly infectious. Sighing again – though this time in satisfaction – he continued: “Yes. The jungle really is the best place for Peter. Yes. We should be free too. Though not everyone is as happy as you are about that idea. Many of our zookeepers think they know best and that it is only through their carefully built cages that we can be safe.”
“But papa. Why don’t we put the zookeepers in a cage and free all the lions?”
Papa laughed, a full, hearty laugh. The other older man briefly peered nonchalantly over his paper at the sudden disturbance. After some time he finally stopped, catching his breath. My my. What a wonder. If only you knew what your words really meant. Oh my my.
Anna, however, was still earnestly waiting for an answer. She watched him, caught between confusion and uncertain happiness at Papa’s laugh. He didn’t laugh often; but she wanted an answer. Eventually Papa seemed to regain composure, turning and smiling to her. “You know Anna, you never fail to surprise me. But I suppose I better give you an answer.” The look in her eyes confirmed this. “Okay. I would like to lock up many of our zookeepers, indeed many should be because they’re bad. But not all zookeepers are bad. Some actually really care for the lions and will only lock them up for a short time until it’s safe for them, and us, to release them. Many of them create cages which are very spacious and meet our needs. It’s like being sent to your bed.”
“Nooo.”
“Don’t worry. Let me explain. It’s like at night when you are sent to bed. You don’t like it, do you?” Anna shook her head with anger. “Okay. You definitely don’t like bed. But if you didn’t sleep you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the next day. This is why your mummy always sends you to bed. It’s to make sure you enjoy all the fun things planned for the following day. In the same way, sometimes we need to have rules or cages which are there for our good. Though the problems arise when they are bad rules, or ones designed for the good of a particular zookeeper.” Noticing the scowl on her face, he decided to change tactics. “Think of your favourite ice-cream-”
“Chocolate!”
“Well, how about in five minutes when I’ve had a little snooze we can go get some chocolate ice-cream.”
“Now?”
“No – five minutes.”
As if she didn’t hear him, Anna began packing up her things ready to go.
“Never-mind. We can go. But I wanted to explain one last thing. When I buy you this ice-cream you’re going to eat it all up and enjoy it?” She responded by nodding. “Good. But what if I got you ten ice-creams?”
Anna thought about this, calculating in her mind whether she’d like so many. She could only count to ten – it was easier than reading – but it was an awfully big number.
“You seem less sure. Sometimes we need rules to make sure we enjoy things more. If you ate all ten ice-creams you would stop enjoying them after the second or third, and be sick after a few more. But if you have one you’ll be able to enjoy it and remember how good it tasted after. The same applies to freedom. If we are free to do whatever we want, say whatever we want, some may do things which hurt us, or make us unhappy. This is why we have zookeepers. We just need to make sure they are good zookeepers, not bad ones.”
“Can I be a good zookeeper?”
“Someday, perhaps. Though let’s get you that ice-cream first.”
However Anna was already waiting at the door, book in hand. This time she stood waiting for her own loving zookeeper to follow.
