It was that time of the week, for the gathering at the watering hole for our neighborly animals. Mr. Zebra and Mr. Meerkat- along with everyone else: Minnie, Cool Shades, Round Face, Wildebeest.
We were all speaking, led by Mr. Meerkat, and Cool Shades made a stunning announcement. He seemed to have tears in his eyes, but didn't sound sad. The rest of us were deadpanned and not really sure what to say. Round Face was just staring at his hands and Mr. Zebra moved around in his seat a bit. Mr. Meerkat kept his normal stolid demeanor and didn't really show emotion, other than a lack of surprise.
The conversation kept going after that, but there was more of an underlying quiet behind it.
After that, when everyone stayed behind to further converse on their own terms, it seemed to go a little quicker, although it was just as amicable.
Cool Shades seemed more eager to leave the atmosphere he had inadvertently created; although he had a smile on his face, his eyes looked incredibly glassy.
Mr. Zebra spoke loudly about a joke we had, and had the whole group laughing from it.
Everyone seemed to echo a certain expression in their faces of either non-surprise or a derivative of sadness.
A day later, almost the whole group was there again- minus Round Face. And Cool Shades seemed to be nervous, in the way he carried himself- too stiffly, and in his manner of tossing out words too quickly and interrupting people with his speech- which was unusual. Mr. Meerkat seemed a tad taken aback by it, but did not get ruffled. Wildebeest seemed a bit taken aback as well. Cool Shades seemed to attempt to subtly dominate the conversation until it was his time to exit the small group.
The group always seemed to be growing closer and Mr. Meerkat has been maintained as a constant, with his friendly, yet stoic, facial expressions, that seemed to be a social cohesive for the rest of the group.
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