We came as a tide of mothers, babbling over the gum-spotted pavement. Each of us, then, had brought, sent, or condoned a child’s visit to the zoo in the days leading up to their disappearance. So the zoo must hold an answer. The sun crept over cages and lawns as we wound through, separating along the empty morning paths. Here and there a pink-skinned ape grunted, or a listless pachyderm snorted flies from its face. What were we looking for? Mom and I wandered off on our own, then separated even from each other, and I strolled among reptile caves and penguin paddocks, the long shade revealing nothing. Occasionally I would cross another lone mother on her own search for some salience, some vibrant clue, but in the dark circles of their eyes I knew they each had come up empty as I.
We recon
