Chapter 2

Elise got off work early that day. Something had gone wrong with the security alarm and it wouldn't stop going off. It was a new building with construction workers coming and going. She was positive one of them had accidentally cut a wire, but no one would own up to it. As she left she saw three of them holding some frayed wires and looking perplexed.

"Does this building have mice?" One of them asked, but Elise didn't stick around to hear the rest, she wanted to get out of there fast in case they fixed the alarm and made people get back to work. Besides, she was eager to have the free time in order to finish the work she had promised Eric she would do for the blog that week.

Luck was with her, the red TTC streetcar pulled up right as she reached the stop, and without rush hour to contend with she had a seat all to herself. She opened her book and started reading, settling in for the half-hour long ride before she got home. A few minutes later the lady in front of her gave an excited exclamation.

"Is that a giraffe???" She pointed out the window.

Elise looked, but could see nothing on the street other than people walking by. She looked at the lady as though she might be crazy, but she lady looked like a well put together business woman.

"I swear I saw a giraffe," she said, looking a little flustered now that everyone on the streetcar was giving her a funny look. "It was a baby or something... ran around the corner..."

Elise shrugged and went back to her book. The lady had probably seen a dog. She was pretty sure an escaped giraffe would have been news - and besides, they were nowhere near the Toronto Zoo.

When she got home her phoned chimed, a text message from Meagan.

"My boss had a heart attack! Looks like we get to go home early today."

"Me too," she texted back. "Something chewed through the alarm system. What a weird day."

She opened the door to her ground-floor apartment and her cat Milo started purring and rubbing against her leg, not even letting her take her shoes off before it began begging for food.

"Shoo," she managed to step over the ball of fur as she made her way to the bathroom. She turned the radio on as she washed her face, putting her dark brown hair back in a ponytail.

The song on the radio ended and the DJ came on. He was laughing. "Well here's a weird news story. Apparently there have been a few sightings downtown of giraffes. Yes, you heard me, giraffes. Only apparently these giraffes are the size of chihuahuas," the DJ broke off into hysterical laughter.

Elise frowned and turned the radio off. Okay, she thought, this is getting weird.

"Have you seen giraffes today?" Elise chuckled to herself as she texted Meagan again. "Apparently Rob Ford slipped something into the water, because they're being seen all around the city."

Her phone chimed again almost instantly, but she didn't check it right away, because Milo was no longer waiting around the kitchen entrance. He was at the window sill, his spine arched and his ears pointed back. His was hissing at something. Elise walked over and looked out, but she couldn't see anything in the bushes around her apartment. She batted Milo away from the windows, but it made her feel uneasy, so she made sure the windows were all locked and the closed the curtains.

She forgot to check the text message Meagan had just sent her and sat down at her desk to get to work. The thought of giraffes fading to the back of her mind.