Three hours earlier…
Isabelle found herself walking without direction, every way she turned there was more and more unbelievable sights to see. Dinosaur tours, air lifts, jeeps, guided tours, water rides, and so more. Then there was the food, even that had not been left untouched by the theme park’s primary attraction. The menus sporting the T-Rex Steak, Brontosaurus Salad, Cephalopod Soup, all but made her head spin.

More confusing was how all the staff members seemed to treat her. At a glance they seemed a little bit overly nice, if she wanted a tour she would be brought to the front of the line, a meal, her was told she eat for free. It was all rather unsettling, she just had to point and they seemed to be more than happy to try and make her desire come to life, despite her insistence that she only just got the job and didn’t want any special treatment.

Finally in an effort to escape the displacement she found herself walking down one of the long arching skywalks overlooking the larger attractions. A quick glance at the map told her she was in the general over overlook area of the park and moving away from the main hub, her path moving westwards to the exterior of the island over the grazers. Still holding onto her bag of fried leek she idlily one from the paper bag with the imprinted picture of a stegosaurus on it and began to munch. The green was overcooked and had a faint taste of something that had been saturated in grease, but she eat all the same. It was the simple familiar motion of chewing on something that kept her nerves at bay.

The job was nothing like what she had expected, indeed after the initial interview and acceptance letter, the later of which had come far sooner than she had expected, she had been flowing out to the resort and turned loose. No guidance, no clients, no training. Just given a hotel room, only to find they had spared no expense and set her up in a luxury suite on one of the top levels. Then they had just turned her loose.

She was still confused about this, though when she tried to inquire when she would begin working they had assured her that there was no hurry and that she should enjoy herself. They had repeated that line several times over, by several different people, almost to the point where she was beginning to suspect she was in some horrible computer simulation or something. That odd sense of unease had only been compounded when she had been given a sleeve wrap with the number seventeen emblazoned on it and was instructed to wear it at all times throughout the park.

Other than the number though, which she almost wanted to hide away when she found that a simple glance at it got her preferential treatment, even at the expense of those around her, something that still did not sit right with her. Then there was the odd looks she attracted, a few of the park workers would break off conversations and smile at her as she went by, only to take back up said hushed conversations when she had just began to move out of ear shot.

After a while she found she just wanted some solitude, as fun as the park was, and as amazing as it was to see the various dinosaurs walking about, she couldn’t help but feel that something was off. She would look through the glass and would just feel, something, on some level was just profoundly off. Maybe it was the timing, or the placement of the dinosaurs, they always seemed to be at just the right place and time – or at just the right angle, it was almost as if they were posing! But, no that was ridiculous, rubbing her brow, she shook her head. Maybe it was the change in environment, or the new job, she just wanted to make a good first impression and so far she had yet to even meet one of her coworkers, or boss for that matter.

She was just finishing her second leek when a voice broke into her thoughts.

‘Ms. Rees?’ A man came up behind her, no three, all dressed in park uniforms. ‘Isabelle Rees?’

‘Yes. That’s me.’ She looked them over, there was that odd sort of guarded smirking expression that they all seemed to wear, like they were privy to some joke that she had just missed. ‘Is everything all right? I’m not out of the park’s boundaries?’

‘Nothing like that.’ The man waved his hand dismissively. ‘Your fine, we just came to collect you. Are you ready to being?’

A bit taken aback at the suddenness of the request she found herself lost for words. Now? It was almost lunch, and, and she was hardly professionally dressed.

‘I – shouldn’t I change first?’ She blurted out before realizing she could have phrased that a lot better, still the man seemed to find that amusing.

‘Not to worry madame, now if you would just come with us we will get your ready.’ Motioning to the vehicle further down on the main roadway stenciled with the parks logo before he turned and began to walk back down the sloping path. ‘Did you enjoy your time at the park? Have you been treated well?’

Finding herself falling into step, the uneasy butterflies in her stomach now becoming bats bonking around her insides, she tried to keep her voice calm and level.

‘Uh, Y-yes, I had a wonderful time.’ Always the same questions, or close enough to either way. ‘Everyone has been quite nice, I, just wish I had a bit more, uh, guidance is all.’

‘Ah, not to worry.’ The man smiled as he held the back door open and motioned for her to step inside. ‘Nothing you haven’t been briefed on. Oh!’

With a snap of his fingers he drew up, reached behind his back and fumbling pulled out a set of leather restraints with wool interior padding.

‘I almost forgot, please put these on.’

Seeing her hesitation, he quickly added.

‘Its more for show than anything else, sometimes an employee gets cold feet and all.’

Eyes lingering on the restraints dubiously, she wet her lips, this was highly irregular. But there were still people around, and cameras too, if this was a kidnapping they were certainly doing a terrible job of it.

‘Is everything all right Ms. Rees?’

‘Yes, I’m fine.’ She held out her wrists and let him secure first one and then the other. ‘I just don’t quite follow.’

‘Like I said, mostly for show is all.’

‘Show, I don’t understand why and Animal Feeder needs to have their hands bound up, wouldn’t this make the job more difficult?’

‘Not hardly, all you have to do is sit there and the animals will come to you. Simplest thing in the world.’

‘If you say so.’ Isabelle shook her head, something was gnawing at her in the back of her head.

…

Because I have several images of Isabelle and if I don’t post them now, I doubt I ever will. That and this little arc grew from this:
‘Animal Feeder huh?’
‘Yes you will be assisting in feeding the animals.’
‘Wait, why are there restrains involved?’
‘Well some people panic and want to back out last minute. Cant imagine why.’
‘You almost sound sarcastic there.’
‘Yeah.’