'Quite astounding really, wouldn't you say?'
'Yes, quite. Much larger in person.'
'And louder.'
The pair laughed, clinking their tiny tea cups together. The tinkling of fine china was drowned under the screeching roar from behind the bars which they faced.
'Now now,' said the old woman, laughing. 'Manners. Tut, tut, tut.'
'They really should know better by now, wouldn't you think?'
'Quite. More tea, Curiosity?'
They smiled to each other through pursed lips. The woman nodded. 'Thank you.'
The cries grew louder now, shaking cries and woeful shouts, all overlapping each other in a harmony of despair.
The man stopped smiling. He withdrew a long metal stick from his cloak and smacked the bars fiercely. 'Silence!' The figures inside fell back into the shadows.
'Well, that's no good,' said Curiosity. 'No point having them if they are not visible. How will we know what they're doing?'
The man was flustered, his eyes bulging out of his thin face. 'Honestly, they spend their whole lives in front of the camera. You'd think they'd learn some decorum.'
'Well, we must remember that these creatures are not like you or I, my friend. Though I do wish you would tell me your name. We make a great pair you and I.'
The man shook his head. 'It is unknown.'
Curiosity looked disappointed for a moment, but then breathed it out, raising her head to the bars. 'Do you think one day the cage will break?'
The man chortled quietly. He leaned over and kissed the elderly woman softly on her wrinkled cheek. 'Not if you or I remain together, my dear. As you say, we make quite the pair.'
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