Excerpt from What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"The zoo. To the zoo, you idiot. Have you forgotten? You're the zebra." He puts the brush down and reaches into his bag.

"Right, right." I remember. Hafiz offers me a carrot. When I pick it up, I let my lips brush his flat palm. He said once that he liked that. I like carrots. They're sweet, and I like the texture. So crunchy. We don't have them very often. It's a treat. I must have been good. I know I'm the only one he has, but I really am a very good donkey for Hafiz. I'm an excellent donkey. I'm sure I'll make a very fine zebra. I'll do my best. I think if I concentrate on the thought of a zebra in my mind, I'll be able to feel it in my body. Become a zebra. I think... . "Wait, Hafiz?"

"Yes?" He moves the brush up to my neck and sweeps down to my shoulders. I like the feel of the bristles. They get just past my coat, and I can feel them on my skin. I could fall asleep like this.

"My things. Why are we taking my things?"

Hafiz stops with the brush and walks to my face. He holds it in his hands and presses his forehead against mine. "You have to stay there, habibi. That's how it works."

"Stay? But only during the day, yes? When the children are there?"

"At night too," he says, and goes back to sweeping the brush across my flank. I look down at my front feet and see a soapy gray mess has pooled in the dirt. This is turning my floor into mud. I don't like it.

"But I live here," I say quietly. "I live here with you."

"Think of the others." He puts the brush down and picks up the towel. He dries me swiftly, as though there is no time to waste. "What would they think if I treated you differently? If I treat you like you are special, then it might make them feel bad, yes?"

"But I am special," I say, mostly to myself. Hafiz laughs, and now I'm embarrassed. I don't like when he laughs at me. I'm not meant to be funny. It reminds me of when I was smaller and wasn't used to the length of my legs, or the time when he put that bow on my tail and all the goats said I was his girlfriend. I remember yelling at them, He's going to eat you all! "I AM SPECIAL!" I bray, much louder than I intend. I don't like my voice when it's loud. To me it sounds like unrestrained honking, and nobody takes me seriously when I do it.

"Of course, habibi. Very special." I can hear his words spread out the way they do when he's smiling, as he picks up his jars of white and black paint. Of course I am a joke to him. Let him see me stop carrying things, and then he will know.

Hafiz walks me to the zoo. It's a short distance down the road from the small plot of land where he keeps my stable and where we have always lived. The sign for the zoo is actually remade from the old sign. It's a long piece of wood with a crack that runs the length of it, and Hafiz has tried to cover the old name. It used to say GAZA ZOO, carved into the wood in block letters. Hafiz has painted over the carving in black and done his own sign in bright yellow. It says HADIQAT AL HAYAWANAT FOR SUNNY DAYS. The lettering was done by hand, and the paint is flaking off. The carved letters still show through. I don't want to hurt his feelings, so I say nothing, but Hafiz could have done better. He could have tried a little harder.

But there is a breeze bringing the scent of blossoms from the olive tree nearby, and the sun is warming my back. This could be nice.

Excerpted from What We Fed to the Manticore Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri. Published with permission from Tin House. Copyright (c) 2022 by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri.