23 Jan Short story Mascot – Kiko

Ño! Cuidado con la panther!

Libraries are often depicted as buildings of silence and secrets help within their bookshelves. People aren’t fond of them because they seem to restrain rather than inspire. But this library was different. It was different because people were able to exchange ideas and have a well-toned conversation about the things they had read. It was a vibrant place filled with students excited to learn more and more every day. This was the all-new Green library from Florida International University.

The 1970s was an era of creativity and color. Everyone had a project to tear down walls and create disruptiveness in the industry with break-through ideas that would revolutionize the way we do things. The developer of the FIU campus was no exception. They were exploring ways to build outside of the norm; creating architecture that would inspire everyone to open their minds to learning, thinking and creating content. When they build the Green library, they had a concept that went beyond the architecture and dwelled into the functionality of it. This focused on the layout of every floor as it was built.

Caroll Adven was Chief Engineer of the Green library project. He was a General in the front lines; moving back and forth between unfinished floors and hazardous wood planks that served as informal bridges for 70ft drops. To get an appointment with him, you would have to sign a liability waiver, wear contraction attire, and hop on a golf cart that would take you to the construction site where you would have to follow Mr. Adven’s assistant up the floors in some sort of ritual that seemed like you were making your way up a mountain to meet with the leader of the beehive. For Ana Gutierrez, this was definitely a horrible inconvenience. She was afraid of heights and hated the idea of having to inhale dust – not to mention being covered in it. But Ana’s job was to interview every head of staff for the brand identity project she was performing for FIU. Ana worked in the marketing department at Bloomingdales, excelling in bringing new innovative ways of revenue streams to the company. When the FIU developer showcased their project, Ana knew she needed to be part of it. She was now FIU’s most famous employee.

Ana had an important task that had all eyes on her. She was in charge of creating the university’s mascot.

Everywhere she went, people at the campus would ask her:

“Ana! How is the research going?  Did you find it yet? It should be a T-rex, I tell ‘ya! Trust me!” – co-worker, Finance dept.

“Ha! Yeah, right! We have to bring people in, not scare them away, Javi!” – Ana replied.

Ana couldn’t walk 100 feet without receiving an informal proposal for a mascot. She had become used to it, so she saw it more as a compliment than a burden.

“Important leaders are constantly being bothered. I might not be THAT important, but it is somewhat of a compliment. “  - Ana said to those who asked.

Mr. Adven was one of the last people she needed to interview. In her head, she had an idea of what everything was coming down to. Although it couldn’t be disclosed, everything was leaning towards the Great Egret. The egret was a beautiful white skinny bird whose long yellow beak often dug through the campus’ grass in search of worms and food. These egrets were everywhere in Florida, and especially in FIU.

FIU’s location was prime, but at the moment it was very isolated as well. The forecasts for real estate growth had indicated that in a couple of years, FIU campus would be surrounded by many buildings – but not today. Today was a sweaty day in 1976, which made the dust issue a lot more unpleasable for Ana. Luckily today, she was not on the highest floors. It seems like Mr. Adven was taking care of PVC pipping issues in the lower floors, which was just perfect since at least she knew she would die from dust inhalation and not from a terrible 70ft fall into an abyss of steel rigs.

Mr. Adven was quick at answering her questions as he interrupted to shout orders to workers at other floor levels. Ana wasn’t sure why he wasn’t using his radio but it seemed like that’s how things worked in the construction site. Midway through the interview, the hazard alarm sounded. A loud bang could be heard in a mix sight of workers jumping from lowers floors into the trash bins at ground level. Other hurtled objects down, almost as if they were trying to hit something in desperation. Mr Adven finally used his radio only to here static.

All of the sudden a voice comes into the frequency:

“This is 10-2, 10-2, we have a panther.” – A voice shouted through the radio.

Mr. Adven, almost perplexed to what he had heard, ask for a repeat.

This time, the voice wasn’t so stable.

“10-2, we have a fucking panther going up the stairs! Workers use blockage!” – the voice shouted.

“A panther?” – Ana claimed almost in disbelief.

But once she realized it could be true, she felt a cold shiver down her spine and almost immediately a particular silent that isolated all the chaos that was going on at ground level and the other floors. Mr. Adven grabbed Ana by the collar and pulled her behind him, as he held a steel bar for self-defense. It was just him, her and four other workers paralyzed as the panther moved on through the floor, almost as if not caring for the presence of others. Ana’s heart stopped. She was feeling like this would be a fight-or-flight situation. The panther walked by and immediately jumped down and grabbed a lunch box from a worker, jumping off the site and running back into the wilderness. Everyone couldn’t believe what just happened.

“Shit, boss. I’ve seen raccoons, but a fucking panther!? Jesus Christ!” – A worker shouted.

Ana was silent. She couldn’t believe what she experienced. This panther had ran up the construction site and walked around almost as if it was the owner of the project; scaring Mr. Adven himself. The panther ruled the area – it was the true boss.

“Oh my god! That’s it!” – Ana exclaimed.

“A Panther! A Florida Panther!” – Ana said.

Mr. Adven finally let out a breath of air in relief and laughter.

“You’re right, Ana. You’re damn right. That should be our mascot. The true native.” – Mr Adven said.

From that day forward, the Florida panther became FIU’s mascot and most famous incident in the history of the university. A symbol of strength and respect, held by every alumni that walks through the entry arc of the campus.