The Zurich Lizard Club (Founded Without Permission)

More about The Zurich Lizard Club (Founded Without Permission)

They did not intend to start a club. It happened the way most serious institutions happen: by accident, laughter first, rules later.

Nati was supposed to be watching her sister. Little Galena was supposed to be practicing her letters. Instead, they were both on the checkered floor by the window, negotiating with two lizards who seemed to have opinions about everything.

The blue one—long, glossy, and clearly convinced of its own elegance—refused to sit anywhere except the sunlit square near the door. The horned one preferred being held, as if it were a medal rather than an animal. Galena laughed so hard she had to sit down. Nati tried to look responsible and failed completely.

“We need rules,” Nati said, still laughing.
Galena nodded solemnly. “Rule one: no stepping on tails.”

They wrote it down on the back of a bread wrapper.

Rule two followed quickly: lizards are allowed to listen, even if they pretend not to. Rule three: laughter is mandatory at meetings. Rule four was added after the horned one climbed into Nati’s hat and refused to come out—hats are provisional habitats.

By afternoon, the Zurich Lizard Club had a name, two members, two honorary members with scales, and a headquarters defined by wherever the floor was warmest. Galena insisted on titles. Nati became Keeper of Minutes, even though she never wrote them. Galena became Chairwoman of Everything.

People passing the window saw only two girls laughing at nothing in particular. They could not see the seriousness of it: the careful attention, the way Galena whispered secrets to the blue lizard, the way Nati listened as if the future had leaned in closer.

By evening, the club adjourned. No one officially closed it. They understood, without saying so, that it would continue tomorrow, and the day after, and quietly for years—whenever someone small decided that care, curiosity, and laughter were reason enough to begin.