The Monkey Who Knew Too Much
Grop wasn’t an especially gifted chimp.
As far as his jungle troop went, he was mediocre in every sense. His climbing skills were lacking. Nimble chimps like Ophy were far better at reaching the fruits high up in the jungle canopies. He also wasn’t the fastest - that title belonged to Nuk-Nuk, a slender chimp that had been known to outrun even the fiercest of predators. And Grop certainly wasn’t the strongest - undoubtedly his brother, the great and powerful Ung was the strongest of the troop. A temperamental chimp, Grop had once seen Ung tear a rival alpha’s arm clean off before stomping on him to death. In his defense, the rival had thrown feces in his direction. Not only was Ung the leader, but he also had a harem of mates to choose from. Thrusting from dawn til dusk only stopping for the occasional piece of fruit.
Like the other males in the troop, he too tried to hump but it had become particularly difficult to find a mate that wasn’t already claimed by Ung or the others. He did have his eye on one female in heat, Emba, but she was killed by the same pesky Jaguar that had been stalking them for weeks. It made their foraging parties particularly tumultuous. Food was growing scarce now that they had to be constantly checking over their shoulders. Grop’s shortcomings were becoming more noticeable. The troop was a delicate commune. If you didn’t contribute then you were taking and if you were taking, you were an enemy. And if you were an enemy? Well, that also meant you were food. Grop himself had feasted on the old, weak, or feeble on occasion. One way or another, you were going to contribute to the troop.
One afternoon, Ung led a foraging party of males into the heart of the jungle. The seasonal torrent of rain had briefly stopped, offering a prime opportunity. Heavy rains brought the scents of the Jungle to life and a chimp could smell ripe fruit or an anthill or beatle colony over 5 klicks away. Grop brought up the rear of the group, carefully surveying the sights and smells so as not to miss an opportunity to contribute. Ung growled and barked at him occasionally for slowing them down.
Eventually, the troop reached a small clearing amongst the dense thicket of trees. They all began searching the area, finding an occasional grub or crawling morsel to slurp down. A few paces in, the troop watched as Ophy began grunting excitedly, jumping up and down on his knuckles. Ung trotted over, offering his own bellowing OooOooo. Grop and the rest of the troop joined them at the base of the tallest Musa tree that any of them had ever encountered. Tucked under one of its splayed green leaves at the top, a massive bushel of perfectly ripe bananas –– enough to feed the entire troop for a week.
Ung quickly tried to scale the thick trunk, only making it a short way before slipping down. He pounded his fists into the ground in frustration. Ophy was next. Surely, if any of them could climb this giant it was Ophy. He confidently mounted the tree, scaling its side but his footing gave way, tumbling down the tree into the damp ground below. The chimps jumped and hollered in frustration.
All but Grop, who crawled up to the tree and placed his palm against the bark. The rain had made it slick and difficult for even the most agile of climbers to ascend. Next to the trunk lay one of the Musa tree’s large leaves, a casualty of the incessant wind and rain. Grop picked up the leaf. Using it as a makeshift grip, he boldly began the climb. Ung and the others cheered loudly. Grop’s quick thinking had him so close to the fruit that he could taste it. Yet the higher he got, the more the wind picked up. The giant tree bent left to right. His grip loosened and he fell into the ground with a CRASH splashing mud on Ung’s furious face. Ung howled and stomped on his brother as the others cheered. One way or another, they would get their meal.
The cheering stopped when suddenly, a low growl came from the dense thicket. In a flash of spots, the Jaguar leaped in the air, its massive fangs sinking into Ophy’s neck. The troop hollered and sprinted away. Grop tried to follow but his leg had taken the brunt of the fall –– he hobbled on three limbs unable to find the troop through the dense jungle.
All alone with the jaguar at his back, Grop continued his trot for what seemed like hours. The sun would be setting soon. Shelter, food, and rest were needed yet the Troop encampment was nowhere in sight. As night began to fall, so too did the rain. Grop’s damp fur offered little protection. He shivered from the cold as his stomach twisted in pains of hunger. If the jaguar didn’t get him, the cold or exhaustion would make short work of him. Nature has a way of piling it on.
After scraping his knuckles along the jungle floor for hours, a stroke of luck – Grop came upon a babbling brook. He hurried over, drinking water by the handful. Adjacent to the vegetation, lay a small cave entrance carved into the brush. A primate would normally avoid such a shelter given the risk, but Grop had no choice – he escaped the rain and stepped into the dark void.
A few feet into the cave, Grop’s nose was aflame. It was an unfamiliar scent yet wildly inviting. He crawled with his face towards the ground until at last, he came upon the source –– a cluster of bloomed mushrooms sprouting from the cave floor. Nature had already chosen for him. Poisonous or not, he would starve soon. Grop pulled a fistful of the mushrooms and chewed on them ravenously. After finishing the whole lot, he rested against the cave wall, hoping to regain strength beside the calming sound of rain into the brook.
Grop awoke to the faint sound of a whistle. Through blinking eyes, he saw the cave’s walls swaying like a tree in the wind. Grop leaned forward to inspect the wall and gently reached out a finger. As he pressed into the stone, the whistling grew louder and the rocky walls began to ripple like the surface of water, vibrant colors emanating with every wave. He recoiled in fear as the cave itself seemed to come to life.
The rippling had stopped as the limestone wall had turned into a shimmering mirror where Grop’s reflection stared back at him. Grop howled and jumped–yet his reflection remained calm. The reflection rose from his knuckles and began walking across the cave walls on two feet. Grop followed cautiously as the reflection grabbed two stones and began striking them against each other. The sparks birthed an ember that bathed the entire cave in light. Grop watched in awe as the reflection continued walking, its appearance changing at a rapid pace. Its fur had thinned and its thumb started to move slowly up the arm until a bare hand had formed.
This walking, bare monkey held the ember on a stick as behind him the jungle and Grop’s encampment came into view. Soon the trees of the dense jungle started falling away leaving wide grassy clearings where structures of mud and sticks began to take shape. More and more, the trees fell replaced by huts of stick and stone.
The walking monkey had multiplied and was now covered in cloth. Its ember had been shared widely and the huts of stick & stone were quickly replaced by larger ones, then larger still, until the jungle had morphed into a sprawl of giant metallic trees that Grop looked at in awe. Thousands of these clothed, walking monkeys hurried in front of the metallic trees, all with their heads tilted down towards colorful stones that they each held in their hands that seemed to shine as brightly as the sun.
Then in an instant, the whistling had stopped. The magnificent display dancing upon the cave walls had melted away and all that remained was Grop’s hairy reflection, holding a stick with a flame at the end of it. While the reflection faded, the flame had not and while the cave had returned to its original form, Grop was now holding a stick with a flame at the end of it.
The rain had subsided and dawn was breaking. With flame in hand, Grop carefully rose on his hind legs and waddled into the jungle.