5 May 2012

The Chimpanzee of Lewe was a very social chimp, with many friends, a devoted mother, a strong father. She loved to play. Shew would play all sorts of games, climbing, chasing, wrestling, anything. As long as it was fun. She had a friend called Koko. Koko was her best friend. Never could you see one without the other. They ate together, played together, hid together, slept together. They were both young in the chimp world. Maybe three years old. They had so much fun.

Then, one day, there was something wrong. The birds were on edge and alarm calls were coming from all directions. The chimpanzees climbed up high. Her and Koko still together. Their mothers soothed them and they fell asleep, snoring gently. It seemed to have quietened down. But a loud bang filled the air and Kokos mother fell from the tree. Koko screamed and there was chaos. Koko leapt from the tree to her mothers side, desperately shaking her, begging, pleading. But it was no use, Kokos mother was gone. Dead. Some strange creatures appeared from the bush. Towering over Koko uthey forced her into a sack, ignoring the screams. Then they turned their attention to the raging chimpanzees above. The Chimpanzee of Lewe could only watch in horror.

Eventually she and her mother were all that were left. A single creature stepped forth. It held up a sharp metal object, not the one used to massacre the others. Her mothers head hit the floor with a thud. She let out a mourneful cry as they ripped her from the limp arms of her mother. They laughed as they shoved her bodily into another sack. She was in a trance. Never again would she fall asleep to the soft cooing of her mother. Never again would she sit happily as her mother groomed her. Never again. Because she was dead. Like everyone else. Dead.

What she remembered of her time in that sack was confusing. Being roughly shoved into a small space, hearing a roar like thunder, then being bumped around on a cold metal surface. When the sack was opened, the harsh bright light stung her eyes. A large hairless creature looked in. She was lifted out of the sack and thrown into a crate. The crate had airholes which she looked through, to see many more chimps recieving the same treatment. She searched for Koko among the crowd, she called for him. No answer.

A large, winged metal object came into view and all the crates were placed inside, stacked, one on top of the other. A huge roar filled her ear and she felt they were moving. They gathered speed and she felt sick dripping through from the crate above. Her ears popped and she screeched in pain. Unable to stop herself being sick too. She felt light headed, thirsty, desperate for water. She looked in her crate, there was none. She screamed, trying to reach above the noise of the other chimps, and the roar of the plane. No response and she passed out on the floor.

When she woke she was strapped to a chair in the blazing sun. Her skin was cracking. She had sunglasses on her eyes and an orange shirt on. Her throat burned and her stomach growled really loud. She looked around for food or water, drawing the attention of a man sat on a chair nearby. He put a bottle of clear in her and and she drank readily. She immediately dropped it though as her throat was searing in agony and she puked again. Whatever that was, it wasnt water. The man shouted angrily before going over and jabbing a syringe in her arm. Minutes later she was feeling funny. She saw two of everything and she no longer felt any sensations from her empty stomach. Her ears were ringing and the frequent flashes and frequent hugs she was recieving from different creatures hurt. She screamed in pain as the effects wore off and she felt again the raw, burning pain in her neck and she was coming up in a rash where the needle was injected. She begged the creature for food and he threw a banana at her. She took one bite and fell to the floor, still tied to the chair. She convulsed, foaming at the mouth, screaming in pain. She was sick again and bit her tongue as another spasm rocked her body. Blood filled her mouth and spilled onto the baked ground below. She convulsed one last time, holding a fleeting image of her old home in her mind, before she died. At the age of three, The Chimpanzee Of Lewe was dead.

TommyWalshThe Chimpanzee Of Lewe • Opuss № I