Chapter 2 - The Monkey Exploded
Ryan looked to his surroundings; Vines, tall thin trees, some winding some straight, surrounded at the base by thick long leafy plants and a muddy mulchy ground beneath foot. The soundscape was vibrant with distant activity, the pitter patter of rain though none fell, the chirping of birds, the calling of creatures Ryan might never be able to put the sounds to. Having spent his entire life within the confines of British council estate and cityscape, Ryan was firmly out of his element. Even still, he had a reassuring tug on his attention; Something was telling him to follow down river, and with no better ideas, he started to walk.
The walking was weird, Ryan stumbled at times, dragged his feet others, and the whole sensation of moving felt unusual. Ryan chalked it up to being naked at first, but as he walked and found his footing again he realised it was something else. Ryan’s body wasn’t like before, it was taller and leaner. He studied his hands and arms and noticed the lack of several scars; The scar on his thumb when he thought he could use a switchblade and fumbled, flipped it and gouged himself. The mark on his wrist where he’d burnt himself playing by a car fire. Looking down he even noticed the scar across his knee, from pulling Darryl over a barbed fence. All of them were gone.
Not used to introspection these oddities were only an interesting spectacle to Ryan; He’d died and come back in what felt to him like minutes, what was losing scars next to such implausibility. So Ryan walked, and kept walking, peering around as queer noises eked nearer and farther. He looked to the distance in front of him, either side of him, then up. Above him was a multi-tiered canopy crossed with vines but only a few branches. Ryan had expected to find birds or critters moving somewhere within his view, but all he caught were bushels, and bundles hypnotically swaying, then hopping from tree to tree.
Ryan’s heart skipped. The bushels were hopping from tree to tree, in fact, they weren’t simply hypnotic, they were circling him. His feet stopped as he took the sight in, and more importantly the sound. Also circling him was an odd “oot”-ing, like a hard stopping monkey call. At first the sound was distant, then specifically pronounced, then drowned out as Ryan’s heart pounded in his ears. Ryan ran.
The “oot”-ing followed him, louder and more active. Struggling to keep his feet beneath himself, Ryan stumbled into trees and through leafy bundles. As Ryan approached a clearing in the trees his unfamiliarity with his body caught up with him, a slight twist turned into a slip and before he could react, Ryan’s legs were soaring, his head was tilting, and the world was rolling around him. Ryan tumbled across the clearing, into the middle of an open patch of greenery. In the shock he had forgotten his panic, and as his heart beat returned to normal, he was again able to pay attention to his surroundings.
The warmth of the sun was nice, though it did beg the question, why does it still sound like rain? Looking around more Ryan noticed how far he strayed from the river, and took a frown as he inwardly chided himself for the panic attack. He had died maybe an hour ago, even walked himself into it, and now he was going to be terrified of shadows in the trees? Ridiculous. He looked up at the tree tops, sure enough the shapes were there, now vaguely lit by the clearing. The shapes were descending slowly, revealing themselves not as bushels but as dark glistening mop-like masses. Every so often a mop swayed out of the way revealing a dog-like face with a lanky monkey body.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Ryan's chest started up again, before his heart could pound in his ears he darted to the floor rummaging for a rock. Finding a flinty stone which fit neatly in his hand Ryan shot back upright.
“The fuck you following me for you damn dirty ape!” Ryan shouted, in petulant outrage.
Tossing the stone without grace it struck the nearest mop, patting into the long mess of hair and falling to the jungle floor harmlessly. Nonetheless, the “oot”-ing climbed to screaming levels, rapid, loud and in clear affront to Ryan’s action. The struck monkey-dog thing clung tight to the tree, but 3 other larger specimens dropped to the ground with tremor inducing slaps. Leaving the trees for the clearing, and approaching Ryan from his front. Ryan whipped about looking for any others dropping, but the crowd remained in the trees.
Ryan took a step away from the larger apes and a loud “OOT!” let out behind him. A quick glance revealing another had dropped closer to the floor, but still clinging to its tree. As if blocking his way, but not outright attacking him. Accepting the situation Ryan grit his teeth and stared down the approaching monkeys. It occurred to Ryan that it was strange he should panic so much when the monkeys were out of reach, but now it had come down to a fight, he was calmer than ever.
“You can’t take them” A voice muttered in Ryan's ear… or was it in his head?
“Shit, not now!” Ryan swatted at the air pointlessly.
“I am here to help, and you can’t take them”
“I can’t outrun them either, and why are you here!?” Ryan shouted in no direction in particular.
“I will always be here, hopefully”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” Ryan muttered under his breath, and let out a huff. “So what, can you help?”
“I can”
“Not this again, how!?”
“Just punch them” The voice replied.
“You are fucking useless!” Ryan barked as he lunged at the centre monkey. Swinging his right arm wide in a fool's idea of a jab, his fist connected.
The monkey exploded. For a brief moment, shooting from Ryan’s fist was a geyser of water, throwing the monkey back across the clearing and into a tree with a painful thwack. Being caught in the periphery of the gush, even the monkeys' tagalongs had been pushed aside. The “oot”-ing stopped. Ryan’s right arm throbbed with pain, then went numb and limp. The silence stretched on, no monkey moving, not even Ryan.
“I’ll fucking do it again!” Ryan shouted, taking a step forwards and raising his left fist.
The monkeys scattered “oot”-ing in their wake, the now dazed and battered monkey being pulled into the trees by his lackey’s.
“What was that?” Ryan asked, but no reply came, only a feeling of distant tiredness.
Ryan couldn’t find it in himself to be upset or even confused, the tired feeling was mutual. He wandered towards the river again, and continued to follow it downstream, with no sense for time he continued wandering and occasionally muttering quietly to prompt the voice to return, but it did not. As light began to escape the jungle, Ryan’s mind wandered to rest and safe places, spotting a huddle of rocks, he walked off from the river, plucked some large leaves from the ground and curled into a muddy, naked, unconscious mess.