The Villain

Let's greeted our villain in this story, Re.

A young loner gorilla with seven years of experience living on the earth. His dad died early and mom was unable to protect him from her lover's ruthless behavior. At a very young age, half-dead, he was saved by humans and sent to his new house. Where his so-called foster-human-mother, Nenna, spoiled him with tons of delicious fruits and sometimes insects. Even though, Re was never favored one. He thinks those bugs were giggling like a jelly with too much acid, didn't tasty at all, yuck! 

And even a villain like Re comes with a story. A beginning and an ending, the unfavorable beginning. Unwanted here and there, eventually Re found his place. A loner of his own with only Nenna accompanying once in a while. He likes the big room for his own. No scratch, no barbaric male gorilla, no flirty-horny female gorilla, and no competition to show who's stronger. It just the days with peace and wonders. 

He was the villain. In this life, many days he claimed as the most selfish gorilla living this earth. Long enough to make it clear that one and only he needed was himself. If there was no one for him then he would gladly be his own master and friend. 

Was he the villain or the protagonist? Where was the judgment laid upon? 

*

I hate your arrogancy. I, even more, hate my stupidity.

I guess that I deserved it, to be slaughtered. A piece of me wasn’t important, my emotion was nothing because intelligence never belongs to me. I didn’t want to lose or fight to win. All I want was to found myself and live with peace after. Not to be remembered, not to be written in history, not to be part of the glory. I am not Firework!

We were not part of this system. An outcast of their big story, so? Was it important? Being big and glorious, Why? Have you asked your heart? What was important for you? Have you face it and deal with it? the failure. Have you wonder, why was it so terrifying? Those failures of ours? Whether was it stupidity or integrity, it still indeed, part of me.

There were thousands of questions I like to ask the whole human on this earth. For your prestige, you killed living beings and labeled them with artificial brand and reputation. Bag, wallet, shoes, and all you claimed as ‘Lux’, was it that important? You robbed their home, claimed the land, and share nothing. You ate their flesh, offspring, and murdered their clan. Wasn’t it enough to hunt them and filled your stomachs? Are you sure you need more?

Ahh, blame me for my mistake. Indeed, you need more. That was why you called yourself a ‘Human being’. At least, could you stop being so hypocritical? Stop acting like the protagonist when you are the villain. Admit that you killed those crocodiles for bags and your so-called ‘dignity’. The dignity that I guess you never had. Money all you have, then what?

You were all alone, but not and never be. From the very beginning until the edge of your story, one body remains. Stayed with you with all cost. Then one soul cheered at you with all it has. Your body and your soul fighting as yourself and your friend. Even when you were not the protagonist of this whole big story, but you still and always the important variable of your own story.

The earth revolves around you, a center of your mind and imagination. Raised up and heal, misery would not last forever. You were part of it all. All the characters are written by the system. The villain was also an important variable, didn’t you know that? And for whom this story was written? Shall we end this with the empty bottles too?

I heard stories from the one passing by, from the keeper that afraid of me, from the caretaker that feed me, from the mothers of children that screamed at me. When I hid from the burning sun of that equatorial island and those crocodiles next to me mocked each other’s karma. ‘One day, they will turn you to be that bag’ they said. Or when some of the kids brought with them eggs passed by the chicken cage, wasn’t it too ruthless? And today they said, I would be sent to a new home, where I could see the snow. A bit far, Nenna said. I want to ask,’ How far?’ but it would be crap, she would not understand me. So, most of the time, I would just stare at her or grinned at her if I was too bored.

It was indeed a-very-long-time that Nenna described. I was stuck in a small cage and feed few times a day. I was not hungry but all these shaking things made all the food I pushed to my stomach flying high, begging for freedom. They hardly demonstrate down there. Some burned the fire others sprayed the water. It mixed like mud. I almost think that I was a mudskipper.

After those uncounted days without Nenna with me, the cage finally moves, hardly. Not just the peristaltic wiggles that mixed my stomach but the shakes like I was carried away. Wherever they took me to, but the door finally opened. A wide room with a great smell. Some human but didn’t look like Nenna waved at me, asked me to came closer. The sun was set, I guessed. It was dark outside, but soon as the front gate opened the breeze of frozen air greeted me. I believe it was Jack Frost. Nenna once told me his story. She said I would meet him here.

So this was what-so-called freezing. Funnily, I liked it. Then I stepped outside, crawled over the floor, and smells sweet-strange things but better than the smell of those rats. Then I made bigger steps and bigger—bigger.

It was Huge!! I screamed. I mean, I was happy, but that human seems not clever enough to understand me. They were panicked and asked me to calm down. It was funny, I want scares them out but I was too tired. So I stopped there and sleep.

A girl called Ellie said she would be my caretaker here, but just like Nenna, she afraid of me. Unlike Nenna, she smiles brightly, repeated the word ‘not afraid and ‘I-am-good-person’ and ‘friend’ like a spell every time she came. She just too dumb so I played the same trick as Nenna taught me.

Put both of my hands up and said ‘Arrrrgghhhh’. But unlike Nenna, Ellie would be terrified and run away every time I did it. Curious, very curious.

I counted no days I was here. the wind was getting colder and colder but the snow that Nenna told me hasn’t come yet. So that night I shook the fence and asked the keeper about the snow. They didn’t seem to understand as I guessed. Instead of gave me an answer, they shoot me with a gun that made me feel so sleepy.

Whatever was it, indeed they had better cage here. There was no fence or glass outside. They separated me and the kids by the small river. I didn’t hate water, not bad. It just, the kids here screamed and act like barbaric. A plethora of them threw at me bananas, apples, and bottles. Once I threw the banana back but then I got to shoot again for that, so I let it be.

One kid climbed up and stood over the wall. He shouted at me for nothing I could understand. He wiggled his ugly butt to my face. I wonder what was his mother used to feed him. Either stupid or just a jerk and the other kid followed. I was unable to control my laughter. They were too silly to be human and I was too busy to laugh. Before then, one kid slipped down and fell off to the pond. The crowd of grasp was irritating the wind and the screams after evaporating to the air of catastrophic eerie. I was panicked as the kid didn’t move. So, I ran over to check him. I lifted his body and took him somewhere dry and clear like Nenna did when she saved me. I shook his body then he started to cry. I smile proudly and a bang squeaked my ear. A hard rock hit my head, I wonder what was it, but all coming after was the dark.

*

And that was the ending of our villain. A mischievous loner that never able to show what's on his mind. Dead out of the fear of humans that saved him. Like the other day when the rain comes, Re laid there, motionless under the sparkles of November snow. He didn't wait for the snow to finish or let his eyes wander around to found a shelter. He just opened his eye and stared at the bright sky when only darkness he could see.