Home Lost

The steel bars encaging him were unforgiving. Realizing the door was his only way to escape, he tried to force the lock, but his attempts were in vain. He couldn’t understand why these humans treated him this way. He hasn’t done anything to them, not really. He looked through the dimly lit room around him. It was bare, except for empty cages next to his. He sat on the floor and felt it swaying, as the ship sailed out in unknown waters.

He lost track of time since he was brought on board, but he can recount his last days before this voyage began. He was sitting at the top of a mountain, where he called home. There was no shelter to protect him from the elements. There were only freshly cut palm leaves laid out, making a nest for him to sleep in. He didn’t mind if it rained or if it was cold. To him raindrops felt as if heaven had come down from the sky to touch him. But that day wasn’t one of them.

There was a mist over the ocean for as far as he could see, but as for the sky, it was cloudless. He waited until the sun broke the horizon and when it arrived, it painted a picture of brilliant colors as they cascaded across the sky. He watched in awe as the sun continued to rise, and as it did, it slowly faded out the picture it had just created. It was over.

A pang in his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten, so he climbed down the mountain, entering the jungle below him. The jungle was abundant in fruits and he had eaten his fill in short order. Well beaten paths laid before him and he began to traverse them, not having a destination in mind. He followed a narrower path and came to a tee in the road. He was about to turn right, which would have taken him back home, but then he heard the drums calling.

“They have a gift for me.”

It wasn’t the first time they offered one to him and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

“It’s always the same give, though.”

At first, it strikes his interest and he was curious as how it would react to his administrations, but in the end, he would get bored and dispose of the gift. At times, he thought of ignoring the drums and not accepting the gift, but curiosity always won out. So, instead of turning right, he turned left, heading towards the sound of the drums.

As he came closer to the source to the drumbeats, the sound of voices chanting could be heard. An occasional shrill called out and then there was a scream.

“My gift.”

The path eventually led to a clearing where a great wall stood and on the other side of that wall, was the source to the drums. The wall was constructed of tall trees lashed tightly together. They were too tall to scale, and he never had any reason to do so.

Though he has never seen the bearers of the gifts, he knew they were there, for they always hang his gift from a long pole that extended over the wall. This time was no different. Dangling from the pole was a woman no larger than a doll screaming her lungs out. But on closer observation, he realized this doll was different. Instead of the usual color of earth and mud, this one was the color of sun-bleached bones. He reached over and snapped the cords holding his gift and carried her back to his home.

When he got to his nest, he placed her down gently. Of course, she didn’t sit still. She tried to run off, but when she did, he brushed her back to the center of the nest. As soon as he lifted his hand from her, she would try running again. The game continued for over an hour before his prize gave up. Exhausted, she laid there, glaring up at his face.

“Perhaps this gift is different in more ways than it looks. I need to test this toy. Play with it. See how far it can go before to breaks.” But for now, it was time to rest and he decided to wait until the next sunrise. For some reason unknown to him, he wanted to share it with her. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. He could hardly wait for the next day.

 Later that night a gentle breeze brushed across his cheek awakening him. He looked to where his gift was lying and found the spot empty. A surge of adrenalin shot through him and he jumped to his feet.

“Where is she?”

He sniffed air and found a faint scent of her lingering in the air. It was all he needed. Charging from his nest, he chased after his prize.

The scent of his prize grew stronger as he neared where he found her to begin with, but now new scents mixed among hers. They were like the scent of his prize, not so different from the those to offer their gifts to him. Still, they were unfamiliar and so many of them.

When he reached the wall, he discovered the scent was strong, and came to realize, somehow, she had breached the obstacle he never considered crossing. Now, it was his only thought. Near the top of the fence, he observed ropes lashing the trees together and he knew, if he tried, he could reach it. He leaped towards the rope and fell short. Again, he tried for his target and still came up short. He eyed his target and jumped with all his might. This time he grasped the twine with one hand and held on, as if for dear life. Realizing he wasn’t going to fall, the grabbed the rope with his other hand. He pulled himself over the fence, leaping to the other side, entering the land of the unknown.

When he hit the ground, he found himself surrounded by a swarm of little men, not much taller than his prize. He tried to swat them away, but they scurried around, like flies on rotted fruited. He tried to take a step forward but found one of his feet lashed to the ground. Somehow, those little men had gotten a rope on him and soon found they had succeeded in lashing his hands and his other foot. Before he knew it, he was at their mercy.

He roared out in anger, but the men were unintimidated by his threats. They continued their efforts in binding him and when they were finished, they dragged him towards the shore, where there was a ship anchored there. It wasn’t long after that he found himself in his cage, sailing to lands unknown.

Time passed, then one day the ship stopped swaying and the sound of the engines ceased. He knew wherever they were headed to, they have arrived. At first, there was silence, but soon, chanting could be heard, as it repeated one word again and again. “Kong.” As this word echoed throughout the ship, he became agitated, but one thing kept him from lashing out. His prize. All this time he knew she was near, for the scent of her never left and he vowed to himself to one day retrieve his prize and return to the mountaintop, which is was home. Be patient,” he thought. “Be patient.”