A Scientist discovers an ape that can speak English

in #twentyfourhourshortstory6 years ago (edited)

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It was on the headline of last night’s news, and a recall was being played on the radio as we rode out in Dad’s car to school this Monday morning.

Scientist discovers an ape that can speak English…

“Rubbish,” was what Dad spat, “Filling the masses with nonsense, so they can cast their thoughts away from the issues that really matter. The focus should be on the down trail of moral decadence that has eaten deep into the roots of our nation. English-speaking monkey, what do they take us for, children?”

And that was the end of it.

No one uttered a word in support or refute, not Tanya who was too busy browsing the chemical infused hair-dyes less likely to cause brain cancer, not Mom, picking out the imaginary white hairs from the base of her plaited braids.
Dad had the right opinion of everything, and like most traditional homes, he stood unopposed or circumstantially ignored.

I, on my part, had nothing to add, but if I had known what was to happen within the next 48 hours, I probably would have warned him not to be so sure of himself.

The day ended faster than it ever had, and everything I did seemed to have been done in a pace to quicken my venture into the little adventure I was yet to embark on.

We (Tanya and I) lived too close to school to take the bus back home, and so we (I and my bestfriend, Jonathan) walked instead. Tanya had other engagements, and so usually came home much later than I did.

Other engagements meaning boys and gossips.
I had no mind for that. I had a new video game I had just downloaded, and every minute of my waking hour- not spent doing homework and chores, was spent on it. I had almost mastered the map, and the level five which was ultimately the hardest to get across would be a piece of cake, and soon as I found my way around the map of the Ice maze. This, I was saying to Jonathan, when he suggested I drop by at his place to help with installing his.

He lived not too far off from where we did, but his side of the town was much closer to the nearest city than ours was. And so that meant it would take a while to for me to get back home as more commercial vehicles were inclined in that direction. This, I also pointed out to him, and he assured me that his elder brother was going to drive us (he promised to come with) back to my place, right in time.

Mom comes back home much earlier than Dad, and I reckoned I still had about two hours-thirty minutes before I was in danger of returning home after she had.

To save time, we took a shuttle to his house, but on the route to his place, we met a traffic jam that stretched as far as our eyes could see, a strange sight in this side of town. I suggested we come down, and trek the rest of the journey, but the driver who was not disposed to part with a naira less of his entitled fare decided he knew a shorter route through the street, leading to the exact junction of our destination.

*What, he might even drop us off at our front gate.”

At that point, I turned to Jonathan, and he shrugged.


Twenty minutes later, we were still rounding the familiar buildings of the areas I could have sworn we had already gone through, but the driver refused to accept that he obviously didn’t know the road as well as he had thought.
Which left the other possible scenario ringing in my head.

Then, I, already swelling in anger, yelled that he drop us off, or risk we yelling for help. I hadn’t thought about it until then, but it became strangely suspicious that two thirteen-year-olds were the only passengers of a bus that could comfortably sit ten persons.

He opined that we allow him drop us off at the next junction. But I wasn’t going to ride in his car any longer. Jonathan, starting to see my reasons backed me up, and we decided to ask around for the road leading out of where we stood.


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Sweating, dry-tongued and aching, we made it the point we had originally started from, we parted then, and I wanted nothing more than to take the first bus leading back to my house.
And I did. After waiting twenty minutes under the scorching sun.


It was a normal commercial bus, packed by the roadside, it seemed to have only one occupant – the driver, and I walked up to the driver’s side of the window just as the driver was revving up the engine, to move.

I asked where he was going, and if I could ride with him, he looked me up, and threw his face back on the road like I had merely been a disturbance, a passing fly, and then he told me to get in.

The first thing that hit me as I settled into the front seat was the musty smell of the car. I scrunched up my face, my nose assaulted by the unexpected smell.

Closing the door, the corner of my eye caught a black cloth, and for the first time, I noticed that half the row of chairs at the back of the bus had been removed, and all that was left was a huge black cloak.

“Eyes on the road, boy.” The driver warned, and suddenly it struck me of how learned he sounded, and how dirty he appeared in contrast.

I was barely a minute away from where I was to drop off, and so I tied up my tongue, wanting nothing else than to be rid of him, and his offsetting appearance.

He had on what I thought was engine oil-stained brown overalls, and a slacked years-whipped polo that Tanya wouldn’t even touch with a yardstick. He continually nibbled on his lower lip, and when he spoke, mostly muttering to himself. I could see the color of the stench emitting from his mouth.

“Here. I’ll - “

There was a grunt at my back, my words hung and dispersed into the air. The man swore, swerving the car to the left.

Stunned, I looked back, and literally saw black.

The sound came before the darkness. I felt the sharp pain, but I saw the eyes before the blackout.

The huge orange eyes.


I woke up with a vague recollection of what had happened, my head throbbed, and I bit back tears. I looked around and saw next to nothing. It was the kind of darkness that’d make you reach out to touch your eyes to be sure you still had them, and I didn’t need the rumbling of my stomach to tell me I had been out for hours.
I culled up, and did what every reasonable boy my age would have done.

I began to cry.

“That’s not needed here, boy.” Came an unnerving voice, and I wiped my tears with the back of my palms. I spoke more courageously than I felt.

“You’re going to jail. I’ll make sure my Dad has you locked up. I know my rights, and I know this is kidnapping.”

He laughed, and coolly said, “You’re no freer than I am right now.” Which didn’t make sense until I reached out and felt the iron rails.

I stood up, feeling my palms around them, I let the iron rods guide me, searching for where the lock was positioned. And that was when it hit me, the smell, that musky smell.

I got closer to the source of the voice, daring my senses. I reached out, and touched –furs!
I screamed.

And I felt heavy big hands grab me, pushing me to the ground, and the covering my mouth, drowning my screams in my lungs.

“Shut up. He’ll know we’re awake.”

No sooner had he said that, the lights came on, and I witness the scariest thing ever, which left me mum and gasping for air.

A huge mammalian hovered over me, beating its chest like it was going to pound me into the ground, my eyes hadn’t gotten accustomed to the light, and so all I could make out was shifty figures of sharp colors, and the towering figure, with the fiercest set of eyes, and largest nostrils I had seen, with two fist raised over its head.


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“You don’t deceive me Harriot.” He said.

The exact same voice of the thing that was in the cage with me.

“We both know you’re more human than beast, and we both know that you did what you did intentionally. You wanted me humiliated, that’s why you did it.”

Slowly l turned, my sight regaining, and there it stood imposingly over me, its large yellow teeth bare, panting and blowing out air from the holes on its face.

“Oh hoo ahh haa.” It said, inching closer to the cage and banging on it. That’s where we were. I and the ape, locked up in a cage, in the middle of what appeared to be an abandoned store house. The man who had driven the bus stood, slightly bent, looking as dejected as Uncle Temi had looked, when he came home with the news of the loan sharks being after him.

“Speak you fool! We both know you can.” His voice way icy, filled with hate and impatience.

It wasn’t my imagination. The ape really spoke, with the same voice as the man who kidnapped me, it really did speak.

I pulled myself off the ground, and lunged at the object of my containment. “Let me out!” I screamed repeatedly, with wetness from my eyes and nose running down my face.

The man looked to have only noticed my presence, like he wasn’t the one who had kept me locked up with a beast.

He smirked. Then he turned to the Ape he called Harriot, “If that’s how you want to play it.”

He walked towards the cage, and made to put his hands into his pockets, I heard the faint jingle of keys, and almost breathed with relief, when he came closer and grabbed me by the scruff of my school shirt, then I felt the cold blade on my neck.

It was a flicker, but I saw it, a slight waning of his eyes. But then the fierceness was back, it roared, and hit the cage so hard that it shook, I felt the sharp pain on my neck, as the blade bit into my skin.

The mad man laughed, “You’re only hurting him,” he said, driving the blade deeper into my flesh. “I worked on you for the half part of my life. Sacrificed everything I had for you, I made you into a revolution, and this is how you would repay me? Make me a laughing stock in front of the whole world.”

The puzzle started to piece themselves in my head, the holdup on the road, everyone rushing to get somewhere, the buzz. Then I remembered the radio announcement, the words I had unwontedly tuned out. The conference. But something must have gone terribly wrong. And now, I was to bear the brunt.
I closed my eyes for a second. This was what death really felt like, dying helplessly.

Albeit pathetically, in my case, at the mercy of an ape.

I looked up, to meet Harriot staring down at me, big round orange eyes.

The blood from my neck was dripping down to my shoulder. Its eyes trailed the red stains, and for a moment I imagined him carnivorous, but then his shoulders slumped.

“Get the recorder,” Harriot said, “Let the boy go. I’m ready.”


My Entry into @mctiller 24-hours short story competition

Photo Credits: Pixabay (free images)

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OMG, what a story @debbietiyan. How do you come up with this fiction thing? I just loved reading it and very happy to see that you finally got some rewards for all the efforts you were putting in and there are more to come, just keep doing what you love consistently.

It's like watching a movie in your head, you don't think - just write.

Thank you for reading, I'm so glad you liked it. I will, I will :)

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haha. brilliant ending. brilliant writing as usual, Debbie.

Aww, thank you soooo much!

Awesome post, i couldnt stop reading, it had in it, suspense, intrigue and action. You should write a bunch of goosebumps edition

Thank you so much!
Hehe, I probably will ;)

Have you heard about @steemitschool?

I must have. You run it, right?

Okay, I will. Thanks :)

Wow nice post, good job 👍👏
&
I upvote you🙂, also follow you 🙄
upVote & follow me please 😊

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