Black Tusk

Chapter Three- Annual Village Party

 Tikki torches illuminated the Arcadian forest. Brightly colored birds, as colorful as the surrounding vegetation, congregated to observe the preparations for the party below. Four elephants were helping to construct a wooden ga ga pit, animatedly recounting the rules of the game. Other elephants were setting up a limbo stage, while nearby several okapis were arranging a circle of carved musical instruments. Some of these games had been acquired by spying on human poachers; others had emerged to combat boredom.

Alongi, a five-year-old chimp, was preparing to join his fellow chimps who were waiting for the festivities to begin. "C'mon, honey. One coconut before you go off with the others," his mother, Balela, pleaded. Alongi sighed and proceeded to demolish the coconut in seconds as his mother continued, "And make sure you know where I am at all times, just in case..."

"Mom!" Alongi interrupted. "I have to go. And 'm not a baby anymore." The chimp looked around to ensure that no other ears overheard this exchange.

"My sweet boo boo," Balela smiled obliviously, speaking even louder than before. "You willalways be my baby."

"Mom! I can't believe...Shhh!" Alongi suddenly remembered the question he was meaning to ask before the coconut made its appearance. "By the way," Alongi started. "What do you think about the lemurs coming in? The gorillas seem to think they'll ruin everything."

Balela put her hand on his shoulder with a meaningful pause. "Honey, lemurs are animals too. They have feelings and have challenges just like us; they cry for sorrow and joy just like us; they help others and make mistakes just like us...they are just like us, Alongi."

Alongi looked pensive. "What if they harm us?" he finally exhaled.

Balela smiled. "Alongi, we have to trust Fumu. He thinks that this is simply the right thing to do, and I agree. What if we needed a new home? Wouldn't you want other animals to let us in their community so we can be protected?"

Alongi sighed and managed to summon a smile. "I guess so."

Balela gave her son a kiss as he departed to join in the festivities.

Colors erupted throughout Bendeko village. Violet hats bounced off the tikki torches and hit the flickering white disco light that revealed the dancing shadows of the children. Elephants roamed around the games, adorned in glittering blankets of pink and green. This was one of the few times per year the animals of Bendeko village indulged in pure joy, where duties and chores were forgotten for one night.

Some called this event a party, others a festival. Each animal made a special effort on these occasions to interact and play with one another. Some elephants received entertainment in watching their neighbors attempt to arch their back and limbs. Okapis, in particular, lacked dexterity. The crowd erupted in laughter when Mr. Pono, an elderly okapi attempted to bend his back until a crack sounded beneath the limbo bar. Luckily, a gorilla swiftly picked him up and snapped it back into place, joking, "What are neighbors for?"

The sounds of tribal chants and wooden instruments grew increasingly louder. What the okapis lacked in flexibility, they made up for in rhythm, setting a tone and beat for the rest of the primates to follow. As the night carries on, the sounds of joy escalated. The bonobos, chimps, gorillas, okapis and elephants screamed with delight, their sweat glistening as the games and dancing continued.

While at first the lemurs stood watching in the shadows, some began to move closer to the festivities. Other lemurs made their uncertainty known by refusing to join in. One lemur, Baji, stood surrounded by followers, his hollow eyes dark and unreadable.

One butterfly, Mulo, swooped down to whisper in Bali's ear. His pursed mouth widened and transformed into a grin. Few were noticing the lemurs anymore (too much fun to be had, after all) but Lumumba, who knew Mulo, had tracked the butterfly's movements before reaching Bali. "I didn't know Mulo knew any lemurs," Lumumba muttered to Diba, an okapi with a deer-like face. The two had known each other since babyhood, sharing a talent for mischief and karaoke.

Diba leaned towards Lumumba. "Maybe she came to introduce herself as a messenger," she suggested.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Lumumba whispered to herself.

Diba smiled and chuckled, leading to an onset of hiccups. "Di-(sic) you se- (hiccup) Mr. P-(hiccups)-ono?"

Lumumba smiled from ear to ear. "What's with okapis and limbo? This happens every year."
"Yea, I guess we forget (sic) how hard it is for us to bend like that. At least we try!" Diba noted.

Diba and Lumumba slipped into silence. The colors of the costumes, instruments, and decorations were still vibrant and visible by the light of the tikki torches and moon.

"You think things are going to change, Diba?"
The okapi's eyes were bigger than ever in the darkness. "I don't think so. The lemurs seem fine so far."

Lumumba sat up straighter. "Look! It's Lola."

Diba rose, his okapi limbs clumsier than ever as he struggled to his feet. Lumumba pointed with his trunk as their friend passed the gaga pit. Diba moved up and down, excited to find Lola, and whistled loudly. Noticing that Lola kept moving forward, his limbs swinging purposefully and his head down, Diba mumbled, "That's odd; can't he hear me?"

"No way," Lumumba murmured. "Lola is going to introduce himself to the lemurs! Look at that -- he can hardly gather the courage to confront his own shadow and he's practically first in line to talk to them."

"I'm proud of him," squeaked Diba right before he sneezed.

Lumumba imagined that if he could see Lola up close, he would see his friend trying to control his shaking limbs. He could make out that Lola's head was still down as he navigated through the gang to Baji, the head lemur. Lumumba's stare remained fixed as he watched Lola gesturing, apparently introducing himself and asking questions, and presumably trying not to make a fool of himself once his courage dissipated. His back, Lumumba noticed, remained much straighter than his usual slouch.

"Wow," Diba sighed. "He hasn't sneezed once! That's a miracle."

The other lemurs seemed to gaze at the party almost superficially, their attention clearly on Baji. "Should we go over there and introduce ourselves?" asked Diba.

Lumumba thought for a moment. "Um, maybe tomorrow. We have plenty of time." Their focus on Lola broke as another okapi collapsed in another attempt at the limbo. "That looks like Mr. Pono again!" Lumumba exclaimed with a chuckle. Two gorillas proceeded to take the okapi and snap his back together again, at the urging of a cheering crowd.

"Poor guy," Diba added. Lumumba looked back at the lemurs and saw that Baji was now talking to the lemurs with Lola out of sight. Where had he gone? Lumumba and Diba looked around feverishly before spotting a shadowy figure many yards away. Diba whistled more loudly this time. "Lola, over here," he yelled.

Lola eyes snapped in the direction of his friends. With a shoulder shrug, he wobbled over to Lumumba and Diba. Whatever bravado that inspired him to face the lemurs had clearly evaporated quickly. "He-he-hey guys, cool party, huh?" he stuttered, his head lowered.
Diba stood up awkwardly to embrace his friend. "That wasn't bad! Nice job with those lemurs."
With a head nod, Lumumba reiterated, "Yeah, Lola, were you scared?"
Lola looked at his friends with a bashful smirk. "I d-don't know, the leader seemed al-alright," he conceded.

"What did you talk about?" asked Diba. Lola looked around at the party that was finally dying down; the music, once a full fledged orchestra, had now shrunk to a bonobo pretending to play a violin with a shredded bamboo stick. With his head down, Lola said softly, "Nothing, really, just what we do-- our jobs, I guess. And what plants give you a stomachache."
Lumumba and Diba slightly nodded their heads before glancing up to the stars that were no longer competing with the tiki torches. "It never gets old, does it? We are so lucky."
Diba and Lola said nothing, but both wore identical expressions of unaffected bliss.