A Beast's Freedom

Chapter One - Guava

"Mommy, there are monkeys! Let's go see the monkeys!"

"Look at their funny little hands!"

"Sis, I found your relatives! They're just like you!"

The gorillas continued with their business, not paying attention to the hoo-mans. They were used to the strange creatures that only had fur on their head, walked on two legs, and were outrageously loud.

At first, when a new gorilla arrived, he or she would sit gaping at the hoo-mans, eyes wide in disbelief. None of them had ever seen anything like them in the wild, not until they came with their axes and machines, spewing dark smoke and chopping down homes.

Two of the gorillas, Kuturoka and Kulinda, sat on a rock ledge at the edge of their territory, or as called by the humans, the exhibit, gnawing on bamboo that their cair-taiker had provided.

Kuturoka paused and sighed, thinking about the time when she had been shipped to the zoo. She had been separated from her parents while seeking for some fruit. The gorilla remembered how proud she was when she managed to retrieve a guava by herself, then began to eagerly feast on it.

It was then when two hon-ters had taken her away, and locked her in a cramped crate with only a hole the size of a golf ball crudely drilled into the top. She saw nothing but the clear sky and occasionally trees from the hole, but she could hear everything the hont-ers said, even with the loud sputtering engine roaring in the background.

"We'll cash in a mighty fine load for this one, eh?"

"A gorilla! How often can a poacher catch one of those, especially a baby? Straight from the wild in fact!"

"Rarely, I hope. We went through a lot of effort to snatch this one."

"Effort? We just found em' on the ground, pawing at the dirt, teething that stupid fruit!"

"Don't tell that to our buyer, they'll-"

The truck bumped up suddenly, causing the crate to shift, along with Kuturoka. 

" Oh yeah, we've made it out of the reserve!"

For a while, there was only the sound of whooping and cheering, even clapping.

"Now we just gotta swing by the boss."

"And we'll get all that sweet- Wait, hold up, stop the car, act natural, that's a ranger that is."

Kuturoka heard the sound of heavy footsteps crushing leaves and twigs, then a new voice hit her ears, this one low and harsh.

"What are you two gentlemen doing out here?"

"Nothing, sir, just going out for a drive! Beautiful place, this is."

"Yeah, we come here for the fresh air."

"It is beautiful. You're right about the air as well. However the area where you came from is fenced off. What've you got in the crate?"

At this moment, something knocked on the crate, causing the gorilla inside to whimper and cower.

"Aw, that's just some spare fuel, ain't nothing special.

"You keep your gasoline in a crate?"

"Well yeah, it's in a tank, no worries, and we got no space in here, do we?"

"Then you don't mind if I take a look?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you officer, the chemical fumes and all-"

Kuturoka watched the lid as it creaked open. She was met with a pair of stern hazel eyes, then something hit her arm, causing a sharp sting. For a split second, she saw a bright blue tuft sticking out from the same arm, and tried to reach out to grab ithe gorilla felt drowsy, and then her world went black.