My eyes slowly opened as I let out a long, deep yawn. I gradually got up and sat on my butt, feeling the familiar comfort of my nest. My long hair tumbled down and fell across my face as I gently blew the strands away from my eyes.
Stretching a little bit to loosen my muscles, I began to rub my eyes to clear the sleep from them. My name is Tarzan and I am 60 full moons old, or at least that's what my mother has always told me whenever I've asked about my age.
Looking around carefully, there were multiple trees scattered throughout the area where other gorillas laid peacefully in their respective nests. My mother was still sleeping soundly beside me, so I quietly and carefully got down from the tree, trying not to wake her.
Then I ran quickly towards my destination, my bare feet padding softly against the jungle floor. Mother would wake up soon and I wanted to surprise her with her favorite fruits before she did.
Psh
I immediately froze in place and looked around nervously. My instincts went on high alert, every sense sharpening. What was that sound? Looking intently at the bushes ahead of me, my eyes narrowed with suspicion and caution.
Then another bush rustled nearby, the leaves shaking distinctly. I immediately turned my head toward the source of the sound. Then suddenly and without warning, a creature jumped out of the bushes directly at me.
I tried desperately to dodge out of the way, but I was far too slow to avoid the impact. We rolled around on the floor together and struggled against each other with all our might.
"Hahaha, gotcha," Kerk said triumphantly as she managed to pin me down and sat on top of me victoriously.
"Get off me Kerk," I said huffing and puffing, trying to catch my breath.
She laughed heartily at my predicament as she slowly moved away from me and then helped me back up onto my feet. I massaged my sore back and tried stretching to relieve the discomfort, but the pain was still lingering there stubbornly.
"Sorry Tarzan," she said sheepishly, scratching her head in an apologetic gesture.
I just sighed deeply in response. Looking at her more closely, I couldn't help but feel like I was fundamentally different from everyone else. I only had hair on my head while mother and all the other gorillas had thick hair covering their bodies everywhere. I grow extremely slow compared to them and I'm considerably weaker in strength.
"Sorry Tarzan, what are you up to today?" She asked curiously.
Remembering what I had originally been planning to do before she ambushed me, I smiled with renewed enthusiasm.
"Well, I'm planning to climb the big trees to get mother's favorite fruits and bring them back to her." I replied with determination in my voice.
Her eyes brightened considerably at my words, sparkling with interest.
"Let me go too," she said excitedly, practically bouncing with eagerness.
I refused her request outright without hesitation.
"The last time I let you come with me on a gathering trip, you ate all the stash I had carefully planned to bring back," I said, still feeling angry and frustrated about that particular incident.
"Hehe," she laughed softly and nervously, scratching her head in embarrassment at the memory. "Cough, this time I won't eat any of them until you specifically say I can," she said earnestly as she extended her pinky finger toward me for a promise.
I scoffed skeptically at first, but seeing her serious face and genuine expression, I sighed in resignation.
"Fine," I said as we intertwined our pinkies together in the traditional gesture. "That's a promise," I said firmly as we began to walk together towards our destination through the jungle.
"By the way Tarzan-"
A few hours later, after our successful gathering expedition, we both had fruits carefully wrapped around large leaves and we carried them back to the group's territory.
Today had been particularly lucky and we had managed to gather and collect a lot of ripe, delicious fruits.
"With these fruits I won't need to ask my mother for any of her food," Kerk said happily with satisfaction in her voice.
I just nodded in agreement, feeling the weight of all the fruits in my arms and feeling happy about my accomplishment. Mother would definitely be happy and pleased with what I had brought her. Reaching my tree at last, I waved goodbye to Kerk as she went back to her own nest with her family.
I began to climb up the tall tree carefully and gripped tightly onto the sturdy vines for support. Eventually I reached the nest at the top and seeing that mother was now awake and eating some fresh leaves, I jumped enthusiastically into the nest.
She jumped slightly in surprise and looked upset at my sudden entrance.
"Tarzan, be careful," she said with concern in her voice, though she immediately began to clean my arms and legs affectionately with her hands.
As she did that maternal grooming, I revealed my pouch full of fruits and dropped it in front of her, then I carefully removed the leaves and the beautiful fruits revealed themselves in all their colorful glory.
She raised a brow inquisitively and turned her gaze to me with curiosity. I lifted my chin high in pride at my achievement.
"I got this for you," I said with a wide, proud smile spreading across my face.
She looked genuinely surprised at first, then her expression softened and she smiled warmly and grabbed me into a tight hug and began kissing me repeatedly on my head and face.
"Mother, stop," I said with mild embarrassment as I tried pushing her away gently from me.
A few minutes later, as we sat together and ate the fruits I had gathered, we just sat comfortably on the nest side by side. Life was kind of boring and monotonous since most of the time we would just be eating various foods or grooming each other for hours on end.
As I took a bite of a particularly sweet fruit, from the corner of my eye I noticed and saw Kerchak moving in the distance. Looking back to check, mother was still contentedly eating fruit so I carefully slid down the tree and began following him at a distance.
Kerchak was the powerful silverback and the undisputed leader of our entire group. He is also my mother's mate, but he doesn't seem to like me very much or want me around.
For a while now I would secretly follow him wherever he went to see what he was doing throughout the day. He was incredibly strong and muscular, and one day I wanted to be big and strong just like him too.
I watched with fascination as he lifted a huge, heavy log from the forest floor with apparent ease, then walked away carrying it effortlessly. My eyes widened in amazement at his incredible strength and power. As he walked away out of sight, I walked cautiously towards the same log, then looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching. Seeing no one around in the vicinity, I attempted to lift up the log with all my strength and determination.
After several failed attempts I finally gave up in exhaustion and walked away feeling defeated. Kerchak watched me from the side where he had been observing and scoffed dismissively, then walked away with disdain.
I sighed deeply as I headed back slowly to my nest, but then I suddenly remembered something important.
A few days ago I had come across a huge, unusual nest high up in the trees. I don't know who or what made it, but it was absolutely amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen before.
I ran back excitedly to the place where I had discovered it. It took a while to navigate through the dense jungle, but eventually I reached the location. Looking up at the trees, I could see distinct scratch marks carved into the bark of the trees.
For some mysterious reason the place looked strangely familiar to me, like I've been here before for far longer than I could consciously remember. I began climbing the trees carefully, and after reaching the huge nest structure I began to look around and explore thoroughly.
Then I cautiously entered what seemed to be a cave of sorts. A cave made entirely of wood and leaves rather than stone. The moment I stepped inside I saw a skeleton lying on the ground. I jumped back in shock and fear.
But then I gradually calmed down and steadied my breathing. The creature was already long dead and there was no reason to be scared of it anymore.
I turned away from the skeleton and began looking around the strange space with growing curiosity. Walking around slowly, there were some weird wooden objects scattered throughout the area.
On the wall where thick webs were accumulated, I cleaned away the dust and I could see things I'd have never seen before in my entire life. I took one object from the weird looking tree-like structure and realized with surprise that it could be opened.
I had yet to understand that the thing in front of me was called a bookshelf and what I had taken from it was actually a book.
I opened up the object carefully and my eyes widened in amazement as I saw detailed drawings and weird syllables that I couldn't comprehend.
I began flipping through the pages one by one and saw multiple different things illustrated. This thing was about plants of all kinds, there were hundreds upon hundreds of plants documented in this book and more than half of them had a skull mark next to the bottom as if it was warning me of danger.
I then put the object down and looked through more of them with increasing fascination. First it was animals of various species, then types of trees, then birds, then fish, and then I stopped at one particular book that caught my attention.
It was a drawing of an ape that looked remarkably similar to me. I tilted my head in confusion and looked through more and more pages intently. It showed different things inside the body, organs and systems that I would soon come to understand over time.
After a while I put the book back down carefully and paused when I saw something interesting from the corner of my eye. I walked closer to the object to examine it better.
There was some dust covering it so I cleaned it away gently with my hand. Looking at the cleaner object now, I realized it was a drawing or image of some kind. A woman and a man standing together.
They look strangely familiar to me somehow….
Later that night, as the moon rose high in the sky and cast its silvery light through the canopy above
As I lay on my back gazing upward at the countless stars twinkling above me in the vast darkness of the night sky, I couldn't help but remember and think about those two apes that had looked so remarkably similar to me in that strange drawing I had discovered.
I slowly and carefully turned my head to look at my mother who was busily adding some fresh leaves to our nest, arranging them meticulously for our comfort. A tight knot began forming deep in my chest, making it hard to breathe. Was she really and truly my mother?
I slowly got up from my lying position and breathed out as calmly and steadily as I possibly could, trying to control the anxiety building inside me.
"Mother," I called out to her, my voice barely above a whisper.
She slowly and deliberately turns her body to face me, her gentle smile remaining constant and unwavering on her face.
"Yes Tarzan?" She answered in her characteristically warm and loving tone that I had grown so accustomed to hearing.
I took a long, deep breath to steady my nerves and gather my courage.
"I—I found a weird and unusual tree structure deep in the woods," I said hesitantly, trying desperately to come up with the right words to express what I needed to say next.
Her eyes visibly widened with recognition and understanding as the realization of what I was referring to suddenly hit her with full force.
"Am I really your son?" I asked directly, my voice trembling and heavy with deep sorrow and confusion.
She immediately grabbed me and pulled me into a tight, protective hug as hot tears began pouring down my face uncontrollably.
"Of course you are Tarzan, you will always be my little baby no matter what," she said firmly and lovingly, shedding her own tears that fell freely down her face.
The truth was undeniable now—I really wasn't an ape at all….
"Then what am I exactly?" I asked, my voice filled with desperate need to understand my true identity.
She gently and tenderly wiped away my tears with her large, calloused hands.
"I don't know exactly what you are, but I know with absolute certainty that you will be strong and capable. I had returned to that place multiple times over the years and had seen the skeleton of a large leopard lying there. One of your parents definitely killed it in order to protect you," she said with conviction in her voice.
My eyes widened considerably in shock and amazement. Leopards were extremely dangerous and deadly predators, and yet someone of my kind had actually managed to kill one successfully?
"Then, will I truly be strong like them one day?" I asked with renewed determination and hope filling my heart.
She nodded her head slowly and confidently as if she was absolutely certain of this truth.
"You will be the strongest of all," she said with unwavering belief in her eyes.