It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
A great line from a classic book. It fits here perfectly.
A PhD in zoology makes sitting across a campfire from an 8-foot-tall, purple primate a dream come true. But it doesn't equip you with snappy conversation skills.
“He tried to offer the great jungle spirit a banana, remember?” {SNORT} “…a banana…”
I know, right? At least he didn't offer to groom him.
Amina sat next to Hugh, their backs against a fallen log. Her easy banter with Papy Kolo and loose, relaxed posture felt surreal.
Not an hour before, they had been in a fight for their lives. The dirty scrap of cloth wrapped around the wound on the other man's leg was proof of that. He noticed Hugh looking and gave him the two-finger point from his eyes, followed by a thumbs up.
But all of that hard-earned camaraderie faded into the background, swallowed by frog croaks, monkey hoots, and other night sounds. Maybe that was because there was this massive, purple demi-god communing with a normal, everyday forest cat. The cat’s golden-brown fur stood out against Nzube’s dark violet. He was stretched out on the leaf-strewn ground so they could touch foreheads.
The heat waves rising from the fire gave it a dream-like quality. The occasional crackle, showers of sparks, and the exotic smell of the burning ebony log kept the dream rooted in the real world.
Hugh watched, his eyes absorbing the scene, but his mind struggled to process it. The known, Caracal aurata, eye-to-eye with the mythical. It was a scientist's dream to observe the undiscovered in situ. He would have killed for his notebook–maybe even the camera. If he moved, he might spoil the moment, though. He felt like the image would stay etched on his brain, anyway.
Amina leaned over, her arm warm against his. “Remember, he is not an exhibit for a museum. Be honored that he shares our fire, Turaco. It means he has noticed your potential.”
“Believe me, I am beyond honored,” Hugh whispered back. “What are they doing?”
“Nzube has many sources of information. The others who make this forest their home bring him stories, hopes, and fears. The little moments of their lives.”
The big cat’s ear twitched as it broke contact with the ape. Nzube pounded the ground once and bared his teeth at the night sky, then returned to his prone position.
Hugh discreetly pointed to the two animals. “So, they talk like that?” He tried to sound clinical, but the possibilities were too exciting.
“Don’t get any ideas. Just because we gave you the name ‘Turaco’ doesn’t make you a forest dweller.” She patted his knee. “At least not yet. Watch and remember what you can. Do not even think about touching. Understand?”
“I wasn’t thinking about touching him.” Hugh looked up to the inky, star-filled sky. “At least I wasn’t, until you said it. Imagine what I could learn from just one conversation!”
Amina snorted and got up to prepare her sleeping pad. “Respect, Hugh…no poking and prodding. Remember!”
Papy Kolo grunted as she stepped over him, her boot grazing his injured leg. He didn’t open his eyes, just wriggled into a more comfortable position.
Hugh’s curiosity pulled his attention back to the presence across from him. The cat had ghosted off into the forest and Nzube’s eyes were now fixed on him. On him, and through him. It was impossible to look away. A version of his own curiosity, but older and wiser, stared back at him. For a moment, he felt as if the patch of ground under him had weighed him, decided he might run, and tried to put roots into him. He shifted from foot to foot, convinced he was sinking into the earth.
Then Nzube turned away and the pull evaporated. The big ape sat looking into the forest, tuned to something Hugh couldn’t hear.
What was that? The adrenaline crash from the fight is messing with my head.
He stayed there by the fire, the last human still awake, examining those broad shoulders.
I see similarities in muscle structure to lowland gorillas. He thought, then shook his head. But… the depth in those eyes, the drumming, the purple sparks. He communicated with Mokele and the cat! What would it be like…
He shook his head again, afraid to follow that thought. He just sighed.
“Good night, Nzube.
—
All through the night, Hugh dreamed he was sinking into the ground. Tree roots wrapped him in a cocoon of bark and heartwood.
Then his perspective shifted, and he was looking at his chrysalis from outside. A drumbeat fractured a rift in the earth. A miniature version of Nzube clawed its way out of the interlocked roots. It had Hugh’s eyes.
—
Hugh woke in a cold sweat even though the pre-dawn air was dripping with heat and humidity. Papy Kolo and Amina were still sleeping. Nzube was on the other side of a now cold fire. The thin thread of smoke rising from the ring of stones seemed to slither up his purple spine. There was no way to know from here if Nzube was awake or sleeping, or if he ever slept.
The Hugh-Nzube from his dream lingered at the back of his mind.
One thing I do know, he thought. That dream was connected to him.
Hugh examined the spongy, moss-covered ground beneath his feet. He turned, the first glimmers of sunrise tinting the ripples in the river. The cloudy sky held no answers either.
“It’s now or never, Dr. Jhas,” he whispered to himself. “This is what you left the University of Konstanz to find.”
He rooted around in his increasingly battered backpack and pulled out his last apple. It was strangely unbruised. He polished it on the chest of his khaki shirt to prepare it as an offering.
Amina muttered something in French and rolled over, causing him to freeze. After a couple of hammering heartbeats, he took a hesitant step toward the ash-filled firepit. A glance at Papy, sleeping soundly, encouraged a couple more steps around the charred remains of the fire.
He held the apple at arm’s length in front of him and cleared his throat.
No response.
A whiff of Tabon-Tabon flower tickled his nose when he took another small step. He was close enough now to see the individual, coarse hairs on Nzube's back. The dark roots gradually lightened to indigo at the tips. There was a slight reflective quality to them that had probably caused the appearance of sparks the day before.
“Good morning?” His voice sounded thin and weak. “Sir? Nzube?”
…Nothing…
“Sheesh, what do I have to do to get your attention? Shoot an elephant?” he said, louder than he intended.
He advanced again, one arm offering the apple, the other reaching for the ape’s shoulder.
“Hugh! No!” Amina screamed from behind him.
The warning was too late. Hugh's finger made contact with Nzube's shoulder with a singular tap.
Hugh's world fragmented into jagged edges of lightning motion.
Nzube leaped up. His regal head swooped around and down. Red-rimmed eyes around golden irises locked onto the professor.
Hugh was paralyzed—eyes wide—his numb fingers letting the apple drop with a quiet thud.
Nzube lifted his head to the canopy and hooted. It would have sounded joyous had it not been so terrifying.
Amina's urgent command unfroze Hugh's feet.
“Turaco! Run!”
Ok, plot twist! What's going to happen now? Must keep reading
I hope there will be more of Hugh, Anima, Papy Kolo and Nzube! They're great characters 😊