Cinnamon Cheese

Our monkey demon, who seemed to be around the age of a recent yearling, had been alive for around 2 weeks in their little oasis.

There was much bounty for them to live off of, but it was left untouched, for the monkey did not know the fruit’s purpose. They spent most of their days admiring the birds that flew above their heads, the low-hanging leaves of the orchids that sheltered them, and the bugs that skittered and scuttled underneath the rocks they turned over.

Most of the monkey’s time was spent staring at the midnight sky, however.

The monkey would rest their head on a boulder and watch the stars that were spattered across the dark, until their eyes drifted to sleep and they could see colors that reminded them of some place very, very far away. 

The two weeks ended and the world exploded with noise.

Our macaque awoke to strangers in their home, ones that looked like them, but strangers nonetheless. Some of them were plucking the figs and fruit off the branches and others were climbing the orchid trees with ease, scaring the birds away. They were all so noisy and loud and their chitter chatter made our monkey want to cover their ears and scurry away. It was nothing like the birdsong and buzzing of cicadas they were used to. 

Our monkey had hidden away near some bushes, but somehow one of the strangers managed to find them. It was a small monkey with bright eyes. They looked at them curiously, making a gesture towards their six ears and gently poking the white-furred macaque's arm, all the while making those high-pitched chittering screeches. Our macaque stayed still as a stone, and soon enough, they went away. All of them did.

Once they were sure all of the strangers had gone for good, our macaque emerged from the bushes and went back into the open of the oasis. They prodded the half-eaten fruit and looked at the scratch marks at the orchid tree’s trunks, their head tilted in interest. 

Picking off an apricot, they mimicked what the strangers had done, sinking their teeth into the flesh. It.. took a while for them to figure out how to chew and swallow but after many trials and errors, our dear monkey had halfway cleared the apricot tree, relishing the taste. 

Climbing was another story. They failed to find the right purchase into the bark at first, and it took a very long time, but soon they could copy the movements they had seen with ease, and spent most of their days lounging on the branches. 

The same group of strangers had returned a month later. 

Our macaque watched with a keen eye, hiding in their highest tree as they ransacked the place. The white-furred macaque was already familiar with their eating and climbing, but their chasing, they had never seen. It was odd. One would dash at the other, who ran away. Then suddenly, they would turn and start chasing the first one. The two of them were joined by the others and they spent the rest of the time doing this chase. 

The monkey waited until they left again, then once they were on solid ground, they looked around for something to chase as well. A stray bird pecking at the abandoned fruit. Our macaque made a mad dash for it, spooking the bird to take flight to somewhere our monkey could not follow. So they sat down and waited for the bird to chase them back. They waited. And waited. 

Soon they gave up and went back to their boulder, where they slept. The night felt colder than usual.