Fur Baby

“What the hell is that?” said Koko the gorilla pointing at the tabby kitten his mate was cradling in her arms.

Edith looked up from her furry little prize and said, “It’s a kitten you idiot. Good grief, you are dumber than a pile of banana peels.”

This is just great, he thought. I ask a simple question and she gets all bitchy on me.

“And stop waddling back and forth beating your chest; you’re not impressing anyone.”

Not wanting to appear weak in front of the other gorillas, Koko ran over and pushed Edith before scampering off to dangle one-armed from a thick branch on a nearby tree. He knew he would pay for that later. As for Edith, she simply sat down and began to preen her little baby.

Eventually, from his position safely out of Edith’s reach, Koko yelled over, “What is it for? I mean, can we eat it or something?”

Edith simply rolled her eyes and repositioned herself so that her back was to the pre-Neanderthal crouching behind the tree.

That night, as they huddled in their enclosure, Koko secretly planned on how he would get rid of the little orange ball that had managed to wedge itself between him and his mate. It would have to look like an accident. Edith made it clear that she would hold him responsible if anything happened to it during the night.

He eventually fell asleep as he tried to conceptualize some means of propelling the fur ball over the wall of the zoo enclosure. Thinking always made Koko sleepy.

The next morning the giant gorilla woke up wearing an orange fur necklace. He smiled as it woke and stretched. Okay, it could stay but he would have to draw the line at a puppy.

Word count 297