Ever since they were old enough to venture out on their own, Daniel and Kenny always tried to go out on adventures. They were chimpanzees with over-active imaginations, but with a good sense of fun. One day, however, one game turned into a real scare.
It was about midday in the South American jungle. The tribe of monkeys Dan and Kenny belonged to sat within the trees, lazily picking lice off each other’s heads and eating any tasty grubs that happened to scramble by. But Daniel quickly became bored and walked over to Kenny, who was playing in the dirt with a stick.
“Let’s leave and find ourselves a zany adventure to go on,” says Daniel, eagerly hoping to escape the boredom of the day. “Okay,” said Kenny, and off they went.
Now, Kenny was a larger, taller, stronger monkey than his friend, but Daniel’s smaller stature gave him the speed and agility to run faster and jump
higher. Because of this, they could often find ways to get past obstacles by combining their skills. However, whenever the two got into a fight, playing or
otherwise, Kenny would usually win by simply sitting on Daniel.
After an hour of playing amongst themselves, Kenny and Daniel strayed a little too far from home. They were only briefly worried, however, because they
were in a large, open area where the trees were spread apart and the sun made the ground shine bright green and yellow. The two silly monkeys stayed to play.
From the distance, a black panther watched intently from behind the bordering plant life. He scanned the area in every direction to make sure no one else was around. They seemed to be all alone: Kenny, Dan, and the panther. The predator was a fierce one. He had bright yellow-green eyes, with a long tail and teeth like jagged razor blades. He silently crept closer and closer, while Dan and Kenny continued to run around unaware, passing coconuts back and forth.
While creeping steadily closer through the thick foliage, the cat stepped too close to a small grasshopper, green in colour and perfectly camouflaged to his surroundings. It chirped loudly, and jumped away. The panther was caught off guard, and rustled the leaves in front of him. A bird cawed, surprised, and the two monkeys turned around.
Sensing his cover was blown, the panther dashed out into the open field and streaked straight towards the shocked and dismayed monkeys. Teeth barred and muzzle dripping, the panther was a black bullet shot towards his frightened prey at over thirty kilometres an hour.
After a blisteringly long second of shock, Kenny and Dan bolted, and ran with all the speed they could muster. But as fast as they went, the panther effortlessly closed the gap. Dan and Kenny re-entered the dense jungle, with no clue or thought as to where they were headed. When they emerged, Dan and Kenny
stood facing a sixty foot drop, straight down to jagged, menacing rocks below.
Close to exhaustion and out of breath, Kenny and Dan seemed stricken with fear as the panther slowed to a confident strut towards them. But suddenly, as if touched by his guardian angel, Daniel had a plan. The panther crept closer and closer, salivating in a ridiculous manner-he was drooling all over himself. Daniel leaned over and whispered a short message into Kenny’s ear. They both kept their
eyes on the animal, and when Daniel finished counting to three, he bolted.
In a running jump, screaming like an idiot the whole way, he reached a near branch of a tree, swinging up to a higher limb. Grabbing the first coconut he spotted, he passed it to a flabbergasted Kenny. After catching the hard-shelled fruit, Kenny’s eyes changed from a look of panic to one of determination. With all of his hefty might, he threw the coconut straight at the black beast. The panther had a look of pure disbelief as the coconut smashed him between the eyes. The once ferocious predator, now shocked and in considerable pain, ran away.
It took a few minutes to gather their senses before Dan and Kenny began to make their way home. They took their time, and when they arrived it was to a dark sky and angry parents. Kenny and Daniel listened to their lecturing mothers and fathers silently, nodding in agreement when appropriate. The young monkeys never told the real story of what happened, for fear they wouldn’t be allowed out again. But they had learned some valuable lessons that day, and the zany adventures had just begun.