This unfortunately occurred only a few streets down from my home...
A couple was taking a walk through the neighborhood trying to rebuild the love and intimacy that seemed to have been lost over the past few years.
Children had grown and left the nest and the things that they once had in common seemed to be harder to pinpoint. When did discussion become so difficult?
He remembered when he could understand exactly what his wife wanted without her saying a word. Now they seemed like strangers at times. He hoped a quiet walk through the neighborhood could help pull out and spawn the words they had both been struggling for so long speak.
While passing in front of a shop window the woman was drawn to something and excitedly reached out for the hand of her husband, but he was not there. He seemed to be focused on something lying in front of them on the sidewalk. The shape was almost like that of a small child, but thinner, longer, covered in fur.
"What is that?" she asked her husband
"I think it's a monkey. Should I see if it's okay?" he asked
"I don't know if it's safe" she warned
"Those things are probably ridden with disease."
"I can't just leave it there." he replied and began to move forward.
The woman watched as her husband slowly walked towards the seemingly lifeless monkey. She muttered strange words under her lips, words she didn't recognize but seemed infused with power. Was it yiddish? Does she know yiddish? The air seemed to pulse and shudder with the frequency of her whisper. She quietly hoped that whatever happened next could grant her reprieve from the monotony and arrid life she had been living these past few years. She was ready for change and whatever consequences that change would bring.
The man stood over the monkey. His shadow cooling the creature from the warm sun and blanketing him in welcomed darkness. A crowd began to gather around the man and seemed to collectively hold their breath.
"What is he doing?" one of the bystanders asked another breaking the silence
"Is this some strange necromancy puppeteer? a teenager in a trenchcoat asked, the crowd staring at him strangely and inching away from him
"Did the monkey return from space?" a small freckled boy asked his mother who had stopped listening to him the moment he woke up today.
"Shhh!!" an old woman scolded the crowd. "He is going to resurrect the small furry child!" She said to everyone with great conviction.
"It's a monkey lady" replied a local shop owner who stepped outside for a quick cigarette. The crowd all turning to him with a palpable anger in the furrowed brows seeming to tell the man to shut up and let the woman dream. He quickly stepped on his cigarette and returned inside.
"Resurrect the child" a man said softly in agreement
"Resurrect the child" the freckled face kid said while his mother looked for faces in the clouds
"Resurrect the child" the teenager who suggested necromancy said, agreeing with those around him.
The wife continued to mutter thoses strange words, their speed and volume growing and changing, the sounds moving and billowing the clothing of those around her, a strange Marilyn Monroe grate moment without skirts or photographers. The man reaches his trembling hand towards the chest of the monkey, the chest seems to rise and meet his hand. Is that breath, is that power, is that the spell of a teenage occultist? Could this be proof of a power or God greater than us all? Is that strange woman speaking in Yiddish?
As the man's hand touches the soft fur the of the monkey chest, he uses his other to wrap around the seemingly lifeless neck of the creature, lifting his head, and the monkey begins to stir. His eyes flutter. His muscles twitch and he begins to breathe deeply of the air around him. The crowd begins to cheer. The old grandmother falls to her knees weeping with joy. The freckled kid opens his mouth to get the attention of his absent mother and forgets he has a sucker in his mouth and watches as it falls onto the ground, that boy begins to cry.
The man helps the monkey to his feet and seems to wait for some reward or recognition from his bewildered eyes. The monkey seems to regain his balance. He looks to his surroundings. See's the crowd of people gathered around him and kicks the man the in the face.
Monkey's are not our friends. Sell me your monkey!
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Danville, IL
