The days went on and Keiko was poked and prodded continuously. She desperately wanted to escape and go home, but she hadn’t yet found a way. Fighting these humans seemed out of question, they were clearly physically stronger than her.
Late at night, locked in a small cage, Keiko started blankly at a wall. Again, and again she thought about what was happening and tried to find an escape.
She missed her mother.
On the floor of Keiko’s cage was a stack of white leaves, the humans called them paper, and the sharpened stick from before. Pencil. Keiko picked up the pencil and started chewing on the blunt side.
If only there was a way to defend herself against the humans. If only …
Keiko stopped, pulled the pencil out of her mouth and stared at it. It was sharpened. It was pointy. It could hurt someone.
Carefully, Keiko pressed her finger on the tip of the pencil. She felt a light poke but it wasn’t enough to break the skin. Then again, with enough force it might be.
The pencil hidden in her hand, Keiko sat down on the bottom of her cage and waited for the day to begin.
Face-hair was the first one to enter that morning. ”How are you today, my dear?” He asked Keiko. She didn’t react. He didn’t seem surprised, Keiko had stopped reacting to anything a while ago.
”Let’s get you out of this cage and start out tests, shall we”, Face-hair continued.
Keiko braced herself. As soon as the door of her cage opened she lunged forward and stabbed the pencil in Face-hair’s eye as deep and powerful as she could.
Face-hair screamed and stumbled back. Blood streamed down his face. So much blood. Keiko’s stomach felt like it twisted itself into a burning ball of fire ant venom. But she couldn’t give herself the time to recover, Face-hair might soon either be able to react or to at least get some help.
Light-footed, Keiko jumped out of her cage and ran past Face-hair. But then she stopped. The door. It was locked. She had seen the humans use small, flat objects that seemed to open the door. They all had one.
Keiko turned around and looked at the human who was still screaming and rolling around on the floor. Cautiously, she edged towards him. The flat object peeked out of his pocket. Keiko held her breath and quickly grabbed the card.
Success.
With her way too freedom in her hand, she walked towards the door and opened it. A long, scarcely lit corridor opened up before her.
It would be a long way home.
Sources:
Chimps Use "Spears" to Hunt Mammals
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