“I…understand what you are saying?” says Marcus with a shaky voice.

He is still terrified of that “thing” that is in front of him. He looks down and notices that his hands look completely different from the hands that he has gotten to know, and learnt to trust while jumping from tree to tree in the rainforest. He also noted that his body was covered in a strange material. He could not see his belly or his legs. Was he wearing something?

“Don’t be silly M. Why are you watching the orangutang? I want to go and see the tigers. I also heard that they have elephants.”

“T-t-t..tigers? You really want to see the tigers?”

“Well yes. Don’t you? Have you ever been to Africa? See, I thought so!”

He began letting his guard down because he had a sensation of trust towards this creature. If it’s intention would have been to hurt him then it would have done it when it approached him.

“Maybe I’m here, wherever I am, to have this experience. I will try to learn as much as possible and just let this brew take me” he thought.

“Wait, before we go, I have a question. Or maybe two. Why can’t I go in where the orangutang is sitting down. I tried to walk to him but I hit my head on something. Couldn’t see it though.” He took his hand and pointed towards the orangutang.

The girl looks a bit confused but decides to answer Marcus anyways. She takes his hand and touches the glass.

“Do you mean this? Well of course there is reinforced glass that is between us and these animals… what is wrong with you today?”

“If you would enter the enclosure, he would kill you in an instant. Now let’s go. Chim is waiting for us. He went to the bathroom when I came looking for you” says the girl.

“Chim is here? Chim? Is here?” Marcus asks fascinated.

“Did he also drink the brew? I thought it was only Lup and me? I saw when he fought Maimut” he believed.

A feeling came over Marcus that he had not experience before. His whole body shivered for a second and it felt as if every hair on his body rose up. He slowly lifted his arm towards his chest to a have a better look at what was happening to him.

He noticed that his tiny hairs on his arms where standing up.

“Haha…are you really getting goosebumps when you heard that Chim is here? I can see why you guys call each other best friends. You just saw him less than ten minutes ago.”

They started walking out of the room where the orangutang was and out into the open space. Marcus felt so odd and cornered from the moment he had opened his eyes, because he had never been inside a room before. All he knew was the rainforest and there were no walls in the rainforest.

Moving closer towards the exit, he could see the rays from the glowing orb. At least there was something he was familiar with in this strange place that he had arrived in.

He began hearing a lot of noises and voices and it wasn’t just his own or the mysterious girl he was walking with. It all seemed to come from the open space. They were now outside and he could finally feel the rays on his body again. The weather was sunny, not a cloud in the sky. She had taken the liberty to take his hand and placed it into hers. They were now holding hands and walking outside in the zoo.

Marcus could not believe his eyes. There were creatures, looking almost identical to her, everywhere. Some were sitting down on wooden branches in ways that he had not seen before and others were holding something in their hands. It looked like a flat rock that they were pressing with their fingers but he could not make much out of it.

“You said that Chim was here. Did he come at the same time as me?”

“As us, you mean? We took our car and he took his, so technically yes. We met at the entrance this morning…You don’t remember?” She was looking at him funny again. He had seen this look when they were with the orangutang.

“I have to say something that will assure her that I’m not crazy” Marcus thought.

“Yes…yes, I’m sorry. Now I remember”

She did not look convinced but she let it go. They continued walking and Marcus noted that there were monkeys up ahead and got a slightly excited.

“Can we stop and look at the apes, when we reach there?”

“Sure, but since when do you have such an interest in monkeys? There are far more interesting animals here M. I am still hungry and you know how I am when I’m hungry!”

But he was not hungry at all. The experience and all the new impressions that he saw and felt had made him forget about it. Did he even have time to eat? He did not know how long his stay will be in this magical place. He must make the most of it.

They reached the apes and the girl felt that she wanted to test his knowledge, since he showed such interest in the monkeys after all.

“So, tell me my dear lover. What is this monkey called?”

She didn’t want him to cheat so she placed her hand on the sign that was in front of her. The sign with information of what types of monkeys that they were looking at.

Marcus takes a long look but he does not recognize these apes. He had not seen this kind before.

“I don’t know. Never seen them before.”

He looks a bit further to his right and he sees a smaller monkey holding onto a rope with his one hand, dangling from it. This sort he had seen before. They were not from Red Tribe but from the other tribes near and around Red Mountain.

“I can tell you what this monkey is called. It’s a Mangobey.”

She took away her hand and started reading the sign.

“It actually says, Mangabey, not mango! But I will give you one point for trying” she smiles at him.

She has a beautiful smile he thought to himself.

“Ok” says Marcus. He knew them as Mangobey because every tribe in Red Mountain new that they loved the yellow mango and would trade anything for it.

“And tell me Sir. Atten, how old do you think this monkey is?”

Marcus looked closer and determined that, since it’s small, like he is, or was, he must be four seasons as well.

“He is four seasons and not a day older.”

“Seasons? You mean years? This sign does not say how old these monkeys are per say but I will find someone who knows. If you are wrong, you pay for dinner tonight and I want something fancy. We haven’t been to Ricardo’s in a while. I like that place. The waiters are always so nice.”

“And if I’m right?” Marcus asks.

“Then you can play your videogames and I won’t bother you. Deal? Wait here while I find a caretaker who knows more. I think we passed one when we came here.”

“Ok.”

He was alone now. She had left him and he could not stop watching the environment that he found himself in. A zoo she called it. There are so many different animals here. She said that there are tigers and elephants here.

“I wonder what an elephant is. A tiger is almost like an eighty-five. Better stay clear of them.”

He looks around further and notices that there are so called “walls” and barriers between the different animals and he also sees that the Mangobey are closed off as well.

“Why aren’t they free?”

He sees that the girl he was with was returning and it seemed that she brought two people with her. One of them had a green jacket and a greyish cap on his head and looked a bit older. The second one looked younger from what he could tell. Should be the same age as the girl.

“Look who I found near the elephants!”

She points at the one of them. He did not look familiar at all but his gut told him that he knew this person, somehow.