I returned to the jungle I once lived after I found my way out of the facility. I knew it wasn't a safe move but thought I could convince the apes to accept me into their group since I was once one of them and I could still speak "ape language". There was no sign of life when I got there; no apes and no trees; just ashes. I asked myself what could have happened and concluded it was a forest fire.
I continued moving till I came across a house in a remote area and decided to seek shelter there. I had barely gotten to the door when an old man came out with a shotgun pointed at me. He threatened to shoot if I moved. I knew I could disarm him but I had known the dangers gun poses as an ape and as a cephalosapien, so, I stayed put. I told him I was a traveller and needed to spend the night at his place. He looked at me suspiciously before ushering me in.
I was in the old man's couch when he asked if I witnessed the rays of light that shone from the sky couple of years ago. I said nothing, but the old man kept on talking. He said he could had swore he saw three chimpanzees transform into fully grown men if he hadn't drank that night. There, I knew the cause of the destruction of my old home and that the scientists were right after all; there was more of my species. The old man talked for a couple of minutes before finally asking for my name. I told him Phalos; name I coined from cePHALOSapien.
**********
I lost hope of reuniting with my group a month after my encounter with the old man. I became a nomad, wandering from street to street searching for answers to my unasked questions.
I was in the street of Itire when I found out I was being stalked. I walked as fast as I could till I lost my stalker in the shadow of the night. The moon reflected on my stalker and I saw it was Professor Fowler; one of the scientists whose knife I went under. I came out of the shadows and pulled him towards me before sending his back crashing to the wall. I sent my foot to meet his chest before he gained balance. He fell hard on the floor and I picked a rod from the floor to finish him off. I raised the rod high before I heard him say he had answers to my questions.
© Aminu Abdulmumeen
#ANSAShortStoryContest
