Winsley the Two-headed Monkey

Chapter 2: The Tiresome Journey: Where’s my mom?


Winsley lounged in his exhibit, nestled in a tree. He was watching several other monkeys play and swing from the branches. He never joined in, as he was often met with the other monkey breaking up the fun whenever he had tried. They would split up and go separate directions to avoid him. If Winsley watched them, he could imagine himself playing with the others.
Winsley would get the strongest urge to to play and swing with them. He would play with an imaginary friend by swinging and climbing up his own tree as he chattered at the air in front of him.
This friend was invisible to the others, but he always wound up being the most interesting monkey he could think of. When everyone was given their single banana, his friend would somehow have 5 of them and share them with him.
He would tell his mother of all the adventures he and his friend had encountered. Some of them included evading big and scary cats, or just sharing secrets between them, while wondering about life.
His mother, a beautiful monkey in her own right, had a golden hue to her brown fur. It shined through her deeper brown tones, every time the sun had shined on her fur. She loved her little boy and knew he was special. All of her attention always seemed to be just for him. This made him happy he did not have to share his mother with no other monkey, so he was never alone.
The keepers of the zoo would call her Marigold because of the yellow and gold highlights in her fur. Her eyes were a gentle amber. Often she went to the learning lab to work with the keepers and scientist while learning the language of humans. Often they gave her extra treats which seemed to happen more often. Her tummy had gotten rather big. But she always saved a couple for Winsley.
At night, they would put a sound proof plastic panel up on the exhibit which helped prevent noises from each exhibit transferring to others. This allowed each group of animals to get a restful night's sleep. They allowed certain species to socialize and interact with the children and roam about the park. A handful monkey’s acquired this right after endless hours of training, each of them were embedded with a chip that tracked their locations within the park.
The sun would rise, and the barriers would come down. They would play a sound of a bell across the speaker. This told all the animals that they were permitted to travel about the park. When the sun set, another sound would go off and all the animals returned to their pens to eat and sleep for the night.
However, tonight unlike other nights, there were 2 humans standing outside the exhibit visible through the plastic barrier. Each of them holding what appeared to be a net, making weird gestures, and seemed to communicate with each other by moving their arms and lips. They began moving towards the exhibit door.
Glancing into it exhibit via the panels, they made sure that it was clear to enter. As it was quiet and most of the monkeys were asleep after their long day of interacting and playing with the kids that came to visit.
They entered with both nets in hand, looking around at the monkey’s. Several slept in corners, a couple were in the trees and some were sleeping in little nests made of hay on the ground. The two men scouted and looked around the exhibit, until their eyes fell upon Marigold, who was sound asleep in her hay nest in a corner of the exhibit.
One of them crept forward with a net in hand, tip-toeing then rotated the net and threw it over her head and body before twisting it up trapping Marigold. She quickly let out screams of terror as she was startled awake. She tried to twist her body to escape the net.
The other monkeys in the exhibit heard this and started an uproar of noise, swinging from trees and panicking, throwing sticks and rocks, afraid and terrified after hearing Marigold’s startled screams.
Winsley woke up from his nap hearing his mother and the screams from the other moneys and ran towards her. He let out sounds and cries of worry rushing in her direction before finding himself caught in a net as well, just a few feet from her. The man who had caught him spoke up and yelled to the other. “Get her out of here, I got this one, we can’t let them escape.”
“But what about… Wins-" The other man holding Marigold was cut off by rocks being thrown at him, he nodded. Then he proceeded to carry the captured monkey Marigold in his net towards the door. She panicked, but was restricted to her movements as her legs fell through the gaps of the net. Her arms reaching out towards her baby Winsley. While sad, angry and afraid, cries escaped her lips.
The other that managed to trap Winsley within his net, deflecting rocks and waited until the female monkey was no longer in the room before releasing the panicking and scared Winsley.
Winsley immediately tried to follow, but was unable. His mother was led away through the door and separated by the plastic barrier that separated them from the hallway. Winsley began to bang on the plastic barrier. Following in the same direction as her, until she was out of sight behind the wall.
The second man took his chance and ran out of the door, and locked it behind him, leaving the exhibit in an uproar of sounds and cries from both Winsley and the other monkeys. He had been warned that this might happen. But needed to sure the female monkey was safely separated from the rest, as it was a priority.
Winsley no matter how hard he tried was unable to follow his beloved mother. He kept trying pounding on the plastic barrier and crying out for her, even though he had lost sight of her. It took a few hours for the other monkeys to return to their peaceful nature. Winsley sat slumped in front of the plastic barrier, for even longer. To him it seemed like it was days. As he waited to see if his mother would return.
He finally returned to where his mother’s nesting place was, giving up. He looked for his mother. Unable to find her the only thing he could do was lay in her nest, trembling and scared. Wondering if he would ever see her again. This was the first time he had been separated from his mother, in a way he would not be able to return. He was truly alone.
Winsley spent several hours crying in her nest, that he didn’t even notice the sun come up. The sounds that usually broadcasted hadn’t gone off, like they normally do before his barrier came down which allowed him to roam the park. He didn’t even notice his friend the boy with the red hat entering the exhibit. As he lay still sobbing in the corner.

“Winsley? What's wrong?” asked the little boy.

He noticed that Winsley wasn’t even willing to budge from his sobbing position. So he took off his little red hat and wiggled it in front of him. Winsley at first didn’t seem to notice it. It took a few moments for him to see the flashing red hat enter and leave his view.
He jumped up and hugged his friend, his facial expressions remaining sad, his face was soaked in his tears. He had been crying for hours feeling lonely and lost.
“Come on Winsley, we’ll see what's wrong maybe I can help you…” with that he bent down and picked up the little monkey holding him in both arms almost like a child.
This seemed to comfort Winsley in a way that reminded him of his mother’s embrace. Winsley closed his eyes imagining his mother there with him. After such a night the embrace made him relax and fall asleep.
The little boy decided to keep Winsley with him, and exited the exhibit through the doors. He held him tight protecting his dear friend as he waded through the crowds of people, looking for the female zoo keeper. It wasn’t long until he found her, with Winsley still asleep in his arms.

“Ma’am… Something is wrong with Winsley” the little boy said, still holding the sleeping monkey in his embrace.

“What do you mean? Is he sick?” the zookeeper asked. She reached towards her belt to get a thermometer to check his temperature.

“I don’t think he is sick, but he was heavily distracted and crying in a corner. When I picked him up he immediately fell asleep in my arms. This just isn’t like him, he always looks forward to the treats I bring. But this time he barely even noticed I was there. “
The zookeeper took the monkey’s temperature by ear. “Hmm, that is strange… he isn’t sick so let me see what I can find out. Meet me at the entrance to his exhibit, I should have some answers for you.'' With that she picked up her radio and moved towards one of the nearby buildings. “Do you know…” her voice trailed off behind her as she entered the building.

“Well Winsley, I am trying to find out what is wrong with you. But she doesn’t know, perhaps we should head back so you can get some rest.” the little boy speaking softly to the sleeping monkey.

They both traveled back through the crowds and headed towards his exhibit. But something startled Winsley, waking him from a dead sleep. A voice, a voice that grew louder and sounded familiar.

“Well it looks like it is a girl.” a man said he spoke. He was wearing blue overalls and a tan shirt. He had a leather belt with many tools in it, and a white named pin with red letters and the zoo’s logo attached to his shirt.

“Is she at least normal? We can’t afford another one like Winsley. Granted it does bring in a crowd.” said the other.

“Yeah she’s normal, mother’s lucky there. We would have had to put her in solitary confinement if she had a second with deformities. If only for her own safety.”

Winsley hearing the voice get louder and louder, looked at the little boy in the red hat, and squirmed uncontrollably.

“What is wrong Winsley? You want to get down boy? Okay just a moment… Quit squirming!”

Struggling not to drop the monkey, he gently opened his embrace and allowed the monkey to climb down from his arms. But the monkey didn’t proceed on his own. He reached up and grabbed the little boy's hand and led him closer to the two that were speaking. He pointed and chattered towards the man in the blue overalls, while moving ever so close to the two men talking.

“Okay Winsley where are you taking… Oh!” he saw where Winsley was leading him. “You want me to talk to them” Winsley parted his lips and repeatedly tapped his teeth together. Still holding onto the boy's hand.

“Excuse me, sir…” said the boy interrupting the two men talking.

“Well, hello there!” The guy in the blue overalls turned seeing the little boy with the monkey.

“Do you know what is wrong with Winsley?” the little boy asked, still concerned about his friend.

The man looked down noticing the monkey, constantly pointing at him and making eager noises. “Uh… Ben you know why this monkey is pointing at me?” a little confused by Winsley’s behavior.

“That’s Winsley, he’s the offspring of the mother we took out of the exhibit last night. You know the one everyone was concerned about.” said Ben.

“That's right, sorry, kid. There’s not really anything wrong with your monkey friend there.” the man bent over putting his hands on his knees and smiled at the little boy. “We had to separate the mother from the rest of the monkeys to make sure she had a safe delivery. Your little monkey there has a sister.”

“A sister?” the boy’s eyes widened in shock.

The man offered his hand to Winsley who was quick to reject it, by turning his head away and hiding it behind the little boy’s leg. The man didn’t take offense to Winsley’s behavior, seeing that he was very upset.

“Yep, she’s a beaut just like the mother too. But because of Winsley’s issues with his birth we had to make sure we had everyone ready in case there were complications. Normally we don’t separate them, but this was a unique case.” He looks down at Winsley. “I guess, we could take him to see his mother, would you like to meet her and his new baby sister?”

“Would I!” exclaimed the boy rather excitedly. “That would be amazing!” He looked down at Winsley who at this point was making several angry and upset faces at the man, paused at the excitement in the little boy’s voice.

The man stood up straight, nodding at the little boy. “All right then, follow me. We will see what we can do. I’m Nathan, by the way. I tend to do most of the animal moving if there are issues. Sometimes I just lose track of the names of all the kids left involved. Surely you can understand that we have thousands of animals, and hundreds that need to be moved from time to time.”

The little boy still holding the monkey’s hands lifted Winsley up onto his shoulders. “It’s okay Winsley, I know how to make you happy again.” he whispered while listening to the man speak. “I understand, but Winsley is special, as he doesn’t get along with the others… Or should I say the other’s don’t get along with him.”
“Sometimes Happens, especially with our more unique characters.” said. “He usually has his mom around, so he tends to have it pretty good compared to some others we have had to deal with in the past… here we are”

The boy and monkey followed the Nathan, and they stopped at a red door. “Just remain quiet as we don’t want to risk waking the baby. They need a lot of sleep, and if Winsley makes too much noise or upsets the mother, we will have to remove him.” Nathan spoke in a low tone.

Nathan opened the door slowly, to reveal Marigold sitting on a high table with a brown little fur ball nestled in her lap. The little boy entered the room offering his hand to Winsley to grab. He took a finger within his small hands. Looking at the boy, who put another finger to his lips. “Shh…” the little boy whispered, as they both inched closer to the table that Marigold was on.

Winsley was getting more and more excited to see his mother, he felt his energy reenter his body. The little boy allowed Winsley to climb down from his shoulder while holding onto his hand. Allowing his feet to hit the floor, and him to let loose his grip, before taking a few steps back. Winsley couldn’t quite make the jump and chattered towards his mother. Leaning up onto the table like a dog would a short fence. He was afraid to jump up as he might startle the new baby.
Marigold extended one of her long arms, and pulled Winsley up and onto the table by his tail, still staring at the two humans before her. Her eyes went from Winsley to the new baby. As Winsley couldn’t help but turn and embrace his mother’s long arm. Then quickly changing his posture to hug her body.

“I think we should let them stay together, he was very sad without his mom.” said the boy to the man.
“Considering the situation I think you're right. We will leave them together until we reintroduce her back to the exhibit.” he smiled at the little boy, gently placing his hand on the kids shoulder. It was to ensure that he can get him out of any harm's way, should Marigold feel threatened by him and the boys' attendance. Smiling at the little one, he spoke in a very soft tone “Cute, huh? Be mindful of Marigold’s Posture, sometimes they can become aggressive if they feel threatened. It is rare, but it occurs.”

“She's definitely the cutest thing I have seen!” the boy whispered moving closer to get a better look, leaving about a foot and a half between him and the trio. As they are protective of their young.
The little boy smiled at the baby, and at the mother. “Hello Marigold, your new baby is beautiful… I am friends with Winsley.” The man removed his hand from the boy's shoulder and made a gesture to Marigold that translated to “Friend”

Marigold had learned several words from humans and gestures in her time in the learning lab, while she didn’t understand many words that most humans do, her vocabulary was about 16 words. Including friendship, danger, and love.

Marigold, still holding both of her children, one in her arm and the other in her lap, extended her hand further to pet the boy on the head. Before going back to embracing her two children lifting the new baby to her chest.

“We should leave now and let them be together.” insisted the man, wanting to keep the visit short to prevent any stress among the newborn and the mother. “It should take about two weeks for them to return to the exhibit. Just to ensure there are no problems with the newborn.”

“All right, I’ll come back and see you again soon Winsley, hopefully you feel better now that you're with your ma…” He headed towards the door, then gave one last glance at Winsley, Marigold and the new baby. Before leaving, with the man in tow close behind.

The little boy and the man parted, as the man had to return to work. The little boy headed back towards the exhibit where he encountered the zookeeper who had been waiting for him. He ran up to her, rather excitedly to share what he had experienced.

“Hello, Ma’am” he greeted her.

“Oh, I was looking all over for you. I have some exciting news!” the zookeeper exclaimed rather excitedly. “Winsley has a little sister!”

“Winsley has a little sister!” the little boy spoke just as excitedly and at the same time as the zookeeper. He takes a brief moment to calm down. Even though his own emotions remain a fluttering in his tummy with everything that he had just experienced.

“He’s now with his mother, and I got to meet them.”

“Oh wow, you already got to meet the little one? I am so jealous, what does she look like?”

“Yes, she’s cute too. She looks like her mom, and has a soft shine to her fur. But she has a pretty green hue in her eyes.”

“You're so lucky, they don’t let just anyone see the newborns. Most of us have to wait until they are a week or two before we can even see them, for their and our safety of course.”

“Well, I could not get too close to her, just close enough to reunite Winsley with his mother. But his mom patted me on the head, I am not sure what that means, do you know?”

“Hmm…” She pondered for a moment, then continued “It means you did a good thing reuniting them, and his mother appreciates it. They shouldn’t have been separated to begin with.” the zookeeper said. “They were supposed to be isolated together. But apparently after they took the mother, the other monkeys got out of hand and it was too risky moving them both from the community at the same time.”

“I didn’t know that was an appreciation, I thought she was looking for bugs” the little boy said with a childish giggle. “But, as long as he is back with his mom that is all that matters.” the boy continued in almost an urgency. “Speaking of moms and separating… I really need to go see mine, it is getting late, and she’s probably worried about me.”

The female zookeeper nodded her head at the little boy. “All right then stay safe, see you soon! I don’t remember if I told you, but my name is Gretta. Be sure to tell your mother we love having you visit us here at the park”

“I will, promise. Thank you, Gretta, for helping me with Winsley.“ With that the little boy turns to head out of the park. Almost forgetting due to the excitement he calls back to the zookeeper, “See you soon!!” He waves then takes off with a sprint, excited to tell his family how his day had gone.


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Winsley snuggled up to his mother as he gazed down at his little baby sister. Her tail twitching as she nursed glancing from her mother towards her brother, He was unsure how to feel; he was a little lost and confused. But he was grateful to be with his mother.
He looked down at his sister, extending his hand to hers, where she had grabbed his fingers. Her toes curled, and she kicked her hind legs suddenly losing the grip of her new brother’s hand.
Winsley startled by his new sisters action, stumbled back and nearly fell off the table. His mother’s grip on his tail prevented him from hitting the harsh cold floor, she raised him slowly back up onto the table. Watching the interactions closely between the two, she looked down at her baby showing her teeth by curling her lips. Then chattered towards her in a soft tone, reassuringly.
Winsley moved closer to his sibling, sitting on his rump looking down at his sister. His mother slowly releases the grip on his tail, comfortable she will no longer startle him.
This time he moved his tail over his sibling, flicking it side to side as to amuse the newborn, playing with her. His sister stops nursing and reaches for her brother’s tail with all fours, while laying on her mother's lap, tries to catch it.
The newborn takes a few minutes before she can get a hold of Winsley’s moving tail, which she gives a gentle and weak squeeze. Winsley moves closer and leans down to give his new sister a kiss on her forehead. For their first bond had finally been created.



Moral - Just because something is out of your control doesn’t already make it a bad thing, even the worse situations have a way of working themselves out, and adding to your personal strength. Sometimes you just need to be patient, as you never know what surprises await you ahead.