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"What's that supposed to mean, doc?"
"Well, the radiation treatment went fine, but when we checked in on CoCo this morning, he was gone?"
"Gone? How? Don't you lock the front door when you leave?"
"Well, yes, we do, but CoCo didn't go out the front door." Uh-oh, I thought to myself. This can't be
good. "CoCo broke the lock off his cage, threw the cage at the window, and left that way. We searched the
neighborhood, but nobody's seen him. It must have happened early this morning, but rest assured we'll find him.
We also notified Animal Control, so it shouldn't take long. Stay by the phone, I'll be in touch."
The phone, unfortunately, stayed in touch with me about a minute later.
"Smith!" boomed the voice of my boss. "Get over here immediately. We've had an incident with CoCo…"
Then his voice trailed off and I could hear CoCo's familiar grunting in the background, followed by a series of
screams. Then the phone went dead and I could feel the blood drain from my face.
"Fucking monkey," I said, and then ran outside.
The trail of carnage was easy to spot. CoCo had already been to his meager quarters, which were now a shambles,
and his cage was crushed beyond recognition. CoCo had always been powerful, but this seemed impossible. I assumed
that the saying, "Whatever doesn't kill you can only make you stronger," must hold true for baboons,
as well.
Just then, I heard a moan coming from the corner. It was Mr. Beepers, one of the more popular clowns the circus
employed. He was bloody, but otherwise alive. I ran to his side.
"CoCo," he moaned, as I cradled his head in my lap.
"CoCo did this?" I asked and he nodded. I looked around again. The monkey had completely trashed his
former digs. Nothing was left in one piece, including, the way it appeared, Mr. Beepers.
"Something's…not…right…with…him," he managed to gasp. Tell me something I don't know, I thought. Which,
he then did. "His…eyes."
"What about his eyes?" I asked.
"Glowing. Yellow. Mad." A gurgle of blood escaped from his lips and then Mr. Beepers was no more.
"But CoCo has brown eyes," I said to myself since, for all intents and purposes, there was no one else
around to hear me. Or at least that's what I thought.
"Had brown eyes," came a voice from the doorway. "CoCo's eyes are quite yellow and glowing now."
It was Charlotte, one of the acrobats. "I saw him ten minutes ago. He was devouring one of the ostriches."
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