Chapter 17

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 9– Treacherous Trail.

Edited: 22/03/2023

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The massive gorilla roars while hefting the giant boulder above his head, and I am still pasted against the ground, completely paralysed. I have no time to react at all. But then, the gorilla moves its arms forward, thrusting the rock forward, and as I see its arms move forward to crush the boulder on top of my fragile little body and bury me under it, my life flashes before my eyes.

I see it all rush through my mind: my life at the orphanage, all the stupid little fights I had, the tiny little village that I had spent all my life in, and all I can think is how dull it all seems, a waste of a life. Nothing of consequence happened in my life. If I were to disappear, no one would really care or even feel anything.

Even Mommy Mee and Daddy Dee would not fret for long. they have dozens of children to look after, and they can't waste their time on me and the marines and Garp. I am just a little pet project to them, something for Garp to procrastinate on instead of doing his job.

I want to be more than that, and I want to be someone of consequence, someone that makes a difference. And when I die, I want the whole world to shake with shock, for everyone everywhere to tremble in awe. I want to live to the max and make the most of it. I DON'T WANT TO DIE JUST YET, AND I STILL HAVE THINGS I NEED TO DO!!

I quickly roll to my left, still holding onto my bag of fruits, hoping to all that is holy that I haven't left it too late. So I keep moving to my left, hoping that I will evade the oncoming boulder coming down or, at the very least most of it. Even if I lose an arm, I will be happy as long as I survive.

*Smash*

I hear the crash, and seeing that my body is unchanged, I have obviously survived the dangerous event. Stopping my roll, I looked to my right to see what I had evaded. There is nothing there, the gorilla is still standing there, and the boulder is nowhere in si- oh wait, there it is, embedded in the tree in the distance.

The gorilla didn't even see me. It just picked up the boulder in the midst of its rampage and threw it without any clue of me being behind it. I was panicking for nothing. I was in no danger whatsoever.

"GRRAAAAAH!" Scratch that. I was in no danger. Now I am in danger. My rolling seems to have attracted the attention of the gorilla, who was previously unaware of my position, and its eyes have now locked onto my fragile form once more.

Reaffirming my grip on my bag, I quickly shoot to my feet and bolt off in the opposite direction of the gorilla, hoping to evade the gorilla once again. I sprint as fast as I can with all of my heart, and I can hear the gorilla lumbering on after me. Even as I skim and twist around various trees and branches, it continues its pursuit knocking down all the obstacles in its way and kicking up dirt as it pounces after me.

I can feel the wind whipping around behind me, it is right on my tail, and I can practically feel its horrible breath on my neck. Its giant hands make one or two grasps for me, which I narrowly manage to avoid, and I find my chance in a tiny gap between two colossal thick trees, and I leap through it.

Slipping through the gap head first, as if being born again, it should have been a simple fall onto my arms and knees, but for some reason, I tumble across the ground and scrape my shins quite hard before landing on my back, thunking the back of my head on the floor. Then, holding the back of my head, I look back towards the gap in the trees, and I see the large white eye of the gorilla peaking through the hole, looking down at me calmly, no rage to be seen on its face whatsoever, which scares me even more.

Its eyes search down my form, and again, I am too stunned to move, though this time, I would like to think it is more because of my little head injury than any fear. Its eyes, for some reason, leave my form, no longer paying any attention to me. Instead, it searches around my body, looking for something before its eyes finally drift down toward the tree it is peeking through, and its eyes alight on my bag of fruit.

My bag of fruit is what had ruined my little stunt, being too big and full of fruits. While I managed to slip through the gap with extreme ease, the baggage I had with me was caught behind me and ruined my jump, making me tumble across the dirt floor. And I am thankful that it happened because I didn't seem to ever be the target of the gorilla. Just what I had on my person was of interest to the beast.

The gorilla completely ignores me now and reaches its giant thumb and forefinger to grasp my makeshift bag of fruits, which was so big when it was on my person but seemed so tiny, trapped between its pinch. Then, with its objective in hand, it retreats from the gap, leaving me sitting there on the floor like an idiot, working my way to my feet, ignoring the big bump on the back of my head as I approach the gap in the trees.

I know I should probably leave well enough alone, but my curiosity is getting the best of me. So approaching the gap, I look through it to see the giant gorilla sitting on the ground, messing with my makeshift bag, trying to open it but finding its hands too big and cumbersome for the job.

Kind of reminiscent of a toddler trying to figure something out, it sits there and turns the bag every which way and tosses it about, trying to get at the fruit within. For some reason, despite being a giant gorilla, it looks kind of cute like this, it could easily just rip the thing apart, but it is trying to undo the knot I had on it.

It lifts the bag above its head and inspects it with a close eye trying to figure out how to get the treasures within, and evidently, its wish is granted because while my ropework was adequate, the materials of my makeshift bag were not, and it rips, and outfalls dozens of fruits which all smack the gorilla in the face, with one poking it in its eye. The gorilla drops the bag and starts rolling around on the floor while clutching its eyes and wailing like a baby. It does seem like a child.

It finally stops its tantrum and picks up one of the fruits off the ground and fiddles around with it for a moment before pealing it and enthusiastically chowing down on the food, which it does with a single chomp that swallows the small fruit.

The gorilla begins to quickly pick up, peel and then stuffs every fruit in its vicinity into its mouth, and its cheeks bulge to an insane degree as it squeezes them all in without swallowing and starts to chew on them. Then, finally, it swallows, and with a big gulp, the entire bulge of fruit moves down from its mouth, through its throat and into its stomach. It pats its belly in satisfaction and leans back with its arms out behind it, pressing against the ground, just lazing about after its meal.

Well, crap, the gorilla scared the crap out of me and stole my food, but I can't be angry at it. It is like a big child who doesn't know any better and is just hungry. But, of course, it was never trying to hurt me and just wanted the fruit. I think it might, in fact, be a child, what with how it threw a tantrum when I disappeared from its sight earlier and started throwing things around. But it doesn't matter. Let the gorilla have the fruit. I have gotten really good at climbing trees now just so I can keep heading in the right direction towards the beach. Then, I can easily just collect more.