Interlude: Home Alone with the Orangurangs

Interlude:
Home Alone with the Orangurangs

 

Orangurang

 

THE SUN HAD RISEN and set five times since Boss left. I’d gotten better at making pottery, just like he taught me. It was hard to make a fire without Boss, though. I caught a fire-breathing frog and made it do it for me. But I wasn’t used to making fires, so I burned my fur a lot.

I tried making weapons and armor like I’d seen humans holding a long time ago. They were heavy, so the others didn’t like them even though they were hard and strong.

I decided I’d be the only one to use them for hunting, then. But the armor made it hard to move well, and one of the others kicked me. It didn’t hurt since I had armor on. He grabbed his leg and cried. Armor is great. Everyone should wear it.

When I wasn’t hunting or sculpting, I went searching for Boss. The four of us searched near the cave, but we didn’t find any clues.

Even the girl who was so fond of our boss wouldn’t help with the search. I was sure she must know something, but she didn’t tell us and just lay in the corner of the cave all day long. Sometimes she would put her head in the poison pot and then her legs would flail. I laughed at her once, and she almost bit me.

I looked up at the sky. The red sun was sinking, and I might as well go back home. I had come up empty again today. My shoulders drooped as I walked back to the front of the cave.

The other three were already there. They all looked sad.

“Ah-ooh?”

“Ah-ooh.”

“Ahh.”

“Ah-oh, ah-oh.”

I asked the three of them how the day went, and they all shook their heads. None of them had found a clue about Boss.

I let out a sigh and looked towards the cave. Then I noticed something. The girl had been cooped up inside the cave ever since Boss left, but now she was gone. The others sensed something was up and glanced into the cave, looking puzzled.

“Kssh! Kssh!” There she was. She came running towards us from the direction of the cliff. I hadn’t seen the girl this upset since Boss went missing. Something bad must have happened, or she found Boss.

No, if she found Boss she would be happier.

I stared at her in confusion, and she looked at the statues near the entrance of the cave. At the human one.

Was a human coming?

The lizard ran over to the tree where we hung the jerky and started pulling on the branches. At first, I didn’t understand what she was doing. Then she looked at us and hissed, “Kssh!”

Did she want us to help her? I took the meat off the tree and went into the cave. I put the meat in a pot and took four shovels, then went back outside. I handed out the shovels to the others, and we cut down the tree.

The girl looked satisfied and then moved to another tree. Did she want us to cut that one down, too?

I hesitated but then she bared her fangs at me. There was venom in those things. Boss always stopped her from biting us, but he wasn’t here now. She’d really do it if she wanted to.

I took the meat off the second tree and brought it inside. By the time I got back, the other three had already chopped the tree down. Two of them carried the wood inside the cave. The other took his shovel and began to tear up the branches. I stood there staring into space, and the girl whipped me in the back with her tail.

I took my shovel and started tearing up branches, too. I threw them into the cave. I raked dirt back over where we had dug and then stepped on it to smooth it out, all under the girl’s instructions.

We carried the sculptures inside. They were heavier than I thought, and I accidentally dropped one, but it didn’t break. Still, I bet Boss would be mad if he found out.

We picked up the fur carpet on the floor and tossed dirt on it. She told us to do that, too. I was certain Boss would fly into a rage if he saw it.

Halfway through I began to worry if I should even be doing this. Boss didn’t bite, but he roared. The girl didn’t roar, but she bit.

She told us to take the muddy fur pelt and hang it over the entrance of the cave. After I crawled underneath it to go back outside, I finally understood. From out here, the mud-caked pelt just looked like an earthen wall. You couldn’t tell it was the entrance to a cave at all.

Now we didn’t have to worry about outsiders coming in, but we were still able to come and go freely. I was certain the girl was doing this to throw off a human. That was why she hid the jerky and the tree and the statues inside. She was very clever. I was frightened of her, but I trusted her.

I went back inside and ate some meat out of a pot. Then I heard some footsteps that sounded human. There were about four of them. First, I heard a confused voice and then another that sounded fed up.

There was a human who came here to find something. Now their friends were making fun of them. The humans’ voices continued.

First one, then another began walking away from the cave. Finally the last one ran after their three friends.

I don’t think they noticed us.

Curious, I ran towards the mouth of the cave so I could flip open the pelt to peek outside. But the girl stopped me, so I decided to go to sleep instead.

I put a pelt over the shiny mushroom we used for light and the cave instantly went dark. The rule was once someone did that, no one could make any noise again until morning.

In the morning, I didn’t even realize the sun had risen because of the pelt. I woke up later than usual. The girl was gone.

I quickly woke the others, and we went outside the cave. There she was, standing there. She looked at us and cried, “Kssh.”

And I don’t know how, but I just understood. She was going to travel far away to look for Boss. That must be it. I walked over to join her, but she shook her head.

She was our boss in Boss’s place, so if she left, we would be in trouble. I wasn’t sure what to do now. But she turned her face towards the cave and cried, “Kssh!”

She would bring Boss back someday, and she wanted us to protect the cave until then. That’s what it sounded like to me, anyway.

“Ahh!”

“Ah-ooh!”

“Ahh!”

The other three stepped forward to try to convince the girl to stay, but I just bowed my head to her. Once the other three saw me do it, they stopped howling and bowed their heads, too. The girl looked relieved and nodded, then left quietly. Once she was gone, I turned back towards the cave.

I would protect the cave until Boss and the girl returned. I’d make it bigger and stronger. I’d make a ton of weapons. I’d fight other orangurangs and make them our subordinates to get even stronger.

By the time Boss and the girl got back, they would be so happy. If I made weapons, no other orangurang would ever be able to best me.