Out of a tiny wooden shack walked a brave gorilla named Johnathan. Johnathan had fine silver hair and strong arms, as any normal gorilla would. But Johnathan also had something special- he had the ability to fly. Johnathan could fly wherever he wanted and whenever he wanted, through vast gleaming rivers covered in sharp rocks, or through tall jungle trees in expansive rainforests. Johnathan was not bound to the Earth’s floor, but he still preferred it, which was why he lived in a run-down shed near a stream populated by many exotic- and delicious- fish. Fish were Johnathan’s favorite meal, and every day he would bring a new type of fish to the bonfire and cook it well for one of his daily meals. He didn’t know what it was about the fish that he liked so much- maybe it was their delicious fruity flavor or the concept of the chewy fish meat- but he did not question it, he just ate the flippering feasts and went on with his day. Johnathan walked over to stream to catch some more fish. This was a duty that Johnathan could never get tired of. Johnathan stood by the edge of the stream and looked down through the running water to see if he could spot any fish. After a while of waiting with no such fortune, he decided to fly upstream to a more concentrated area where it was guaranteed that he could get more fish to eat. He lifted his arms up and jumped off of the ground, shooting through the air like he was superman himself. Johnathan dodged past towering rocks and obstacles as he flew up the glistening, rushing waters and shortly arrived at the tiny cave where the stream flowed the fastest- this is where the fish loved to swim. Johnathan waited here, sitting on a wrecked and abandoned lawn chair, relaxing and watching for any fish to jump up above the water right into Johnathan’s mighty grip. Just the thought of it made Johnathan’s mouth water. He sat on the chair for a long time, but no fish seemed to be appearing in the river. Johnathan walked back home through the jungle, too tired and hungry to be able to fly. Johnathan considered eating beetles or other bugs but decided that it was too gross and that he would choke up if he ate a bug. Johnathan was quite the picky eater, and if it wasn’t a fish, Johnathan probably wouldn’t eat it. Johnathan didn’t know why this was but accepted it nonetheless. A lot of people might question why Johnathan wouldn’t eat bananas because monkeys love eating bananas, but Johnathan did not like bananas because they were too mushy and soft for his enjoyment. Johnathan had never seen another gorilla, and, in fact, did not even know there were other creatures that shared his level of intelligence. Johnathan was pretty much alone. Johnathan continued to walk through the muddy jungle floor, brushing against twigs and stepping over rocks swarming with busy ants. Sometimes he would pass by a snake, but the snakes decided that Johnathan was too nice for them to prey on. Every animal in the jungle loved Johnathan because he was very nice and also brave and strong. Not only this, but Johnathan’s flying ability also greatly interested them, and to some, brought fear. When Johnathan reached his shack, he sat on a sandpile near the creek, alone and starving. Johnathan felt a small quake inside of his stomach and clenched on his gut with his burly fingers. Johnathan was not accustomed to being hungry, because he usually had a surplus of fish to eat, but those fish had disappeared as well. Tonight, Johnathan would just have on bananas. He did not like to think about this, but it was either bananas or nothing. Johnathan almost puked at the mere thought of it. With the last of Johnathan’s strength, he climbed up a tall jungle tree and grabbed a single banana. It was almost hard to look at. Johnathan climbed back down and crawled back home. He unpeeled the banana and took a whiff, a small stream of water trickling down his left cheek. Johnathan pinched his nose between his fingers and open his mouth for a bite. The first bite made him gag. The second made him yelp. By the third bite, the banana was gone, but Johnathan felt like it wouldn’t be for long.
When Johnathan woke up the next morning, he cried. He set his head on a window hole in his shack and looked at the pile of bananas. He knew he couldn’t last much longer without fish. Johnathan decided to explore. He walked through the jungle and observed the many critters living in trees and roots. He wandered around the forest, dropping pebbles along the earth to make sure he wouldn’t get lost. Johnathan walked past empty rivers and fallen trees, looking for something to explain why the fish were gone. Johnathan turned around. He knew there was nothing he could do. There was no explanation. There was no meaning. He walked past an ocelot that was peeing on the base of a tree. Johnathan decided to not look because he wanted to be polite. When the trickling stopped, the ocelot enthusiastically ran past Johnathan. Johnathan saw something clenched between the ocelots protruding gnashers, something…. Meaty. Johnathan looked at the ocelot with confusion. What was ocelot eating? Johnathan had no clue. He moved a little closer to the ocelot, trying his best not to scare it away. While Johnathan was stepping, though, he accidentally kicked one of the pebbles that he was using as breadcrumbs directly into the ocelots left rear paw. The ocelot turned his head around to look at the tiny rock, revealing the bass gripped between its teeth. Johnathan’s jaw dropped and he started to whimper with excitement. The ocelot saw this as something of a battle cry and started to run. Johnathan chased after. He walked past trees and rocks, his sack of pebbles tilting over and dropping a pebble every now and then. Johnathan knew that the ocelot was faster than him and smaller than him. There was no way Johnathan could keep up. With all of the energy Johnathan could muster, he flew toward the ocelot with increasing speed. He soared through the air with the last ounce of stamina he had. He was almost able to reach the ocelot… just a couple more inches. Then everything turned black as Johnathan felt his head bashed against a boulder. Johnathan should not have been looking down at the ocelot as he was chasing it. When Johnathan woke up again the sky was painted with an orange and pink haze. Johnathan could barely see the setting sun over the tall treetops. Johnathan looked around and saw him sitting beside the boulder with his pebble pouch. Johnathan tried to find where his pebbles had fallen, but they all seemed to have disappeared. He tried to fly up, but he couldn’t. Johnathan was starving and exhausted. Johnathan knew he had to find the way back, but he didn’t know how. Johnathan looked to his left and saw a large clearing, which was rare in a jungle. Johnathan had never seen anything like this. There was a hole in the middle. When Johnathan peeked in, his eyes widened with surprise and he pounded his chest with happiness. It was full of fish of every sort. There were green fish and red fish, big fish and small fish. Johnathan was in paradise. He grabbed two fish and devoured them in only two bites. Just from this, Johnathan was able to muster the ability to fly for hours. Johnathan emptied his pebble sack and filled it with the exotic fish. Johnathan noticed something strange about the hole. There was a peculiar emptiness at the bottom, one that his eyes almost couldn’t grasp. Johnathan dug through the pile like a dog searching for a bone in a sandbox. The more he dug, the more he saw. There was a strange glow radiating from the bottom of the pit, as if there were a nest of lightning bugs waiting to escape. Johnathan sent the fish flying out of the pit and into an evolving pile behind him. He scraped through the fish and the light grew more and more. Every fish that flew by, another puzzle piece fitted into the picture at the bottom of the hole. Johnathan and never been more excited in his life — the anticipation was almost killing him.
When the final fish was tossed, the full picture was shown. Johnathan’s eyes were flooding with curiosity. When he looked into the hole he saw a weird light tan colored creature- like the color of the sand by the cove where the fish went missing. Johnathan reached his gaping eyes in for a closer look, trying his best not to fall in. The creature was sitting almost lifelessly on a steel chair that looked almost like the rusty lawn chair that Johnathan used to nap on. But this chair was different- this chair had peculiar metal straps coming out where the arms of the creature were. The straps covered the creatures arms in a seemingly tight grip. Not only this, but there were also identical bars where the creature legs were. The thing had a cover over its torso and otherwise was naked. The head of the creature had a strange black box on its head with tubes that looked like jungle tree roots connecting the box to the surrounding walls. The walls were made of dark-colored tiles that were dripping with murky water into puddles of muddy substances. Johnathan had completely forgotten about the fish at this point. For some reason, the visual gave Johnathan a sense of nostalgia. It was as if Johnathan could relate to the creature in the chair yet at the same time he couldn’t at all. Johnathan thought that maybe he could get a better picture if he just got a little bit closer, so he stepped just a little bit forward. His foot caught a slippery fish and lost his footing. Before he knew it Johnathan was falling into an abyss. Johnathan felt his eyes droop down as he began to fall under the veil of slumber.
Johnathan woke up with a streak of pain traversing through his head like a bullet. He tried to lift his hand to relieve the pain but he felt something grab his arm. It was cold and tight- not something that Johnathan could possibly tear through. For some reason, Johnathan felt colder. He felt like all of the fur on his skin had been ripped off and he was left alone on a winter night. Johnathan jerked around, trying to move, but could not, for his legs had the same grip as his arms. Johnathan moved his head around and his eyes glazed across the dimly lit room. There were walls dripping with goo and puddles of grey muck on the tile floor. Every thing shad light swampy green shade to it, but Johnathan didn’t think that this was the original color of the flaking paint. Tiles were shattered, revealing rough cement flooring underneath, which spoke the words abandoned and untidy. It was like nothing Johnathan had ever seen before- except.. Maybe it was? Johnathan grunted and shook his head. He drooped his eyes down to look at what was grabbing his body and his brain suddenly felt like the bottom of a freshly turned hourglass. His body revealed a meaty pink shade of human. The word “human” strangely resonated within his head. Johnathan’s eyes began to droop again and he started to sleep.
A man walked into the room. With a plain white binder in his hand and a plain white coat over his body, the man walked in the room. The man sat down on a seat beside Johnathan and opened his binder, staring at Johnathan intently. The man whispered to himself and dragged a wooden pencil across whatever was inside of the mysterious binder. The scratching noise of lead against paper echoed across the room and battled the sounds of the dripping liquid on the walls. The man was curious about Johnathan. Why had his headset fallen off? It didn’t matter. The scientist picked up the visor and put it back over Johnathan’s head. It was lucky that Johnathan was unconscious, otherwise, he would have found out again. The scientists didn’t like when their test subjects found out about their imprisonment.
Johnathan woke up at the shack in the jungle. Johnathan rubbed his head and opened his drooping eyes. Johnathan knew. Johnathan remembered. From the day that Johnathan was kidnapped to the day he was put in the room to the day that he was put on the chair to the day that they put the headset on. Johnathan knew it all. Johnathan was not a gorilla, Johnathan was a person. Johnathan was a person without a family and Johnathan was walking one day and he was shot in the leg and he was placed in the car and- Johnathan tried to catch up with his thoughts. Johnathan didn’t want to forget again. Johnathan didn’t want to lose the only thing he had left.
Johnathan walked out of the shack and picked up a rock. For the next three hours, Johnathan would run through rocks upon rocks trying to sharpen it to perfection. Johnathan ate one last fish from the pile and then decided it was time. Johnathan laid himself on the ground and dug the rock into his chest. If Johnathan could kill himself, maybe he could be gone forever. Johnathan stabbed into himself over and over, each time, the rock coming closer and closer to his heart. One final blow and Johnathan’s heart was opened. Blood spilled out of his body, turning the sand a reddish shade of pink. Johnathan just had to wait for death. His eyes closed one last time.
The scientist ran through the halls yelling for somebody. A man walked out with a fine suit and tie and asked what the commotion was for. The scientist said that Johnathan had died. Earlier that night, his body’s heart rate dropped to zero. Something must have happened to Johnathan while he was in the simulation. The man told the scientist to dispose of the body and get a new one. The scientist obeyed his orders and Johnathan’s body was thrown in the furnace. Johnathan the gorilla never woke up again.