He was a tourist in Porto Rico, when it happened.
He was booked into a hotel for a week, with the intention of sunbathing on the beach, swimming and kayaking. That was all he wanted to do, all week. Having done a fair amount of kayaking back home, he hired one on the first day of his holiday. As kayakers go, he was not short of brawn. It was when he was on this initial paddle that he first noticed the nearby island, not far off the coast. It was just one of a number of Caribbean islands, but there was something compelling about it… It was when one of the paddlers told him it was called ‘monkey island’ that his curiosity piqued. He felt a peculiar and most unexpected attraction to it that he couldn’t explain.
That evening, in the hotel bar, he made enquiries. He found out that the island was actually a primate research centre. Apparently, it was inhabited by over two-thousand rhesus monkeys and tourists were not allowed on the island. The urge to visit it grew even stronger.
The next morning, after a restless night, he went to the beach early and rented a kayak. Within minutes he was paddling out to sea. When he reached the island, he continued around to the far side. This would allow him to remain out of sight from the mainland, as the beaches became busier with holidaymakers.
After dragging his craft up onto the beach, he stood looking around. They had been right; the island was teeming with monkeys, as far as the eye could see! Being overwhelmed with the sheer numbers of them, he was unaware of movement behind him. It made him jump, when a friendly voice said, “Good morning.”
“What?” he blurted, as he turned around with a shudder.
Doing this, he came face to face with an exceptionally large monkey. It stood upright on its hind legs with its hands put together in a prayer-like gesture. It bowed slightly and grinned. “Good morning,” it said again. “We have all been watching you. It has been decided that you come to us as the chosen one. We were right, you don’t just hear a jabbering when we speak. You have the power to hear what we have to say. We have been expecting you. As you can see, there are many of us on the island. We are all excited about your much anticipated coming.”
With a sweep of its arm, it went on, “Our whole community has been waiting. Together, we will enable you to become the chosen one; the powerful being that you were born to be. It is here that you will come to know your full potential. Let us go together to the heights and look out across the sea.”
In a trance-like state, he followed the animal up to the cliff’s edge.
“Now,” it said, “with your regenerated abilities you can spread your arms wide… and fly!”
Spreading his arms out, he leaped.
The screaming didn’t stop until he hit the rocks.
Moments later, the large monkey was joined by another. It peered over the edge, then, shaking its head, it said, “That’s the fifth one this month. How do you do it? Talk them into it, I mean.”
“Bloody tourists! It’s easy. There’s one born every minute.”