Chapter 2
“If you’re going to eat, then eat! Stop acting so delicate!” Isabelle snarled, her voice dripping with venom. “Are you trying to make Mom and Dad
feel sorry for you when they get home? Finish it! Drink it all, right now!”
She crouched down and tried to force more of the hot porridge on her.
Stella cried out, scrambling backward. “I’m sorry… I won’t drink it, I won’t drink it anymore…”
There were still many more cards, but my mother no longer had the strength to watch. She was shaking uncontrollably, her eyes a maelstrom of
red veins and tears.
My father sank into the sofa, his head bowed, breathing like a cornered animal, his eyes still fixed on the blank screen.
My brother clutched the last half of his cigarette so tightly in his hand that it burned his fingers, but he didn’t even flinch.
No one said a word.
10
I floated back to Monkey Mountain and slept soundly.
That trip back home, even as a spirit, left me feeling grimy. So the next morning, I took a long bath, ate a few extra bananas, and washed the bad
juju away.
As the sun rose, the first wave of tourists arrived. A woman walked toward my enclosure, looking lost and hollow.
glanced over. It was my mother again. This time, she didn’t even bring mangosteens.
ignored her, hanging upside down from the bars and swinging back and forth.
Chapter 2
09:33
But she looked up at me, her voice a low murmur. “Monkey, your eyes… they’re
ghter… she suffered so much, so much… and I never knew…”
Much like
my daughter’s… What am I supposed to do? My dau-
Hot tears streamed down her face, and she began to sob uncontrollably.
I finally noticed that the green bar above her head had surged. Her Regret Meter was at 90%.
Just 10% more to go.
I thought for a moment, then leaped down to a spot right in front of her, watching her up close.
She sniffled, trying to choke back her tears. “Monkey, tell me what to do. My Stella… she’s never coming back. She was in so much pain, and it’s all
my fault. Why couldn’t I have just believed her, just once?”
She raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face, so hard that her lip started to bleed.
I watched her, my heart cold. So, you’re sorry, are you? Then why is it only 90%? Did a dog eat the other 10%?
I soon had my answer.
My father and Liam had found her. They both looked haggard, like they hadn’t slept a wink. Their Regret Meters had shot up as well. My father’s
was at 80%, Liam’s at 60%.
“Honey, stop crying,” my father said, his voice hoarse and his eyes bloodshot. “This monkey isn’t Stella. Why do you keep coming here?” He sighed
heavily. “I was up all night thinking… I think we need to give Isabelle another chance.”
My mother flinched, her silent tears continuing to fall.
Liam picked up where he left off. “Isabelle is young. She was bound to make mistakes. She was just scared we were going to abandon her, that’s
why she did those foolish things. Besides,” he added, “Stella died of cancer. It has nothing to do with Isabelle.”
My mother continued to weep silently.
My father and brother both looked at her, waiting for her to make a decision.
She sniffled, her gaze flickering from me back to them. Finally, she nodded, her voice choked with tears. “The living… have to go on living…”
The living have to go on living. What a line.
No wonder her Regret Meter was stuck. She was still saving that last 10% of her love for Isabelle.
Just then, Isabelle herself appeared. She was dressed to the nines again, running toward them. “Mom, Dad, Liam, what are you all doing here so
early?”
The family quickly wiped their eyes and forced smiles. “Oh, nothing. We didn’t get to see everything last time, so we came back for another look.”
“Oh, okay! Well, let me tell you, that dead monkey is the absolute worst! It stole my phone and had it smashed!” Isabelle was here to settle the
score. Seeing me standing so close, she picked up a rock and threw it.
I didn’t have time to dodge. The stone struck my face, breaking the skin. I felt a trickle of warm blood.
I wiped it away and stood there, stock–still, looking at them with an eerily human–like indifference.
The family stared back, a sense of wonder and confusion on their faces.
My mother’s eyes met mine. She shuddered, and fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks, seemingly against her will.
How disgusting.
I turned my back on them and returned to my throne at the peak of Monkey Mountain.
