Guy--Part Fifty

Splog # 206

Fifty

 The monkey watched Splog place the hat with the fish in it on the ground, and then turned to look at Guy. By this time, Guy had also turned from Splog and was gazing at the monkey. The animal scooted over to Guy and took one of his hands in both of its paws. Then it just stood there. Guy was charmed by the beast, whose head only came up as high as his waist, and sat down beside him. The monkey climbed into his lap and then jumped to his shoulders and started rummaging in Guy's yellow hair. Splog came back and stood beside them. He patted the monkey on the head. The monkey jumped to Splog's arms and, as he held him, he said to Guy,

 "His name is Joe."

 Immediately on hearing his name, the monkey leapt from Splog's arms and, standing in front of Guy, held out his right paw. Guy took it with a smile and gently pumped it up and down. Joe stood still looking into Guy's face and, after a moment, Splog said, in a low voice,

 "He's waiting."

 Guy clasped the paw a little tighter and shook it a little more energetically but the monkey just stared at him. Guy glanced to Splog and then back to the monkey. Nothing changed for a moment, until Guy whispered,

 "What's he waiting for?"

 "Well, the introduction is only half complete."

 As Guy realized what Joe was waiting for, he broke into a big smile.

 "Hello, Joe! My name is Guy."

 This time, the monkey became more energetic. After giving Guy's hand a good sake, he did a back flip. He landed on his feet and then made a circuit of the clearing. He dipped a paw into the hat where the fish was ensconced, ran right under the horse and did another flip, forward this time, as he jumped over the sheep's back. During this tour, he was chattering excitedly and, when he'd returned to where he started, he grabbed Guy's hand for another round of shaking and, after a moment, again leapt into Splog's arms. Guy had been laughing in amusement at the monkey's antics and now he stood up so he could pet him as he rested in Splog's embrace. Joe took the pebble, which Guy found himself still holding, out of Guy's hand and slid it into the pocket of his shorts. Now Guy had a pebble in each of his pockets. And, to his surprise, the monkey was holding his three remaining packets of oogachaka. 

 "You'll never get them all back now, might a swell let him have one."

 "Sure," Guy said, shrugging his shoulders.

 The monkey sniffed at the three packets held together at one corner by a knot and then, picking one away from the others, he took a look at Guy. Guy nodded his head and Joe yanked the packet from the others and handed the remainder to Guy. As Guy was replacing these in his pocket, the monkey climbed from Splog's arms, scrambled over to where the hat of water was, and dunked the packet into it. A cake of oogachaka bounced up from the hat and Joe caught it deftly and took a bite from it. Again Guy laughed at the monkey's doings and Joe came back to him and offered him the food. He accepted, took a bite and handed it back to Joe. This time, the oogachaka had a smoky taste that didn't seem familiar to Guy. He watched Joe offer it to Splog, who also took a bite.

 "Quite tasty," was Splog's opinion.

 "It is good," said Guy. "What flavor is it?"

 "Well, of course, I can't answer for you,but I received the impression of burnt toast."

 "Burnt toast?" Guy puzzled.

 "With a touch of peanut butter."

 Guy thought maybe there was a slight taste of peanut butter, but he was rather doubtful about the burnt toast. Joe had sat down at their feet and was munching on the ogachaka. 

 "I wonder how soon the others will be here," Splog muttered absent-mindedly.

 "Others?" Guy asked.

 "I thought it might be best...Well, you see, at first I thought you could all go your own ways..."

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[TLK]

"The monkey watched Splog place the hat with the fish in it on the ground," makes me think of a text adventure.