The end of the Orangutan

Oru, the great Orangutan, leader of the plains, carries with his tribe a wonderful way of life, only to be corrupted by the discovery of a treason that changed their lives.

#The end of the Orangutan

Once upon a time, in a remotely located indonesian island, there was an orangutan named Oru. He was a husky, feral and self-confident being, and was very popular among his tribe mates, and he used to live with his family in the island's open plains. The orangutans that lived in the island had established a family, the Great Family, divided into two big groups, with their specific tasks. The family of orangutans that stayed in the forest trees, had the duty to search for berries, fruits and termites, while the family of orangutas from the plains defended the Great Family from any foreign enemy.

Normally, the tree orangutas provided the food to the plains orangutas, since in that area of the island the food was very scarce, hence not enough to satisfy the hunger of dozens of orangutas. In exchange, the ones from the plains would defend the area, though most of the time they played, mated, had lots of fun, and waited for the food and when an enemy came close, it was only a matter of time for it to escape, since having to face dozens of fierce and angry orangutans ready to fight was not a good idea.

One day, Oru was really hungry and the tree orangutas hadn't brought the food yet, and they had taken more time than usual. So he decided to go to the forest to see what was happening. Upon climbing the branches of the trees in the dense part of the forest, he saw that the tree orangutas were eating the berries and termites. Oru, now shocked, asks them:

-Why are you eating the food before us, the ones from the plains?

-We are hungry and we are too tired. Besides, if we don't eat, we won't be able to carry the precious and heavy food to the plains -Said Tani, one of the termites collectors.

-But I'm hungry, and I assure you the rest is as well, and also, I'm pretty sure you guys eat more than us! -claims Oru.

-We collect all we can, so all of the Great Family members can eat. It is a long, boring and exhausting job, and requires practice and knowledge, so be patient and wait in the plains.

Oru stays still for a moment, and meditates. He observes the majestic trees, takes advantage of the shading, protecting him from sunlight, feels the warm temperature that the island's vegetation brings, the humid odor, the soothing breezes that come from the rocky hills and the beautiful sings from golden orioles that one could barely hear, but that nonetheless would provide an amazing sense of peace.

He therefore goes back, furious, to the plains. He arrived a bit tired so he rests. He raises his head and feels the merciless sunlight in his face so he lowers his head again, and what he can see is the vast fields with scarce vegetation, the shores in the distance, and of course, his family on the landscape. 

-Are you hungry? -Oru asks to his relatives.

The tribe answers yes in unison. Then Oru asks them:

-The ones in the plains are eating the food first! And the worst of all, they are eating more! -He yelled at the tribe. -One can see that they are well fed, have better skin than us, and they are happier!

The tribe seemed uneasy and confused. Almost immediately, asks Oru what to do.

-We are stronger. When they arrive to bring our food, we will expel them from the island since they are traitors!

The Plains Orangutas were shouting in euphoria and felt unruly. A few hours later, the Tree Orangutas arrived to provide the food to the Plains Orangutas.

Oru stands among the Plains Family and says to the ones from the trees:

-We, the Plains Orangutas have decided to expel you from the island because you eat first than us, and more than us. If you don't leave, we will kill you!

The orangutas that had always lived in the plains, by looking at the Trees Orangutas with the skin and fur more vivid (which was expected because when exposed to sunlight the fur obtains a burnt aspect) and with the food in their hands, they snatched away the food from them, and felt so much hatred and rancor that nothing else could occur to them but to attack them.

There was a camp battle, and a lot of the Tree Orangutas died. They had been attacked almost by surprise, were surrounded, and weren't in their common grounds. Some of them could escape, another few went into hiding and others asked for mercy and to at least defend the Great Family in the plains. In the end, when the Plains Orangutas had won, they celebrated with joy and with the food the Tree Orangutans had brought.

Two days later, the food and the celebration was over, so Oru, the new leader, stands upon all the Orangutans, and says:

-Now all of us will have the same amount of food! -Claimed. -Some of you will come with me to the trees, to do the labor the right way, while others will stay in the plains to defend the Great Family from the enemies, and to assure the traitors don't escape and fulfill their new duty as defenders, just like we've always done.

All of the Plains Orangutans were happy with Oru, and without complaining, they obeyed his orders.

A while later, the group and Oru arrived to the forest, where the berries, fruits and termites were. All of the orangutans were dumbfounded by the landscape. Most of them had never seen it before, and they felt the hill's breezes, the warm weather, the characteristic humid odor of the forest, and the songs of the golden orioles from the distance. They thought they were in heaven.

And, just like Oru said, they started looking for food. However, they didn't know where the termites were, nor how to climb to the tallest branches to get the berries, nor which fruits in the bottom were the right ones to eat. Nobody had taught them any of this. Instinctly, the orangutans that were with Oru ate what they could, because if not, they would die of hunger, even the Great Oru.

As expected, shortly after the orangutans that were now defending the plains, were very hungry and nobody was coming. Finally, after a long while, Oru and the others arrived to the plains, with less food than what the previous family used to bring them.

-Is this it? -Asks one of the orangutans that was now defending the plains.

-Yes, this is it. The traitors of our Great Family hid all the food when they saw that I discovered them!

-This will not be enough for all of us. -Says another one. 

Oru gets unsettled for a moment, and answers:

-Don't worry, brother. This is for you, the ones that are guarding us from the Plains! We'll get food for us once we get to the trees again.

The new Plains Orangutans got exalted and were filled with hope and happiness, standing before Oru, thanking him for his benevolence, while looking with bad blood at the remaining traitors, who knew that Oru was lying, because it was impossible to go down the plains carrying heavy loads of food, without having had a feast of berries and termites first.

As time passed, Oru's group, that now lived in the trees, eventhough they always ate enough, they also brought less and less food each time they went down the plains, until the one day that changed everything.

That day, Oru's group wasn't finding enough termites nests anymore, and since it was afraid of choosing the poisonous fruits and couldn't reach high berries, Oru and the others decided not to go to the plains anymore, since there wasn't enough food for all of them.

The Orangutas guarding in the plains were shocked because the Great Oru and the others had taken more time than usual. The ones that used to live in the trees before, pledged to the new guardians to let them go and collect food, or that at least to let one of the loyals to Oru to go and investigate. However, they denied the first petition because they would not let any traitor escape to the trees, and denied the second one because they alleged that, as new guards from the plains, they had to defend the Great Family from foreigners, although the truth was that no orangutan dared to question Oru's orders, and risk itself of being expelled or killed.

Eventually, the poor Plains Orangutans were waiting loyally for the Great Oru, their leader, under the sun impregnating the lowlands with burning hot temperatures. Hot days and cold nights, and only with waters from the streams to drink and survive. The tension was unmeasurable, that frightening combination of pride and fear was strong enough to stun the orangutan defenders, who couldn't be able to even make it to the forests alive due to the high fatigue, even if they didn't know it, even ignoring everything the traitors would beg to them, even if the hunger would make them doubt. The orangutans in the plains, were slowly dying, and nobody could save their lives.

Days passed, and when Oru's group that was still in the trees had nothing else to eat, everything went shenanigans. Some of them ate poisonous fruits and died, others escaped the island and who knows what might have happened to them, and others were devoured by jaguars.

Oru, who was wounded, escaping from one of the jaguars, did all he could, dying, to go to the rocky hills, where he found a hidden cave. He was filled with hatred, pride and sorrow. Now that he went deeper into the cave, he encounters another orangutan, Tani, the collector.

-You…You were hiding the food from us, weren't you? -Claims Oru.

-Why would I hide it? -Answers Tani. -I don't want to live alone in this island, and even though I already am, I had the hope that the orangutans would realize the true treason to our Great Family.

-Treason? You, the ones from the trees, betrayed us! -Claims Oru, heavily wounded, while weakly grabbing Tani by the chest. -You wanted to eat first, and to eat more than us, while we were defending!

Oru wasn't able to accept within himself, all he had done. He couldn't do anything else. Carrying his truth until the very end, and now with a blurry sight because he was bleeding out, listens to Tani's words:

-Oh, Oru. Only if you had asked yourself if it was good that you, the ones from the plains, were underfed. Had you lacked the food, even only for a day, you would have never been able to defend the Great Family, all of us, even you and me, from the jaguars and other enemies.

Oru opened his eyes, surprised, frowned really hard, while two tears escaped through his eyes, and upon a few and long seconds, he stopped breathing.

Tani, the last orangutan of the island, lived the rest of her life alone. She survived by feeding herself from the berries in the highest trees. There, she used to see from the distance the emptiness of the plains, where at some point in her past she observed with impotence his brother orangutans die slowly from hunger and agony.

#The End

Antonio Del Negro

Author's Note

Any comments, critics, recommendations, suggestions and/or other ideas you would like to share, are all welcome.