The Treasure Chest of Secrets is a well known travel book that most people take with them on their journeys through the more disagreeable parts of the country. Besides having complete maps of absolutely everything there is to see, such as Podunk’s Canary Village and Duncan’s Fireworks Factory, just north of Merrysville, the book has truckloads of useful information.

Looking up the word ‘monkey’ in the 35-page long appendix of The Treasure Chest of Secrets will lead avid readers to pages 134-35, somewhere between the "Desert Survival" and "Swamp Tourism" sections. As it turns out, there used to be a rather large colony of primates that fled from captivity and then, for reasons unknown, decided to settle in some old ruins in the Yuca Desert. These caves have been baptized "The Monkey Caves" and are apparently the best way to get from the Yuca Desert to the small village of Youngtown.

Julian had neither heard of nor read The Treasure Chest of Secrets when he first crossed the desert with Peel and Joshua. He did, however, find it extremely odd that the caves he was currently navigating were populated by small monkeys.

"I think it’s trying to tell us something." said Peel as she bent down and scooped a small monkey up into her arms, rocking it softly and making eyes at it. The monkey started chattering delightedly, which made Peel giggle. "Isn’t it cute?"

Julian watched in mute surprise as one of the other nearby monkeys jumped up onto Peel and snatched the other monkey. After they had both hit ground, the first monkey, apparently a female, began berating the other for looking at another woman. The male monkey raised his hands in protest, but was quickly silenced when his partner grabbed his ear and dragged him off.

"They’re very intelligent...almost human in some way." Joshua waved to an older looking monkey, who was using a small stick as a cane, and raised an eyebrow when the elder monkey squeaked and gave Joshua a thumbs-up with its tiny hand. "<Uki kee!>" the elder monkey hobbled over to Julian and began chattering emphatically. Joshua walked over to Julian and pointed to the monkey. "See? It’s saying hello!" Julian frowned. "I don’t see how you might be able to tell what it’s saying." he mused, kneeling and shaking the elder monkey’s hand. The latter, in turn, swiveled to the side and coughed.

Joshua extended an arm and a baby monkey jumped on, running up to his shoulder. "It’s perfectly clear, you know." he let the monkey grab his finger and shake it. "This one here is called Kir."

Julian looked at ‘Kir’, then at Joshua with a quizzical look. A question began forming in his head. "Joshua," he began. "can you...talk to them? These monkeys?"

"Of course. I’ve always been able to talk to animals. They’re never much fun, though, unless they have a large enough brain to hold a conversation."

"...okay..."

A high-pitched squeal brought Julian’s attention away from Joshua and onto Peel, who was being accosted by three male monkeys. She tried desperately to shake them off, but the enamored primates refused to let go. "Get them off me!" she protested, flailing her arms. "Help!"

Joshua stepped up to Peel’s makeshift fan club and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving ‘Kir’, the baby monkey from before, a chance to hop onto Peel’s head and scare the other monkeys off, making elaborate gestures. As soon as they were all off, ‘Kir’ hopped back onto Joshua’s shoulder. Peel, after having seen this somewhat elaborate display, turned to Julian and pointed at Joshua. "Did you see that? I think he’s using PSI to communicate with the monkeys!" A smile came over her face and she began jumping up and down. "Hey! I bet you could do that too! Why don’t you try? It could work, you know?" she grabbed Julian and led him to Joshua, gently pushing him into the mob of monkeys that had gathered. He simply gave Peel a confused look. "I...I’ll try..." he said. After stabling himself so that the overactive monkeys couldn’t knock him down-he was the first human they’d seen in years, after all-he began concentrating, placing a hand to his head at the same time.

"Kyuki kee! Uki!...llo! Kee kee...Hello! Pleased to meet you!"

Julian’s eyes widened and he lost his concentration somewhat. "I...understood him..." he said to himself in amazement. Shortly thereafter he began concentrating again. Mentally, he projected his thoughts from his own brain to the monkey’s. "Um...can you understand me?" he felt very awkward communicating this way, but he thought it better than nothing. The monkey he was ‘talking’ to jumped up and down in glee. "Hey! You can talk! That’s great!" he calmed down and extended his hand in friendship. "I’m Ben Anna. What’s your name?"

"I’m Julian." Julian shook the monkey’s paw warmly. Ben Anna pointed to Peel and winked. "Say," he began. "your friend’s pretty cute. You think she might go out with me sometime?" Julian chuckled and looked over to Peel, who was left unprotected and was now being harassed by jealous wives.

"Um...I think you might be overwhelming her." he replied. Ben sighed. "Oh...that’s too bad. Hey, you look tired. Why don’t you come home with us and spend the night? We’ve got plenty of food!"

"...Sure, I--"

The elder monkey from before interjected with a hacking cough. "Just one durn minute there, sonny!" he limped over and stepped in front of Ben Anna. "Hospitality ain’t cheap! I says we make a deal!" Ben set the elder to one side and raised a hand in apology. "This is Plat Ano, the mayor. Don’t mind him, he’s about two plates short of a full set, if you know what I mean."

Plat Ano pushed Ben Anna to one side and shook his cane menacingly. "Watch your mouth, whippersnapper!" he cried, then turned to Julian. "Now see here, you can stay the night with us on one condition, and one condition only!" Julian shrugged and pointed to Peel. "You want to date Peel, right?" he asked with a slight tinge of irritation. Plat began to speak, but Ben Anna interjected at the last moment and cut him off. "That’s enough! No deals!" he yelled. Plat and Ben then stared each other squarely in the eyes, engaging in a micro-scale battle of monkey authority. Eventually Plat receded. "Just don’t mess up the place, hear me?" he grumbled before we walked off. In the meantime Julian stooped down and cupped a hand to his mouth, as if to speak in secret, even if he was using telepathy. "Are you sure we can just stay like this?" he asked meekly. "I mean...we can pay you back some way."

Ben Anna shook his head. "It’s no problem, really! We can see you’ve had a rough trip through the desert."

"You don’t know the half of it."

"Yeah. Anyway, we feel we can spare some food for a single night. Just try not to eat too much, okay?" Ben somehow managed the monkey equivalent of a wink, which surprised Julian somewhat. "...uh, sure, yeah, okay..." he said. Ben jumped again. "Great! Let’s party!" he squealed in delight and went over to the other monkeys, who had now formed a mob at Peel’s feet and were either trying to propose marriage to her or kill her. "Hey guys! Chill out!" Ben waved his paw and called out to his companions, who ceased their chattering instantly. They then started to crowd around their new surrogate leader and make wild howling noises that even Julian’s telepathy was unable to translate. So, instead of watching the tiny population wail he turned to Joshua and Peel. "Looks like we have room and board for today." He mused. Peel scoffed. "Are you kidding? With them?"

Joshua kneeled and allowed Kir to scramble off of his shoulder and onto the ground. "I don’t know," he said. "I think they’re nice. Very hospitable." He straitened back up and turned to Peel. "Besides, a room’s a room, right?"

Peel sighed. "Right. I can stomach one night." She turned to the rabid monkey hoard and placed her hands on her hips. "I really wish I could understand what they’re saying though." Julian replied to this by waving her off. "You’re not missing much." He commented.

***

Nighttime found the three human adventurers sitting around a very crude table, which in fact was just a large, flat rock. The fruits they were eating were part of a non-stop flow of food that was being carried in by dozens of monkeys. Bananas, apples, berries...apparently the forested area on the other side of the Yuca Desert was flourishing with wildlife.

Joshua found himself enjoying a seemingly pleasant conversation with his newfound friend, Kir, as he nibbled slowly on an orange slice. He never bothered with table manners when he was living in the forest, but he had managed to conjure the little he had learned before he was left in the wild, if only for appearance’s sake. Kir tried to imitate him and they both seemed to be having fun talking with each other.

Peel, a little calmer than before, politely accepted a banana from a female monkey-who shot her a suspicious look before walking off. Peel, in turn, scooted over towards Julian and leaned on him, partly because she wanted some sort of protection from the monkeys, and partly because she enjoyed being close to him.

Julian, of course, didn’t exactly notice Peel’s actions and opted instead to look beyond the banquet he was being treated to, and at the gray figure of Plat Ano, standing isolated in a corner of the cave. I wonder what he wanted...Julian’s curiosity flared as he pictured Plat Ano walking hand in hand with Peel through a cave. "Nah. Couldn’t be." He whispered to himself. Plat Ano’s worries seemed to go much deeper than those of the other monleys. Still, there was only one way to be sure...

"Hey! Where are you going!" Peel tried to stop Julian by grabbing his arm, but Julian escaped from her grip and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It’s okay, I’ll be right back." He reassured her. Peel looked to the side and her eyes bulged when they met with the gaze of a male monkey fawning over her. She whirled around instantly and found her protector gone. Her face took on a frightened look and she squealed. "Julian..."

Julian bent down to look at Plat Ano, who was staring back sourly. "What do you want, sonny?" he spat, waving his cane. Julian raised a hand in defense. "Listen...I feel kinda bad about staying here like I am." Plat Ano coughed. "So, what’s it to me?"

"You said you wanted to make a deal...so let’s make a deal."

Julian had managed to catch Plat off his guard and the elder primate barely managed to stifle his surprise. He nearly dropped his cane and his tiny shoulders drooped. "You...want to hear what I say?" he asked. Julian nodded. "Sure. If there’s anything I can do, I will."

Plat regained his composure and pointed to the other monkeys. "You see the way they behave?" he asked. Julian didn’t understand the meaning of the question, so he answered honestly. "They’re happy. They seem to be enjoying themselves."

"Exactly." Plat shook his head. "They enjoy themselves too much. They don’t bother leaving the caves because they have everything they could ever need here."

"Well...isn’t that a good thing?"

"Not when there’s a whole world to see!" Plat swelled with rage and his cane left the ground again, waved in the air by Plat’s worn hand. "These caves are only a part of the world! No one can live here forever!"

Julian, noticing that this would take a while, sat down indian-style and rested his elbow on his thigh. "So...what do you want us to do about it?" while the question might have been taken as an offense, Julian’s tone showed that he meant for Plat to continue his speech. Plat lowered his head. For the first time Julian noticed a haggard, exhausted aura that emanated from the monkey...the type of aura that is typical of someone who has lived through much and seen many hardships.

"I want one of my younger descendants to go with you...my grandson, Kir."

Julian shot a look at the monkey in question, who was now sharing an apple with Joshua and chattering happily. "Kir? Him?" Julian immediately shook his head. "No. No way. He’s too young."

Plat Ano was instantly filled with a mixture of anger and disappointment. "The boy’s got too much energy...too much imagination to stay cooped up in here all his life."

"Well, can’t he leave by himself?"

"His parents won’t let him...they want him to stay here, to become like them..." Plat’s voice was filled with sadness. He knew that his grandson was to become just like Ben Anna...and the thought stabbed at him like a knife. "Kir...he has so much potential. He can be a great monkey. You have to take him."

Julian tried to lend a hand on Plat’s shoulder, but only managed to get his pinky finger on the tiny primate’s figure. "We’re always in danger." He mused. "We go without eating for days...we don’t have enough money to feed him or anything..."

"I know that!" Plat snapped. "I’m no fool, I can see what your life is like! You’re just like that other boy that came through here five years ago...he and his friends...they were like you." Plat placed his hands behind his back, reminiscence taking over his words. "They suffered greatly...they had to fight, even though they were children...but they had the strength to persevere. When they came five years ago, I knew I wanted to become like them. I wanted more than anything to be like that.

"But I had obligations. I was just starting out as mayor of the village then, but I knew that it was that type of people that would change the world. So when Ben had his first son two years ago I advised him to let the boy explore the world outside. Ben, of course, wouldn’t have it. Called me an old crackpot, he did...said he might suffer, get killed...

"And that’s the point! We all have to learn about the hardships of life! Only then can we become stronger! We have to appreciate everything; even suffering gives us strength and understanding. And Kir needs to learn that.

"So I’m asking you: please take him with you. I know he might suffer. I know he might curse me for sending him with you...but ultimately I know he’ll be better for it. He’ll be a great monkey..."

Plat let his shoulders droop again and was silent, as is usual after a person remembers something very sad. An awkard silence fell over the two as Julian considered Plat Ano’s proposal. The two sat there for what seemed like an eternity.

"You have yourself a deal."

Julian didn’t move but instead contented himself with a weak smile. Plat nodded affirmatively and rested his full weight on his cane, his eyes somewhat hazy. "Thank you." He said simply. "You’re just like that other boy...so kind, yet so strong..."

Julian got up and looked over to Kir and Joshua. The two seemed to have hit it off perfectly. They were very much alike, in a way: both trapped in someplace dark and murky, ready and willing to discover the world around them. Wordlessly, Julian gave Plat Ano a thumbs up and rejoined the party.

***

A bright haze of light washed over the humans waiting at the exit of the monkey caves, casting odd shadows over the cave floor. They were well-rested and well-fed, and had enough supplies to last them a good while in the wilderness. The sunlight was a welcome delight to their eyes, who finally had a chance to focus on something other than the endless gray stone of the caves. As they soaked in the sunlight, a mass of tiny figures gathered before them and voiced their sadness to see them go. However, some among them seemed very happy. Guests were not common and seldom welcomed as warmly as they were.

The largest one of them placed a hand in his pocket, and called out to the other two. "We’re moving out." He ordered. The other two nodded in agreement. Backpacks were donned and shoes were tied as the earthbound ones readied themselves for the grueling tasks that lay ahead. In the meantime, a tiny figure scuttle from shoulder to shoulder and finally came to rest on the head of the smallest figure, hiding partially behind a mass of brown hair. Its short tail waved emphatically.

"We thank you for everything." Julian smiled at Ben Anna and bent down to offer his hand, which Ben shook with both of his paws. "You’ve been very kind."

"It was nothing! Anytime!" Ben laughed. "Feel free to come back anytime soon! Kir’ll be delighted to-" suddenly his train of thought broke off. "Say, where is Kir, anyway?"

The tiny figure on Joshua’s head noticed his father’s tone and dived into Joshua’s backpack, hiding as Julian waved Ben Anna off. "I’m sure he’s around somewhere." He said nervously. He was trying hard to hide the fact that they were about to sneak Ben’s son out of the caves. Apparently Ben took no notice and resumed his jovial smile. "Yeah, sure! Ah, we’ll find him later!" he exclaimed. "Now go along, scoot!"

Julian rose and looked over to Plat Ano, who was standing behind the other monkeys and looking very wise. He nodded to Julian and waved, as if to say, ‘make me proud’. Julian walked over to the other silhouettes and soon enough he too was swallowed by the light as they exited the monkey caves.

Plat smiled, for the first time in many years he felt good. Almost...giddish, in a way. No one took notice, obviously; the batty old mayor never made much sense anyway, talking about seriousness and all that...