r/shortstories • u/Character-Corgi-1202 • 19h ago
Science Fiction [SF] Shell
The other ape watched my every movement. His eyes followed me back and forth.
But this is my fig.
He doesn't get it.
The sharper his stare became, the more willing I was to die for that fig.
Something in my face must have shown it.
He backed off and turned his back on me.
I threw a stone after him anyway.
That's just what you do.
The fig tasted better because it had happened.
I balanced my way back to the troop. My friend Co had probably brought home more figs than I had again. He was already sitting by the river, taking one from the pile in front of him.
The best fig gatherer in the troop regularly gave figs away.
To me too.
In return, we protected his figs.
I took one and climbed to my branch.
Once I was settled, I bit into it.
Wait.
The fig must have spent too long in the sun.
It tasted poisonous.
I looked at it for a moment and threw it into the forest.
As far as I could.
That didn't solve my problem.
I needed a fig.
I couldn't ask Co.
He would give me one less next time.
I had to go out again.
I chose a different path than the one I had taken that morning.
The thicker brush on the other side.
One fig wasn't going to kill me.
As I climbed through the undergrowth, hunger nearly made me lose my balance.
I climbed down and walked the rest of the way.
I could already smell the figs.
Then I stopped.
Strange, wet breathing.
Behind the bushes stood a spotted hunter.
Hold still.
We stared at each other.
I thought my final thought and said goodbye to the world.
The hunter tensed its legs.
It was about to leap.
Just before it did, something rustled high in the trees.
Something fell.
A falling ape landed between the hunter and me.
The hunter used its jump to tear the other ape apart.
It bit down.
The ape's scream was unbearable for a moment.
Then it went quiet.
The hunter carried the ape shell into the forest.
The ape had become many small pieces.
My hunger was gone.
I had to get back to the troop.
I climbed home as fast as I could.
I heard screaming coming from our nest.
It couldn't be worse than the hunter.
Co and the others were shouting at another troop across the river.
That troop had wanted our nest for as long as I could remember.
That was Alpha Kip's problem.
Kip stood at the front screaming at the other alpha.
Behind them, the apes screamed back, jumped around, and puffed themselves up.
Every alpha hoping an ape would cross the river.
One finally did.
He probably thought Kip was distracted because he had glanced at one of his females.
The ape balanced across a fallen tree and stepped onto our side.
Kip stared at him with his mouth open.
The moment the ape touched our territory, Kip exploded into a rage.
He had been waiting for it.
Kip's screams drowned out every other voice.
Before the opposing alpha could call him back, Kip grabbed the ape by the legs.
He was beside himself.
Again and again he slammed the ape face-first into a tree trunk.
Until it became an ape shell.
Kip bared his teeth.
The enemies slowly retreated.
Kip kept smashing the shell against the trunk.
I preferred looking into the forest.
When the troop returned to its usual routine and began inspecting one another's backs, I became thirsty.
I went to the river and found what remained of Kip's victim.
Why had he crossed the river?
I had never seen two ape shells in a single day.
It felt as if a fig had burst inside me when Kip smashed that ape against the tree.
I pushed the shell aside and went to the water.
Using my five helpers, I scooped clear water from the river and stirred the surface.
Water had never tasted so good.
I sat alone for a while, still within sight of the troop, and looked across to the other side.
I would never go over there.
Again I thought about the shell.
When the water finally settled, I wanted another drink.
Before lowering my cup, I noticed something.
An ape shell sat in the water staring at me.
I screamed at the ape.
It screamed back.
My troop became alert.
I struck the moving ape shell in the water.
All it did was disturb the surface again.
It didn't seem to hurt it.
Who is this ape?
I beat my chest and jumped up and down.
Inside me, the fig burst again.
Only now the juice hurt.
I imitated Kip, trying to drive the ape away.
It didn't work.
The troop was watching.
But none of them could see the ape in the water.
I felt an urge to do something.
To hurt someone.
But the other ape only copied me.
I wanted to throw a stone.
All the stones.
More stones than my five helpers could carry.
They picked up a stone.
It wasn't enough.
I needed more stones.
If I struck my five helpers against the stone on the ground, perhaps many small pieces would appear.
Then I could throw them at the ape in the water.
I swung as hard as I could.
My five helpers crashed into the stone.
My red-stained helpers threw the small stones into the river.
Kip and the troop had been watching me and the stones.
Nobody looked at the ape shell anymore.
While I took another drink, Kip and the others lined up behind me and questioned me.
Kip picked up one of the stones and pointed to the other side of the river.
Why would we go to the other side?
Don't they have stones?
We overran one troop after another.
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