Maria and her son Junior have a vegetable garden in the backyard of their house, where they grow various plants to obtain their food, and they also have animals for the same purpose. In that country there is an economic crisis, there are no supplies for the cultivation and maintenance of these plants. Because of this situation, they migrate to another country, when they arrive, they live in a house near a jungle.
Their mother goes daily with two thermoses of coffee to sell them at the tollbooth, a place where many people pass by in cars and buses. She returns home at night. Junior, 16, attends high school in the morning shift. After school, he meets up with another teenager and they go into the jungle.
Junior is amazed wen he contemplates the surroundings: huge trees, thick vegetation, plants with thick leaves, the greenery they transmit is intense, a deep river that invites you to bathe and monkeys hanging from the trees.
Peter , very excited, climbs a tree and invites him: "Come, climb up, don't be afraid, they won't hurt you".
To inspire Junior's confidence. The teenager puts his hand on the monkey's paw and the monkey gently caresses it.
Junior asks, "¿How do you keep them from biting you?".
He answers: "I don't do anything, they are my friends, I always come to visit them, I know where they hide!"
The young man asks him, "How do you know that?"
Peter argues, "Very easy, I go by the smell of the urine they excrete, when the trail ends, they are there in herds".
Junior is scared, trembling, white as a sheet of paper. To stay, he keeps asking: "¿What do they eat?
The friend answers: "insects, fruits, leaves, seeds, flowers and all the nutrients provided by other plants". He tells him in a high tone: "You just climbed up, you fool!.
Junior shouts at him: "I'm afraid, they might bite my hand and when I get home, my mother will find me out! "
The friend explains: "Don't worry, climb the tree, follow me, don't be afraid, I will guide you".
The young man follows his friend's instructions, and when he arrives at the site, several monkeys jump on Pedro, hug him and make faces at him.
He asks him: "Why are they doing that to you? The adolescent answers: "The hug is the greeting, the grimaces, screams and gestures are part of the emblem of their language, that's how they communicate".
Junior tells him, "I see that a monkey is giving you a kiss, is she your girlfriend?" Peter replies, "I can't believe you're asking me that! She is my friend".
The adolescent calls to him: "Come closer, give me your hand! Junior warily gives it to him, Pedro holds the monkey's paw and crosses it with his friend's hand, in a gesture of cordiality he says: "¡High five!".
"The monkey jumps", with this gesture he shows that they are friends.
From that moment on, Junior is accepted in the community and participates in all the games with the monkeys.
He looks at his watch and tells Pedro: "It's 5 pm. We have to go back, my mother will be here soon." They take their belongings and start their way back.
As soon as Junior arrives home, he prepares dinner. When he arrives, his mother greets him and notices that everything is in order.
Two years go by. One day, after school, with his friend, they decided to go to the jungle. they spent the day playing and eating with the monkeys. When they arranged to return, there was a downpour, the river rose very high, which prevented them from returning, they stayed to sleep in the monkey community.
Maria spent the whole night without sleeping, she didn't go to sell coffee that day. In the afternoon Junior arrives home, and as soon as she sees him, she yells at him:
"It's not fair that you arrive at this hour, be careful that you are involved in drug problems or theft, if I find out that this is true, I'll leave you alone and you won't see me anymore!".
Junior, very hurt, declares, "¡Mother, I can't believe you said that about me! Forgive me, I confess to you what I'm doing." He tells her all about the jungle and the life he has been living there for two years.
After six months, the lady receives a letter from her relatives explaining that the economic situation in her city has improved, and she talks to his son about the possibility of returning to her country.
Junior declares: "I don't want to go, I have become so familiar with Pedro and the monkey community that I want to live like them, without worries, without selfishness, without love for material things. They share their food and are supportive".
His mother explains: "It's impossible for you to stay, you came with me and we're going back next week".
It is one day before Junior leaves. He and Pedro go to the jungle to visit their friends, the monkeys, play with them and have fun.
When Junior is about to leave, through gestures, shouts and signs, he tells the monkeys: "Tomorrow my mother and I are going to my country".
The monkeys respond by means of their communicative emblems: grimaces, cries, signs and groans that emit sounds similar to: "Don't go, please, we love you like family, if you leave we will get sick, we can't stand you leaving,¡ oh No, stay!".
The young man says goodbye with tears in his eyes, waves his hands and the monkeys wave their paws, as a sign of farewell.
When he arrives home he cries to his mother for having to leave the monkeys, she tells him: "Calm down son, life is like that sometimes we have to leave the ones we love the most".
Junior arrives in his hometown with his mother. The next day, he goes for a walk around town, passes by a recreational park and sees that it is neglected, the monkeys are caged. Outside is a sign: < ParkRanger- . Please contact the Ministry of Environment>. Junior goes to the Ministry. Immediately, he is hired. For the management and maintenance of the park.
This limits: West with a main Avenue, East with the river. It is two hectares long, and 250,000 meters wide, this area has trees, ornamental plants. Cages with enclosed monkeys, sidewalks for the displacement of the visitors, very deteriorated, swings, in bad condition. Junior repairs these materials. Clean the whole area. He releases the 8 caged monkeys, communicates with them through gestures and signs, invites them to swim in the river, then tames them so that they can communicate with tourists and people from the city who come to recreate.
Since Junior has been working in this park, many children and their parents come daily. They enjoy and laugh with the monkeys exchanging gestures and grimaces that are symbols of communication.
Currently Junior is recognized by tourists who visit the park nationally and internationally, as the best ParkRanger, for his work performed in this recreational area.
I hope you liked the publication.
This story is fiction.
The drawings are my property.
I used Deepl translator.
See you soon.