After a lot of planning and hard work, Billy´s farming plan or perhaps I should say the plan his mother had, that he managed to communicate to the hairless apes, took hold and the fruits of their labour could be seen in all the fields surrounding the refuge. At the start it had been extremely difficult, especially as Billy´s dad had formed a bit of a gang that raided the fields at night and ate everything, seedlings and all. A rift grew between the anti-farming and pro-farming groups until the hairless apes put up barbed wire around the allotments. They also attached a little alarm system which triggered a rattling of pots and pans and tin cans if any intruders got past the barbed wire.
Eventually and especially after the first produce was divided up between the farming people of the forest and the hairless apes Billy´s dad´s gang changed their opinion and joined the pro farming movement although they still had a few reservations toward the hairless apes and maintained that the produce was never quite fairly shared out.
Everything seemed to be working out well and the hairless apes and the people of the forest were building a bond which increased the level of trust and respect they had for each other. That was of course until the day arrived that set their progress back years.
It was a scorcher. The unlikely companions were working together in the fields when there was an upsurge of birds from the forest, their usual cheerful chirruping had changed to that of shrill alarm. Billy and the others looked upwards. They were fleeing some predator, probably a tiger. Suddenly and without warning some of the people of the forest dropped their tools and headed toward the village lake. That made the hairless apes stop working and huddle together, shout and point at the horizon between the tops of the forest and the sky. It was glowing a reddish orange colour and white smoke billowed out of it. You could hear the forest grumble under it´s presence. Billy´s mother grabbed him and made her way to the village lake to join the other orangutans. All of a sudden a tiger ran past them and immersed himself in the lake. More creatures followed him and soon the lake was an amalgam of hunters and game, united out of their fear of fire.
From the lake the animals could see the hairless apes. Some of them were also running into the water but the majority of them appeared to have a plan of action. The forest crackled and sparked under the oppressive and looming blaze. Billy couldn´t believe it. They were going to try and attack or at least deflect the monster. They cut away the debris and cleared all foliage that lay between the forest and the village. Then with hoses squirting out water they soaked the same ground. The inferno was almost upon them. The fields that lay beside the forest had already been consumed in a gulf of flames. Tired and soot-faced they eventually admitted their limitations and fled toward the watery refuge where all the forest creatures cowered and waited for the terror to pass. They grouped together in the water, some of the hairless apes carried sticks and rifles. They thought the wild forest beasts might grab an easy meal at any moment especially as it could prove to be a last one.
The people of the forest didn´t carry any sticks. They hadn´t thought that far ahead. The fire roared around them. They could hear the screams of some creatures that just hadn´t got away in time or that had been too stubborn to leave. The air and the lake warmed. It was suffocating.
When it finally died down the animals snarled a bit at each other then raced, soaking, out into the charcoal jungle. A few shots from a rifle ensured that all the forest creatures left the village in a hurry.
The people of the forest and the hairless apes inspected the destruction. Part of the village had been burnt to the ground. The part they had attempted to save had avoided the flames. Their fields however, had been badly damaged. The people of the forest said their goodbyes and headed on to look for a new home in another part of the forest. These crazy hairless apes were already trying to fix the village up and restore productivity. Billy admired them for their tenacity but his people just saw the situation as an impossible one. They knew that food would be scarce and the predators would be coming into the village looking for any sort of meal, it was time to head into wilder denser forests. Billy hugged the villagers and then followed his people. The little hairless ape that had fed him fruit followed them for a while until one of the grown up apes grabbed her and carried her back to the village. Billy hopped that one day they could live with their new allies again and said so to his daddy. Billy´s daddy just shook his head.
A few restless days passed. Billy didn´t see his mother in all this time but he did see Scaffold and Oran outside the caged hospital. It seemed as if the apes that take everything were giving them fruit outside of the prison type hospital too. They would often stay for a chat and then flee quickly into the forest if any hairless ape approached.
Finally the day came when their mother was released. She still looked a bit battered but apart from that she was fine. They hung around together every day in the pen, eating and waiting to see Oran and Scaffold. They were content but they understood that they were completely at the mercy of these strange apes whose temperament was as unpredictable as the wind.
Weeks passed like this. They all grew bored of the routine but they accepted it and came to need it. It was around this time that Billy realised he could sort of make out what the hairless apes´noises meant. He tried to imitate the noises but it just came out like gibberish. Then he figured out a way of getting his ideas across to his captors. He would draw pictures in the ground. There were plenty of sticks lying around. These apes were helpful and in a strange way he thought they wanted to be orangutans, perhaps that was why they hung around so much. Maybe if he taught them how to find food in the jungle and make great leafy beds in the trees they would teach the orangutans how to farm. It worked for the hairless apes, why wouldn´t it work for them?
So every day when the apes came into the pen he got a stick and tried to draw his ideas out in the clay. It was difficult. He was never very good at drawing. They ignored him.
This continued for a week. Then his father and mother joined in. Whenever the guards came into the pen they all drew the same plan out in the clay. The guards ignored them too.
They took some convincing but eventually and perhaps only out of sheer boredom, all the people of the forest started drawing the plan in the soil whenever the hairless apes came in. The guards just scratched their heads in wonder. Everyone was about to give up. This continued for about a month and the guards scratched their heads for a month. Then one day the people of the forest just stopped drawing. They would huddle together as if trying to think of a way to escape this luxury jail. But Billy kept drawing and it was Billy´s picture in the sand that made the strange ape with the four eyes suddenly announce to all in the pen.
“I have a great idea. It looks as if they are trying to plough the land in here. Let´s teach them how to farm.”
Half of the orangutans ran over to say thank you and take the fruit she and the guards were giving them. The other half which included Billy´s dad, stayed away. They waited for the guards to leave before grabbing the fruit. They still didn´t trust them and they were beginning to think that the farming idea might lead to slavery.
The hot sun woke him up. He kicked his mother in the belly, she still wouldn´t wake up. There was a heap of fruit left within reach outside the bamboo cage but Billy hadn´t the heart to reach out his long hairy red arms to get it. The little hairless ape was asleep beside the cage. He poked it until it woke up. It rubbed its eyes and then rubbed Billy´s head. Billy tried to keep hold of the little ape but it just stared at Billy´s mother and muttered something. Then it broke free of Billy´s grasp and ran into its house.
Later it came back with the big hairless apes. They threw a blanket over the cage and Billy felt it move upwards. He was about to pull it off but he had learnt quickly that these apes were much better to you if you didn´t make them angry. When the dirty beige blanket was finally drawn off he couldn´t believe his eyes. Here was the largest congregation of people of the forest that he had ever seen. Some of them looked like model orangutans, their auburn red hair was glossy and they seemed content and well fed. However, he also spotted a group nearby that were badly battered and some even had severe burns. He was picked up by one of the hair only on top apes and he hung on. It passed him to the strangest looking ape that takes everything. It had an extra pair of eyes that hung off its ears and nose. These eyes were not unlike the light reflecting ones he had seen on the dust making aliens. This ape had a mass of wiry white and grey hair floating out of its head. It was female and its skin lacked pigment. It didn´t look as healthy as the other apes. He felt safe with it but then he panicked when he saw them dragging his mother away.
He was left in the pen with the other orangutans. They ignored him for the most part, some of the hairless apes sat among them, they were generally there to control everything. An enormous orangutan leaped over to him and hugged him. “Daddy!” shouted Billy. He was really badly burnt and his arms and legs were wrapped in cotton.
“What are you doing here son?” he asked,
“We came looking for you, Mother´s here too. Oran and Scaffold escaped. What is this place?” said Billy.
“It´s a refuge for injured people of the forest, it seems there are some hairless apes that want to see us alive, once you are back in tip top condition they let you go back to the forest, but never mind that, where is your mother’” said the old orangutan.
“I don´t know, they took her away, they half beat her to death and then brought us here. What happened to you?” he asked sadly.
“They beat me with sticks and then threw an evil smelling liquid over me and using their bad magic suddenly all around me was hot and hurting and hot blue, red and yellow burning streaks flew up all around me. I ran to the lake. I don´t know how or why I did it but I felt so hot I thought I was going to explode and I needed a cold liquid to kill the hot liquid, luckily it worked. Next thing I remember was this pale white haired ape with four eyes fixing me up.” he sighed. “They really are devils, trust none of them, I can´t even for the life of me understand why they fix us up in the first place, sure they will do this again to us once we are released back home.”
Billy put his arm around him. “At least now we know they are fixing Mother.” he said.
They huddled together for a while and then decided to raid the house, or at least the part of the house where the food was stored. It looked as if the occupants were swimming deeply in the dream zone so they didn´t think twice, hungry bellies are fast actors. Oran was the first to steal into the house, his mother came next and then Scaffold. Billy was glued to the spot. He didn´t want to admit it but he was terrified. He whispered as loudly as was safe, “I´ll stay here as lookout, bring me something to eat.” Scaffold turned, whispering in return, “no problem, will do.”
They were away inside for what felt like an eternity, then there was a loud crashing noise and he heard the alarming yells of the skinny hairless apes that take everything. He was still glued to the spot. He didn´t know if he should run or go inside to help, Oran and Scaffold bounded past him and towards the fields near the forest. They were covered in leftovers. He was still hungry and he was still scared. He was pinned to the ground.
“Move your red bottom!” cried Oran from behind him.
“I´m waiting for Mum,” he replied.
It was a lie but it seemed much more noble to say that then to scream and cry. Then two overly excited little hairless apes ran out squeaking in excitement. They didn´t expect to see Billy there. The smallest one ran over and gave him a big cuddle. Billy opened his eyes wide in shock. Now he was really frightened. Was this their way of attacking you, cuddling you to death. Perhaps it was a pleasant way to die but he wasn´t ready yet. He struggled and pushed the ape to the floor and moved backwards, his wide eyes were stuck on the little creature. It giggled. Loud banging noises came from within the hut. Suddenly he felt brave. If he could push one of these creatures onto the ground with the least effort he should be inside helping Mother. He hobbled into the hut. The other little creature ran up to him making funny noises. He was holding a banana and giving it to him. Now Billy was confused, here was an ape that took everything, giving him something. Mother could wait, these creatures were easy to deal with. He took the banana, when he´d finished eating it he wanted another so he pushed the little ape to go in and get him more. The banging noises got crazier. The little ape wasn´t moving fast enough to get him something to eat so he decided he´d go in and help himself and mother while he was at it. He didn´t expect to see mother unconscious on the floor surrounded by much bigger apes with sticks and rope. He turned to run out, but was grabbed from behind and carried to a cage at the back of the hut where he and his injured mum were flung. The cage door crashed shut. The first little ape he met sat by the cage all night and fed him fruit while he sobbed and ate, hugging his mother.
They swung uphill, never once touching the jungle floor. Then, abruptly, the tree path ended. The three people of the forest stopped and stared at the vast yellow fields that lay strewn in front of them. It was a grassy wilderness. A dirt road lay somewhere beyond the waving yellow blades of grass. The dust blew up in the air as a white angry sounding creature from another planet zoomed across it. It had large square eyes that reflected the sun´s rays and its legs were not the kind of legs you would normally see in a forest. They were round. Billy imagined his legs spinning around like that at top speed. He thought it would hurt. He whispered to his mother, “are they the apes that take everything?” His mother replied, “no son, they are the aliens that came down to take over the world but the apes that take everything are so clever they tricked them and now they use them to travel around faster.”
“Oh golly,” said Billy, his eyes and mouth were wide open in amazement, “aliens,” he repeated to himself.
He looked at his mother again, she was clearly nervous, she beckoned to them to move a little away from the forest edge, signaling that it would be better to wait for darkness to continue their search. They made extra big nests to sleep in. This time the nests were more of a leafy hideout as mother explained that there was no place where these apes could not get you. Hiding was even safer than running from them. They were all hungry but they were also quite frightened so they stayed put and simply ate the insects that passed them by.
When the sun fell into the horizon and darkness covered the land they began the long trek across the fields to where the village was. They were highly aware of how vulnerable they were so they each had sticks and stones. Mother didn´t carry anything. She knew that if they were spotted here they would have little chance of survival. First things first they had to get food into their stomachs otherwise they wouldn´t be able to save anyone. She could smell something that smelled very tasty coming from one of the houses. They got closer. Some of the apes who take everything were eating outside, when they finished they put everything that wasn´t eaten into a type of container and brought it inside. The village smells were confusing and new and there were lots of them. Most of the smells were bad in contrast to the jungle smells.
Billy didn´t wake up properly the next morning, he jumped up and whacked his head off a low lying branch. A band of monkeys nearby were screaming and howling. He could just about make out the dialect. He thought they were shouting, “berries nearby.” He didn´t get a chance to work on his theory, a big orange-red arm grabbed him and breathed, “move. Tiger.”
“Ah, that´s what they are howling about,” shouted Billy.
“Quieten down and stick with me and don´t climb down the tree, “whispered his mother. They swayed from tree to tree, never once touching the floor of the jungle. In time the howling of the monkeys went into another direction and turned into a frenzy. It was followed by a jungle silence. The birds´singing took over.
“Did the tiger get one of the monkeys?” asked Scaffold.
“Maybe so, maybe not, the main thing is not to stick around to find out,” explained the mother.
Billy´s brother, Oran, gestured to them to keep moving. He had got the message.
“Where are we going?” inquired Billy.
“We´re going to the territory of the apes who take everything,” replied his mother, “so be extremely careful, they are far better hunters than tigers and they hunt in packs. They used to leave us people of the forest alone but now they feel as if we are coming into their territory when really they leave us no choice as they have widened their territory by cutting away the trees. More and more creatures of the jungle are going to their settlements to find food, so other predators could be hanging around their territory. Be on the lookout at all times.”
Then she hunched over and suddenly flung herself from a tree. She practically flew into the next one, breaking leaves and branches as she went. The trees complained about her weight a bit but she didn´t stop to listen to them she just kept going. Oran, Scaffold and Billy caught up and overtook her. They ended up following Oran, he seemed to know the way better than their mother did.
When they got to the sleeping trees Mother was weaving leaves in the tall branches, making leafy beds for them. They watched her testing each one out to make sure it was strong enough. Then they got bored watching and had a game of “try to hit each other on the top of the head”. The idea was simple enough but there was a bit of skill involved trying to avoid getting a right slap in the face. A slap in the face didn´t count. You had to get the top of the skull to win the game. Eventually Mother called them and made them test their beds.
“We have to get a good sleep tonight, tomorrow we are going on a journey,” she said.
“We can´t go without Daddy,” said Billy´s sister Scaffold, so called because she was always trying to build tree houses.
“We are going because my instincts tell me Daddy is in a bit of trouble. I had a bad dream last night about it too so now I´m convinced, you all know your father has been in the territory of the apes that take everything. He´s normally able to collect food without being seen and if they trap him, he´s always been a master of escaping any kind of cage. But this time it´s different. We´ve got to go find him,” answered the Mother.
Then she gave each one a big cuddle and they all got into their leafy nests and slept. Billy couldn´t sleep. He was excited and scared at the same time. He had never been out of this part of the jungle before. His mother and father never spared him any of the horrors that lay awaiting them, not just in the forest but also outside it. They wanted him to be ready for anything so they did their best to explain in great detail all the terrible and great adventures they had had trying to survive. He was still very young but he knew how to use a stick well, although his Mother always told him the best defence is to run.
He wasn´t really worried about his father, he was well known for getting out of dodgy situations. He rolled over in the leaves and faced his family. Then he slipped off into the dream zone.
In the years 1987 and 1988 a forest fire raged through Borneo and killed one third of the orang- utan population. It is generally believed that the fire was started by a palm – oil company trying to clear forest for new plantations.
This story is about a family of orang – utans and a human farming family just before this incident. Most of us love these cute creatures, the orang-utans, only three percent of our DNA doesn´t match theirs. The rest is identical. However, we humans have a terrible track record of treating humans unfairly, perhaps it is too much to ask the people of Borneo to find other solutions when they are trying to get rid of this “agricultural pest.”
So there you have it. These creatures are loved abroad but would you be happy if they crept into your garden and ate all the vegetables you were relying on to avoid starvation. And they are not that inclined to take no for an answer, they are just like us, a stubborn lot. Maybe before we get angry with the farmers we should try to understand that they are trying to survive too.
Billy Orang-utan was swinging in the trees one day.
His mother, the great long-arm of the law in the family jumped into the tree he was swinging from.
“Billy,” she started, “ go gather your brothers and sisters and meet me in the sleeping trees, we have to have a big chat.”
Billy had one sister and one brother and that was a lot for an orang-utan family. His father wasn´t the most social with the family, he was a bit of a loner but he did his best to protect them when he was around. Billy used his long red hairy arms to travel fast along the ground to where his brother and sister were using leaves as spoons to scoop out some insects that were running frantically into tree log gaps. They had no problem getting at them and they were enjoying their tasty meal.
Billy ran over to them and told them to meet at the sleeping trees and not be late. Mother had some important news for them. They followed him but not before tucking a small log full of insects under each arm.