Good Morning, Gorillas - Mary Pope Osborne [6]
Jack quickly put his notebook away.
The giant gorilla huffed. Then he turned to his family and gave a short bark.
The gorillas began lining up behind the silverback. The baby traveled in his mother’s arms. Ho-ho traveled on his mother’s back. Bu-bu and Annie held hands. They all followed the silverback out of the clearing.
“Come on!” Annie called to Jack. “Let’s go with Big Guy and the gang!”
Jack shook his head.
“I don’t think they want me to come along,” he said.
Bu-bu screeched at Jack. She held out her free hand to him.
“Bu-bu wants you!” said Annie.
Jack smiled shyly. He took Bu-bu’s small, warm hand. Then he walked with Annie and the gorillas out of the clearing.
On their ramble through the cloud forest, the gorillas found food everywhere. They munched flowers and ferns and leaves. They swallowed and burped.
They munched twigs and branches and pieces of bark and bamboo. They swallowed and burped.
As the gorillas ate breakfast, it started to rain again. But they didn’t seem to mind.
Annie didn’t seem to mind, either. She and Bu-bu played tag in the drizzly woods. They ran around the trees, laughing and screeching.
Jack tried to follow them, but he gave up. He was tired and cold. Shivering, he stood under a mossy tree to keep dry.
While he was alone, Jack sneaked his notebook out of his pack. He made a new list:
As he wrote, he heard a low growl. He looked up.
Big Guy had spotted him. The silverback was standing close by. He was frowning at Jack, his lips tucked in a tight line.
“Sorry, sorry!” said Jack. He quickly put away his notebook.
Big Guy kept frowning.
Jack quickly tried to act like a gorilla. He went down on all fours. He tore off the leaf of a plant. He took a bite. It tasted bitter, like vinegar. Jack pretended to munch and swallow and burp.
Big Guy huffed, then moved on. As soon as he was gone, Jack spat out the leaf.
“Yuck, yuck, yuck!” he said, wiping his tongue.
Jack felt a tap on his back. He jumped. But it was just Ho-ho. The small gorilla offered him a twig to eat.
“Oh, no thanks, Ho-ho,” said Jack.
Ho-ho kept holding out the twig.
“Oh, okay,” said Jack, politely taking it. “I’ll eat it later.” He put the twig into his backpack.
Ho-ho’s mom came over to Jack. She held some berries to his lips.
“Uh, no thanks,” Jack said.
The gorilla stared at him with a sad look.
“Oh, okay,” said Jack. He opened his mouth. And Ho-ho’s mom fed him the berries.
Jack munched the berries. To his surprise, they tasted good. He swallowed, then burped just like a gorilla. This time, he wasn’t pretending.
Bu-bu’s mom then came over to Jack. She offered him some rainwater from a cupped plant. Jack was very thirsty. He sipped the water. It tasted fresh and cold.
Bu-bu’s mom took Jack’s hand in her wide hand. She led him through the forest to Annie and Bu-bu.
Bu-bu screeched happily when she saw Jack. She threw her furry arms around him.
“Hi! We missed you!” Annie said to Jack. “Are you having fun?”
Jack smiled and nodded.
Actually, he was having fun now. He didn’t mind the rain so much anymore. He didn’t feel so left out. Some of the gorillas really seemed to like him, he thought. They seemed to like him a lot.
The rain ended. Slowly the feeding came to a stop.
Big Guy led his family into a clearing. The tall grass sparkled with misty sunlight.
The silverback lay down and tucked his arms under his head.
The other gorillas gathered around him. Some beat the grasses until they were flat.
Ho-ho’s mom made a bed of weed stalks for Ho-ho. Bu-bu’s mom made a bed of leaves for Bu-bu. Then she made two extra beds for Jack and Annie.
They lay down with all the gorillas to take their naps. Jack used his backpack for a pillow.
Lying on his leafy bed, Jack watched the mother of the baby gorilla groom her small baby. The mother parted his hair and searched through it, picking at his skin now and then.
The baby soon wiggled free and crawled around in the grass. His mother’s gaze then rested on Annie. She moved