Bobo Hated His Name ---- Though, it wasn’t really his name. He had one given to him by his mother while he was still very young, but he could not remember it, and his keepers didn’t know it either. The keepers, glaring at him from the sidelines, waited for some action. They bothered Bobo almost as much as the crowd below. They wanted a show. The keepers wanted the afterparty. Fifi, however, didn’t seem to pay much attention to Bobo, and Bobo liked it that way. The cage housing them, the same one that his father, and his father’s father spent their lives in, was the same one that incubated his distress. No, Bobo wanted nothing to do with Fifi. Fifi, on the other hand, loved the attention of the crowd. She would swing from branch to branch for their amusement. She would get as close as the barrier would allow, and make faces at children. They made everyone wait, and wait, and wait for something that would never happen. Could never happen. Regardless of their close proximity, regardless of the scarcity of their species, regardless of the fact that their instincts drove them to mate – Bobo could not go through with it. Not with Fifi. It wasn’t until much later that the keepers decided to bring in another mate – one that didn’t show off, and would be more inclined towards Bobo. But Bobo could not budge. So the cage became smaller, forcing Bobo and Lulu closer together. And the crowd was asked to leave, creating private quarters. And the lights were dimmed, replicating natural lighting, simulating mating conditions in the wild. There was a large sign covering the outside of the cage, reading “Bobo and Lulu are sleeping – please do not disturb.” This was not the wild. This was not nature. This was Bobo, and Bobo hated his name. He did not choose it.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 03:56:53 +0000