MONKEY

Written by Ben Tallon

Jolene stands under the shower on its coldest setting until her nipples are like bullets and her teeth chatter. Back in the bedroom, behind the closed curtains, it takes three minutes for the heat to stifle her again and bits of carpet dirt cling to the sweat on her bare feet. She sighs as she tries to kick them off. Her hair begins to frizz before she can do anything with it, so she lets it be and goes downstairs.

In her t-shirt and shorts, she pours a glass of lemon water and puts on the TV. David Attenborough is talking and her damp palms cause the remote to slip from her grip before she can turn him off. She cannot change the channel in time to avoid some upsetting footage. A ginger monkey wanders around looking for trees, which have been destroyed. Thankfully, over on Comedy Central, Friends is on and she can’t help but laugh at Joey’s silly face, but the laugh is hollow and no matter how hard she tries to concentrate on the story, all she can think about is the monkey. Who cut down the trees? Why? How come it looked so sad?

Back in the bathroom, she brushes her teeth and longs for the days when all she had to worry about on the TV were boring news broadcasts, or her dad’s inexplicable love of Keeping Up Appearances. No wonder the teenagers are all depressed, staying indoors on their gaming consoles, when they’re showing that. What happened to the bright coloured birds doing silly dances for sex? I liked that kind of nature program, she thinks as she puts out the light and lays awake in the dark.