Wild-Life, Liberty and the..;'Urban Jungle' finale

(Life Libery and the Pursuit of Peanuts)

Timothy spent the better part of the day lazing in the oak tree in the
park. The sun shone through the leaves, and Timothy laid back against
the branches. He day-dreamed of vines, peanuts and Bethany. He wasn't
sure when the Urban Jungle opened once again, but for now he was
content to rest.

He was roused by sparrows rustling the leaves. From what he could hear
of their conversation, they were searching for worms to feed to their
chicks. There were more than two sparrows, but they seemed preoccupied
with only one nest. This was unusual behaviour. Timothy furrowed his
brow in an attempt to comprehend it. He was distracted by a voice to
his left.

"Sure you don't want an acorn?" It was the squirrel whom Timothy had
met earlier. Timothy sat up, and smiled.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," said Timothy, laying back against the oak
branch, smiling. The squirrel left him, and got back to his forraging.
Silly squirrel, Timothy didn't like acorns.

Once the sun had started to go down, Timothy made his way to the Urban
Jungle. His only stop was at Tropical World to have another gaze
inside. The green captivated him, if only briefly. He skipped along the
top of the buildings, until he saw Bethany Monkey waiting on the roof
of the bar.

"Bethany!" Timothy cried and waved. Bethany glanced at him, but was
silent. Timothy went up and sat beside her. "What's wrong?" he
asked.

"Go inside, and you'll see."

Timothy crawled down the drain pipe. He noticed for the first time that
the sign on the bar had gone. There was just an empty space. Timothy
frowned, and went inside.

Most of the jungle-like decor from the bar had been removed, as had the
beer taps. Behind the bar sat Mr Stickley. He placed his fingertips
together sequentially, from little finger to thumb, and smiled. "Ah
Timothy Monkey, I have been expecting you."

Timothy froze. "What have you done?"

Mr Stickley let out a small laugh. "When I heard about this place, I
just have to give it a little inquiry. A place, where you could get
peanuts, and not have to pay? How could an honest businessman bear to
run such a place? Well, it had taken its toll on the poor owner; he was
pathetically willing to sell. And I to buy. So welcome, Timothy Monkey,
to 'Stellardosh' coffee house and internet cafe." He picked up a copy
of the menu proudly. Across the top in 'fun' lettering was written
'$tell@rDo$h." Timothy hands shook with annoyance and disgust, for even
a monkey knows that an '@' does not make the same sound as an
'a'!

"The rennovation has already begun," Mr Stickley continued. "I'm afraid
we shall not be continuing the offers of the previous establishment.
Oh, and one more thing." He pulled out a large white sign and placed it
on the bar. On it was a tailed silhouette, surrounded by a red circle
and through it was a line. Under it, in bold capitals, was written 'NO
MONKEYS'. "So I'm afraid you're going to have to leave."

Timothy glared, and started to tremble. "You're not going to get away
with this!"

"Oh must we pander to a cliched hero-villain relationship?"

"Well your playing your part rather well."

"Very well.... I already have! And there's nothing you can do!
Mwahahaha. MwahahahaHAHAHA!" He smiled. "This is really quite fun."
Timothy turned and with all the wrath a two foot long spider monkey
could muster, stormed out. Mr Stickley sighed.

Timothy climbed up to the roof and sat with Bethany.

"I can't believe it," Timothy cried, "He's gone and.."

"I know," Bethany interrupted, without twitch or expression.

"He's even banned all.."

"I know."

Timothy put his head in his hands. "What are we going to do?" Bethany
did not respond, instead she stared down at the street. Mr Stickley
came out of the door and locked it behind him.

"Timothy," Bethany said grimly, "if you want to see me again, meet me
outside Tropical World in two hours. You know where that is?" Timothy
nodded, and within seconds she was gone.

***

A click. Knocking, shaking. More shaking, gaining in intensity. The
window was locked. Timothy returned to the ground and started searching
for another way in.

It had been over an hour since he had left the Urban Jungle. He had
wandered the city, fuming, plotting revenge on Mr Stickley, and trying
desperately to work out how to get more peanuts. Along the way it
occured to him that there might be a simple solution to them
both.

He had always taken the window, but perhaps there was another way in.
Perhaps... no... but yes! Through some grave lapse in sercurity the
front door opened without much effort. Quietly, he creeped through the
corridor and to the elevator. He jumped and was just able to reach the
button to call the lift. The doors slid open. The elevator was smooth
and featureless, impossible to climb in. It was lucky Mr Stickley's
office was on the first floor.

The doors opened to reveal the office in darkness. Timothy opened the
door and tiptoed inside. He had to be quiet. Well, they wouldn't hear
him through that hissing. Slowly he approached Mr. Stickley's office,
and with great grace and stealth, slipped over.

"Bloody Badger and his bloody mashed potato!" Timothy cried, his feet
coated in creamy white goo.

Anne ran towards Timothy growling, stopped, sniffed him a few times
then looked at him in confusion.

"Timothy, what are you doing here?"

Timothy paused, then flailed his arms out. "Why I'm here to see you,
Anne! To thank you for... err.."

"What's with the top?"

"Well I thought black and white stripes were a good look for me."

"And the balaclava?"

"Urm, it was rather... cold out..."

"And the big brown bag.."

"Errr.."

"With SWAG written across it..."

"Urmm.." Timothy's eyes scanned from side to side in the hope of
finding escape.

"You've come to burgle the place, haven't you?"

Timothy took a step back, then shook his head. "Anne, really, I'm hurt.
To accuse me of such a thing..." Timothy leapt with all his strength
off the desk away from Anne, but Anne was too quick and pounced on him
as he hit the floor. He cried out. "Ok Anne you've got me! Take me to
Mr Stickley if you want. I couldn't care less."

"I'm not going to."

"W-what!?"

"I'm not going to. I'm going to let you take what you want."

Timothy scrunched up his eyes. "I don't understand."

"Well it would be," she chuckled, "perhaps a little hypocritical of
me."

Timothy starred at her blankly.

"Besides which, Mr Stickley is an evil capitalist.."

"Err Anne?"

"..whose oppressive reign..."

"Anne!"

"Sorry?"

Timothy looked at her wide eyed. "I don't care. I just want to know, if
your not going to take me to Mr Stickly, then why the hell did you jump
on me?!"

"Errmmm, so I could..."

"Could you let me go now please."

"Yes, yes..." Anne took her paws off Timothy, and left Anne and the
other dogs to carry on with their spray paint graffitti. Timothy
approached the office of his former employer.

With some struggle, Timothy got the door open. He dropped down from the
handle. A lamp lit up the room from Mr Stickley's desk. There was a
slow, rumbling sound going through the office. The room was more of a
mess than usual, paper scattered everywhere. On the floor was a card
with a picture of a teddy bear on the front. Timothy picked it up, and
could just read it in the light.

'Dear Joel,
I hope you have a very happy birthday.
Please write soon. My phone number is (01754) 460743 in case you've
forgotton it. Feel free to ring any time.
Lots of Love
Mum.'

There weren't any other cards. This puzzled Timothy: he had never
thought of Mr Stickley having a mother. He approached the desk, then
froze. Mr Stickley was there! It was alright, he was sleeping. He slept
in his office?

No, Timothy shouldn't let himself be distracted. Quietly he crept round
to the back of the desk, and dragged out the large decorated box. He
was grateful for the office's soft carpet, which prevented it scraping
against the floor, and waking Mr Stickley. On the other hand, it might
not have mattered, as Mr Stickley seemed to be in a deep slumber;
Timothy could have sworn he nudged his ex-boss' leg pulling the box
out.

Yes the box! Timothy touched it with awe. Very gently, he put his arms
around it as far as they would go, and hugged it. It was cold. Timothy
took two cautious steps back and tapped it gently. A hollow echo was
his response. To Timothy's surprise, the lid opened; the lock must be
broken. The box was empty, bar a single lonely peanut. He didn't know
why, but Timothy couldn't bring himself to take it and eat it. So
lonely... Bethany! He was suppose to meet Bethany, or he would never
see her again! He was late!

Panicking, Timothy ran out of Mr Stickley's office. But, the picture
frame! He leapt onto his desk and grabbed it, then with another leap
landed on the window ledge. He uncatched the lock, opened the window
and jumped out.

***

Bethany was slouched against a plastic tree munching in the dark when
Timothy ran up to her. The tacky glow of Tropical World was cast over
them, but Bethany kept in the shadow of the tree.

Timothy stopped, panting in front of her. He had never ran so
fast.

"Hello Bethany," Timothy said without breath, but with a smile.

"Oh hello Timothy." Bethany glanced at him, then carried on
munching.

"It's very good to see you. I though you might have gone in without me.
I've no idea how to get in. It looks very nice."

Bethany looked at him. The gaze remained for a few seconds, she looked
around, then looked at him again. "What are you talking about?"

Timothy pointed to the splendid palace of glass. "In there. In the
jungle."

Bethany let out a small laugh. "Ha, I wouldn't want to go in there.
Couldn't get this in for a start," she said, pointing to the large bag
beside her.

"What's in..." Timothy decided it would be easier to look for himself.
Inside the bag were thousands upon thousands of peanuts. "Where did you
get those from?"

"I figured if that human was going to take away my peanuts, I'd take
away his."

Timothy scratched his head, but his confused ponderings were
interrupted by a rumble in his stomach. "Can I have some?"

Bethany narrowed her eyes. "No, get your own!"

"Your being greedy Bethany..."

"So?"

"And if there is one thing I've learnt, it's that being greedy isn't
good. You can spend your life looking for peanuts, munching peanuts,
and by the time you've ate your fill, if that time ever comes, you'll
look around you and see there is no one else with you to enjoy them
with. You'll be on your own, and the peanuts won't be there to make you
happy, they'll be there to distract you from being sad. There's more to
life than munching on little brown nuts."

Bethany stopped chewing. She put her hand to her head and thought,
thought hard. Eventually she spoke.

"You're right" she said slowly, "You're right, I am being greedy. Tell
you what, stick around with me and I'll let you have one peanut a
day."