A Leap of Faith (True Story continued)

Having finished my chores, I went to the candy machine and bought a roll of mints as I did every night during my night watchman duties at the Zoo. I was on my way to see Samantha and as I came around the corner, I saw her face squeezed tight against the Plexiglas front looking for me. Her big brown eyes followed me closely as I passed by going to the small door on the side of her cage.

I reached for the ring of keys hooked to my belt. They made a jingling musical sound as I sorted for the one I wanted. The ring was heavy, having every key to every lock to every cage in the entire Zoo. I put the key in the lock and turned it slowly. The cogs clicked and there was a metallic snap as the lock released and popped open. I opened the small wooden door and heard the creaking of the old brass hinges for the first time. I felt unusually sensitive this night being aware of the risk I was considering.

The inner door had thin horizontal bars, chipped and dinged from the passage of time exposing the old blackened steel and the many thick layers of glossy paint. The scent of wild was pungent; not unpleasant but strong and powerful. Samantha was there at the bars anxiously awaiting her evening treat. Her lips smacked with anticipation and her eyes focused on the small roll of mints I was opening.

I watched her closely and purposely fumbled the roll of mints in my hands while studying her intense concentrated focus. Her shoulders quivered and a small drop of drool seeped out of the corner of her lips. I thought of Pavlov’s dogs. I finally managed to get a mint free and lifted it slowly to the bars. She shifted slightly in anticipation and raised her leathered hand up to meet mine. I slid the mint carefully between the bars from my fingers to hers.

Using the back of her index and middle finger, she grasped the mint and put it to her lips. She looked deep into my eyes, which is uncommon for gorillas who generally consider that a threat. I smiled and said something sweet to her and unraveled another mint. The process repeated itself. I briefly considered the risk. Then I reached again for the key.

Samantha’s hair felt course and sparse as I stood in the middle of her cage with her in my arms. She wrapped her legs around me like a child would do to a parent and I smiled again. I felt dwarfed in her massive arms and shoulders but I felt safe, oh so safe as she munched on the mint next to my ear. My first leap of faith with another being, and the one I will never forget.

Standing Up To A Bully Can Be Empowering (True Story)

It was a community effort, collecting S&H Green stamps back in the mid 60s to buy Henry and Samantha, two gorillas coming into their prime for the Zoo. The plan was, they would fall in love and raise many babies and live happily ever after. But, there was no love in Henry’s heart for Samantha, just mean violence. He beat her relentlessly and she carried scars on her back, shoulders, and neck from his bites.

They were separated, hoping that absence would indeed make Henry’s heart grow fonder, but it didn’t work. She was fear stricken and always cowered in the corner when they were together, helpless, defenseless, and at the mercy of his malicious wrath. Maybe things would change, as they grew older and matured, but until then their display cage remained divided by bars.

Henry found an outlet for his wrath, he torn up pieces of the linoleum flooring and was eating it. Putting new flooring down required both Henry and Samantha to be in the same cage while the carpenters worked, and that meant a zookeeper had to be present with a long wooden pole keeping Henry up on a platform, away from Samantha. Midday came and I was to work through my lunch, relieving the zookeeper while they all went down stairs to eat. Carl handed me the pole and said, “Make darn sure he doesn’t come down from that platform and attack Samantha.”

Henry watched closely as the carpenters and zookeeper went out of sight. His beady eyes shifted down to focus on me, just me. I was by myself, alone, standing there in his cage with nothing but that flimsy wooden pole. He started making a move to come down and I gave him a poke and told him to get back up there. He looked to the door waiting to see if anybody was coming, then started coming down again with more determination. Again, I poked him and hollered at him. He hesitated but went back up and checked the door again. Then he gave me this weird look and started coming down again.

“GET UP THERE!” I hollered, and poked him again, harder. He had enough of getting poked by some skinny kid and instantly grabbed my pole and screamed a shrill penetrating shriek. He looked at me with intense hate and climbed down my pole faster than gravity. The vicious display of flashing teeth and screaming froze me. I’d never wet myself from fear before but that day I leaked a little. I thought I was going to die.

As he reached through the bars to grab me Samantha’s motherly instincts kicked in. She charged out of her corner to my rescue, fighting mad. It was do or die and she was screaming and swinging as she attacked Henry from behind. She slammed her big fists repeatedly into his back and head and screamed bloody murder. Henry instantly saw the light for the first time in his life and ran for his platform just as fast as he could climb. I just stood there with my mouth open and realized; she had risked her life to save mine. Wow, I too had become empowered.