1.
Frank crept slowly, aphid-like, through the trees. The birds were shrieking at each other up there, clinging onto those branches and pecking at the berries with their beaks, then prodding at them with their weird hard tongues. Frank was not pleased, not pleased at all. He had no predilection for creeping slowly, aphid-like, through the trees. The humidity prickled heavily on his forehead like a dead hedgehog, and he had lost one of his shoes back there in a bog, running away from those killer bees. No, it hadn't been a good day for Frank. He hadn't planned to embark on some hair-brain adventure when he'd boarded the W7 bus on Stroud Green Rd that morning. He'd had no inkling he would be being stalked by a gorilla on heat in the Amazon rainforest that afternoon, and not attending a seminar on 'Pet Insurance Policy Scheduling'.
"Jesus Christ!" he muttered, "Monkeys"
and then "FFFF, FFFFUCK" as he encountered an unexpected dip in the path and tripped, landing painfully on his wrist and a colony of seven million biting ants.
"EEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGH!" he said dispondently, extricating himself in as dignified a manner as he could muster, given the circumstances.
2.
Mona swung dolefully through the trees with the poise and grace one would expect from a primate in its natural habitat. In her small dark gorilla eyes was the tangible sadness of one who has been shunned, of one who has offered love but been refused. Hidden within those shimmering black baubles of sadness however was also a seed of determination and hope, and maybe even of joy and purpose. Mona was in love with a man from Stroud Green Road and she intended to have him even if it had to be by force...
