This was Colton’s first day working for the zoo keepers and he hated it already. The animals were so needy with him having to run from one exhibit to the next feeding all sorts of creatures. He was never much of an animal lover but he promised to help his weird uncle over the summer. The pay wasn’t too bad anyway. His day so far had been rough with a close encounter in the panda exhibit. Those things are not as peaceful as they appear to be. He was able to shake it off and get back to work, however he will never turn his back on Pete the panda ever again. Colton was heading back to the zookeeper house and see what they had him doing next. He walked through the doors and looked to see that he was scheduled to work with Marsha, one of the elder zookeepers, with feeding the entire monkey house. He immediately brightened up after hearing he would be working with Marsha. She was an amazing woman. She was smart, beautiful, and sharp. Her knowledge on the zoo animals always amazed Colton. His mind filled with day dreams as he walked to the monkey house.



Inside, Marsha was preparing the meals and separating them for each cage. Colton walked up and said hi, flustered beyond belief. Marsha beamed him a smile and handed him the food for that day. His assignment was to place the food into the separate cages and make sure each animal consumes their meal. This wasn’t a difficult task but he was also busy thinking about Marsha. He walked into a few of the cages and placed the food. He suddenly heard the big metal click of the cage he entered, and he panicked. This cage belonged to Melanie, the newest female chimpanzee. Despite chimps being small in size they are very strong and have very sharp teeth. This female didn’t appear dangerous though, she looked almost depressed. This really gave Colton a chill down his spine. He was trapped in her cage and did not want to startle her. That meant that he could not make any loud noises. His best bet was waiting for Marsha to save the day and look for him after a few minutes. Colton pressed his back against the cage but Melanie took a step towards him. Colton eyed the chimp and started to grow scared. He was a teenager working a summer job, why was he forced to deal with a new chimp and a locked cage? The monkey crept closer but showed no signs of aggression. Colton pressed against the cage as hard as he could in an attempt to be out of harm’s way. Suddenly he felt a sense of serenity wash over him. He felt himself feel compelled to approach the chimp. Colton picked up the small chimp and stared into its eyes. He could feel the loneliness of the chimp, the feeling of being taken from nature. Colton started to pet the chimp in an attempt to calm her. Looking at his hands he saw some strands of black hair, but when he went to blow them away, he noticed that the hairs were attached to him.



The black hairs were sprouting rapidly from his wrists, even feeling some of his hair being rustled in his shoes. Colton immediately took off his shoes and socks to watch in confusion as the hair on his feet grew thicker and darker. All while spreading upwards along his leg. His toes popped and cracked as they elongated to look more like a chimpanzee’s foot. His skin was starting to darken and turn leathery as well. His big toe thinned out and shifted to the side of his foot to act more like a thumb. His other foot followed track as Melanie inspected the changes. Her touch on Colton’s foot accelerated the changes. Colton’s mind was racing, he had no idea how or why this was happening. The thickening fur continued to grow slowly up his leg and merge with the fur that had been growing from his waist. His legs started to shrink and he soon discovered that a crouched position was more comfortable for him. He final kicked off his pants and underwear to discover that his entire lower half was similar to a chimpanzee. His arm hair, which was growing thicker ever since the change started grew further up his arms and onto his shoulders. Colton could feel his muscles ripple as they accelerated in growth. He felt more powerful and he could see he looked more physically fit. The fur covered his chest and his hands shifted to look similar to his feet. The female chimp climbed over to the shrinking half human, half chimp and began to run her fingers through his fur. He did not know why but he felt much calmer and her touch almost distracted him from his expanding muzzle as his mouth and nose pushed outwards. Colton’s ears grew a little and were dusted in fur before he turned completely into a chimpanzee. Melanie grabbed his clothes and tossed them out of the cage, possibly as a symbol of his changed life. Could monkeys be capable of understanding symbolic meaning? Colton looked over himself in disbelief, he was a normal teenager less than fifteen minutes ago. However, he looked up into Melanie’s eyes and he noticed that they were no longer lonely. She was an amazing chimpanzee. She was smart, beautiful, and sharp.