"HOW WE MET "
by Dow Ford

I woke up. It was Tuesday. I wanted something. After bathing I knew what it was I wanted: a monkey.

The ad in the classified said “Monkey. Must Sell.” I called the number. An elderly lady suggested I come right over. There was another interested party who was coming this very day to view the monkey with an eye toward purchase.

I arrived first. The elderly lady introduced herself as Mrs. Minerva. She had a wen on her cheek in the shape of the island of Madagascar. The rudimentary and unskilled application of her makeup had made the island appear as a shaded contour map. The monkey peeked shyly from behind her kimono. I inquired if the monkey were house broken.

“Travis is defined by his defecation.” She whispered. After a thoughtful pause she added, “He was used in ‘experiments,’ you know.” She winked conspiratorially.

Travis’s eyes were clear, not rheumy or vacuous at all like those of the experimental monkeys I had known from my childhood.

“I’ll take him,” I said, reaching for the mechanism of exchange popular at the time.

A car door slammed. Mrs. Minerva, Travis, and I turned to find an Oriental woman dressed completely in Red standing beside a taxicab. She withdrew an envelope from her red purse and handed it to Mrs. Minerva. Travis jumped into her arms. Then she turned to me. “Here,” she said to me in Chinese, “you hold the monkey.”

“Tell it again, daddy. Tell it again.” Travis chitterchattered above the din of the children.

---

Dow Ford lives in Poplarville, Mississippi.

---

PREVIOUS WORK

"AGNES AND IRIS" by Ben Bush

"DEAR PEOPLE NOT LIVING ON OR NEAR THE GULF COAST" by Case Miller

"AMERICA'S FAMILY PLAYGROUND" by Jamey Gallagher

"SET FIRE TO YOUR UMBRELLA" by Shane Guy

"THE ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE IN HOUSES FROM CASTLES" by Lauren Bride

ARCHIVES

HOME