The next step in Evolution (Keiko's story, Part 1)

Keiko observed them closely. They were tall, those creatures, and their fur looked weird. So colorful. Her mother had told her that they couldn’t harm her, that she was protected by the weird see-through wall, but Keiko somehow doubted that. She was pretty sure that those, what did her mother call them, those humans were definitely capable of finding a way around the wall.

Slowly, Keiko approached the see-through wall and tapped against it, which caught the attention of several humans. They immediately gathered in front of Keiko and waved. Some tapped back. It was kind of cute. Keiko just wished, that she could communicate with the humans. She was curious about them. Why were they out there when she was in here?

Would they let her out?

In the hope of hearing something, Keiko pressed her ear against the wall. Faint noises reached her, which seemed to form patterns. Was it a language? If yes, Keiko wanted to learn it.

Over the next weeks and months, Keiko spent a lot of time with her ear pressed against the wall, just listening to the humans. Bit by bit, the noises seemed to make sense. Not everything was comprehensible but Keiko could make out the rough meaning of most things the humans said.

Now she only needed to make herself heard.

At first, she tried to mimic the sounds made by the humans but she just wasn’t able too. It always sounded weird to her and she was pretty sure that the humans wouldn’t understand. Therefore, Keiko needed another way to communicate.

She took one of the stones her mother liked to use to crack open nuts and started drawing shapes into the sand. First a straight line with many dots on one side and a single dot on the other. Keiko wanted it to represent the humans and herself. But would the humans understand?

At first, the humans didn’t even seem to notice. But after a while, more and more of them gathered around and pointed at Keiko’s drawing. Some took out weird boxes which produced a flash of light when pointed at Keiko, which she didn’t like at all. Why did they do this?

Finally, one of the humans tried to communicate too.

The human held a white leaf up to Keiko’s face, which had the same drawing Keiko had created with her stone. She tilted her head. Now, how was she supposed to react? What did she want to tell the human?

After a moment of consideration, she went over to her drawing and erased the line between the dots. Then she turned back to the humans and waited. Nothing happened. One by one, the humans went away and Keiko was left alone with her mother.

Frustrated, she headed over to her sleeping spot and curled up to a ball. Stupid humans. Maybe they weren’t as smart as she had thought.

Just as Keiko was about to fall asleep, she felt a sharp pain in her arm. Alarmed, she jerked up, just to fall back down again. Suddenly, she felt incredibly dizzy.

All she could see before she blacked out were two humans, who lifted her up and carried her away.

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Sources:

Chimps Shown Using Not Just a Tool but a "Tool Kit"
Orangutans Show Signs of Culture, Study Says
Monkeys Recognize Poor Grammar

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