A writer's journey

secret exposed?

Selina was lying on a soft feather bed when we arrived. A huge ape was standing beside her, quietly checking her pulse and muttering something under its breath.

The ape had brown fur and wore a feathered headband—decorated with colorful plumes of all shapes and sizes. He glanced at us briefly, then reached for a set of seven cowries arranged beside Selina’s bed. Without warning, he began dancing around the bed, vigorously shaking the cowries in his large, calloused hands.

Then he chanted:

“The secrets of heavens

Laid bare before my eyes

The door of mystery

Conceals nothing from me

Reveal it to me

What was hidden

Shed light to the darkness

That shields my eyes—

PTUI!!”

With a loud spit onto the cowries, he scattered them on the ground.

The room fell silent.

The cowries lay still, each one landing at a different angle. The brown ape stared at them intently for a moment… then sighed—long and loud.

“Sigh… Can someone please call His Majesty, the King? Tell him he must be here in ten minutes. It’s urgent.” He turned to me and the guards. His face was heavy, and his voice dead serious.

The guards immediately left. Now, it was just me, Selina, and the mysterious brown ape.

There was something strangely familiar about him. I couldn’t place it. I was sure I’d never seen him in the human world—and yet, his face… no, those hostile eyes seemed to remember me all too well.

I took a step toward my wife.

Big mistake.

“Take another step if you don’t love your wife anymore,” the ape warned, holding up a hand to keep Selina from speaking.

I froze. Eyes wide. He glared at me like I’d just slapped his mother and burned his banana farm.

That’s when it hit me.

I’ve been exposed.

Selina didn’t know about my little monster fiancée. I planned to tell her everything when she woke up—honestly! But apparently, fate had other ideas. My schemes were now lying face-down in a ditch, dead and buried.

My shirt was drenched in sweat. My heart was pounding like a drumline in a street parade—loud and out of rhythm.

Panic consumed me.

Should I take the ape hostage?

Could I negotiate with a tree-sized witch doctor?

Or should I confess and die beside Selina like a tragic romance novel character?

The worst part? Earlier, when Princess Diana was drunk, I’d asked her a few "harmless" questions about the Green Monster Clan’s traditions.

I now deeply regret that curiosity.

“What happens if the prince consort is already married before taking the Princess?” I had asked.

She had giggled and replied, “Oh, if that happens, the consort loses ancestral protection and must face the Grand Protector in combat. If he wins, he is forgiven. If he loses…”

“…his outside family will be banished to the Forest of No Return.”

Right then, a guard had interrupted to say Selina had awoken.

And here we are.

…

By the time the Green King arrived, I was soaked in sweat, internally reciting every prayer I could remember from Sunday School to kindergarten.

“Welcome, Your Majesty!” the brown ape said, barely glancing up from his seat.

(This gangster didn’t even stand up for the King… what kind of seniority level is this?!)

The King stepped in, looked at me with narrowed eyes, and asked:

“What’s the matter, old ape?”

The brown ape kept his gaze locked on me. “It’s about the Prince Consort… and the young lady brought here for treatment.”

He said it with weight. Like a secret bomb about to explode.

“What happened to her? Is she okay?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

The ape didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stood, walked toward me, and did a full examination like I was a suspect in a monster crime drama—checked my pulse, pried open my mouth (with his disgusting, knobby fingers), and gave me a few casual chest slaps like I owed him rent.

Then he walked back and picked up a tattered old book from the floor. The thing looked ancient—like it had personally attended the creation of the universe.

He flipped through it, page by page, his thick finger tracing the tiny script like a child learning to read.

We waited.

I prayed.

And then…

BAM! He slammed the book shut.

“Your Majesty,” he said solemnly, “both of them don’t have much time left to live…”