BECOMING AN ANCESTOR

When they appeared, one of the three, the one in the middle, came towards me. I can't explain why, but I didn't feel threatened by them, which was something that worried me. But the one that stood out, I could tell it was a female. In fact, all three were females. Don't ask me how I know that. To me, they all look the same, but something tells me they're females. And the one in the middle gives me a strange feeling. Not of threat, but of concern.

I approached and stopped. The one in the middle came closer. She began making some grunting sounds, started touching me, and surprisingly, she gave me a hug. Somehow, I managed to understand. It wasn't like normal words, but more like emotions. Each grunt represented an emotion, and I could understand those emotions.

Fear, concern, anxiety... Various types of negative emotions that indicated she was worried about me. Perhaps afraid that something had happened to me, something of that sort.

Mother. That feeling. She's my mother. Am I really in a dream? To the point where I even have a mother? These two next to her are younger than me. It conveys a similar feeling.

It's possible that they are my sisters or something of the sort. Is this my family?

So the one I think is my mother made a grunt, giving me the sense of "follow me." She probably wants me to follow back to the group. I won't stay here alone and ignore it, so I decided to go with them.

They started walking on the trees, swinging, just like chimpanzees do. And, of course, I wasn't as good. But... I'm proud to say that I practiced a lot of parkour in my youth. So, I just had to replicate the same moves. It was just a matter of time until I got used to it. It didn't take long, and I wasn't as awkward.

It didn't take long. We even reached a tree that wasn't as tall as the one I was on, but it was much wider. I think this one is the center of the forest or something like that because if I were to try to hug the other tree, just two of me would be enough. Now, this one would require at least around 10 people to hug, it was so large.

It looked like a baobab tree. It was enormous. Not tall, but incredibly fat.

Around the tree, I could see many monkeys both on the branches above and below. What surprised me was that many of them stood upright. While chimpanzees can walk on two legs, it's not their preference. I noticed that many of them, instead of being quadrupeds, were walking as bipeds.

Upon arriving near the tree, my mother positioned herself in a middle section where some other monkeys also gathered. I noticed there was a certain distinction; some stayed far out on the tree's edges, some in the center, and others at the top. We stayed close, but not too close. I believe it's like a ranking, a hierarchy. Apparently, my family isn't at the top, but we're not at the bottom either. We're in a middle, normal range. It's a good thing since I don't understand much yet, and there's a lot I still need to figure out about my situation.

My mother and the other two started eating fruits that were nearby. I was starving, so I began to eat as well, following their lead and being careful not to break any rules or customs, just mimicking the other monkeys. In the meantime, I took the opportunity to observe. I noticed that as I ate those fruit that looked like... mangos, my thirst began to quench. I think this is how they solve the issue of thirst because I didn't see any puddles, rivers, or lakes; these fruits must be their source of water and food.

While eating, I observed the monkeys both at the top and below and those around. I basically looked all around me, of course, trying to be discreet. I noticed that the monkeys at the top had a lot more fruit, and my mother managed to get some. The ones at the top had dozens just for one monkey. Meanwhile, those at the bottom could only eat the ones that fell down.

With that, I realized how the hierarchy works. Those at the top eat more, those in the middle get some, and those at the bottom get the rest. I noticed that among all of them, there was a monkey that stayed higher than everyone else and also had more fruit. I also observed the babies. The babies didn't stay at the bottom; they stayed at the top. Apparently, I am indeed a youth. I'm not too old to compete for hierarchy or something like that, but I'm also not too young to go to the top.

That's probably a way to protect the younger lineages. It must be due to predator concerns, keeping the children at the top of the trees, not allowing them to stay at the bottom to keep them safe. Those at the bottom have likely lost fights or, if this is done as chimpanzees do, then the one at the top would be the alpha. Those at the bottom might be males who lost or females who weren't accepted.

Well, now I have some understanding of my situation. But I still need to make preparations to protect myself in case something happens and truly understand what happened to me.