Balzac

A new friend has entered our lives. He’s a monkey named Balzac, who has taken to swinging off the Jacaranda trees onto our patio. He’s a shy monkey, so typically only comes around in the very early hours. In his boldest move to date, he tiptoed into the bedroom past a snoozing Dave and into the living room, only to find a very startled friend of ours. She screamed and jumped onto the kitchen counter. Initially not knowing what had befallen our friend, and then spotting the dark hairy mass streaking across the apartment, Stephanie also let out a yelp. I leapt out of bed to investigate, but by that time the monkey had dashed across the living room for the safety of the patio and the trees beyond. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the sliding glass door until he smacked into it, at which point he peed all over the floor. Apparently unhurt and quickly coming to his senses, he found the opening and off he went.

About a week later, I awoke to a tiny hand reaching through the gap in the sliding glass doors in our bedroom. I roared, “GET OUT,” which sufficiently frightened our furry visitor to flee. Later in the day, I noticed he had left a pile of monkey poop out on the patio as a parting gift.