The Creature

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X

I tried to get Kong into various activities in order to test his agility, strength, and speed. These did not meet with much success. I would run but he would not follow. I would break sticks but he would not. I would throw stones but he would not. I tried blocking him like a football tackle but he just stood there without changing his position. I brought him a volley ball but he ignored it. When I crowded him and he objected he would merely shove me away and I would go sprawling.

Once I produced a sheet of paper and with a pencil I drew a quick sketch of Kong with eyes and all as he watched me. I was rather pleased that he stood for this and when I handed him the paper for him to view it closer, he took it, sniffed, and then ate it.

Kong was just a big hunk of a creature. He did not get angry, he did not get frustrated. If he had desires he did not communicate them to me. I wondered if he contemplated his creator and his place in the cosmos. Ideas do not seem to be of any value unless they can be communicated to another being. I wished that I could discuss the nature of the universe with Kong but he was not up to it and the many questions and ideas that I had in mind were of no significance. I reflected on hermits who lived with their dogs and goats and wondered how they satisfied this need to communicate with beings that would understand and feel the frustration of an idea which would never bear fruit.

I did have one partial success with discovering how to communicate with Kong. It was a success which could have been devastating had it not come to a conclusion. I had wondered if I could train Kong into doing some useful chores for me. My property was overrun with scrub trees and berry bushes in a section which was once a plowed field and now allowed to grow over. I thought that if I could get Kong to uproot some of the smaller trees I could clear the section and have a small tract of pasture land available. This would attract a series of open held animals and birds and add to the variety of life forms on the property.

I walked to the section with Kong one evening just before sunset. It was not his habit to follow me when I walked away from the cabin area but if I withheld the apples I could lure him along for a short distance. It was getting colder as winter was coming on and the chill in the air was biting. The leaves were gone and the bleakness of the winter sky was in harmony with the bleakness of the vegetation. The wind whipped up the dry leaves underfoot as I and the creature walked along. This was to be an experiment in communication and if I could get my message across I would save myself many hours of work and would have made a giant stride in my relationship with Kong.

When we got to the brush area I pulled up a small bush. It did not come out easily and there was much puffing and straining. I decided to get out a smaller bush and told Kong to watch. He didn't know what I meant and his head rolled from side to side studying the brush. What I was doing was of no concern to him.

I went over to him, took his hand and led him to a small plant, a crab apple tree about two feet high. I bent the plant over with my feet and pulled Kong's hand down until it reached the base of the tree and tried to put his fingers around it. He gave me a shove with his other hand and once again he sent me sprawling. I let fly a series of curses and went back to him and tried to explain that I wanted the bush torn up and took his hand again and placed it on the bush. He yawned and was unconcerned. I pulled up several more.

Kong started to watch what I was doing. I pulled up a few small wild cherry, haw, crab apple, and black locust trees. After each pulling I would smooth the dirt back with my feet and put the small bush on a brush pile which was growing fast.

After about the fifteenth bush Kong came over to where I had smoothed back the dirt and ran his hand through it turning up a few milk white grubs. To my surprise he picked these up and ate them. He went to the other spots which were torn up and did the same thing. These were not as rewarding as the last spot. Perhaps the grubs had a chance to burrow deeper. Kong pulled up a few plants then and searched the roots for grubs. He beat the plants against the ground and went through the materials which had fallen off. It was getting pretty dark by then and the things he ate from the refuse I assume were grubs.

I told Kong that I would see him tomorrow, I don't think he understood. My path back to the cabin was difficult; Kong did not follow me but stayed behind tearing up small bushes. He seemed to have great night vision and was perfectly comfortable in the failing light.

As I rode back to the cabin the next day I was pleased with myself for having made a breakthrough with Kong. It was now a matter of time before I could find the secret of communication and put him to use. This was to be the highest level of exploitation. I would get hard work in return he would get almost nothing.

When I reached the cabin area I was shocked to see all the low planting and much of the side brush torn up and scattered about. I had created a monster much in the pattern of Dr. Frankenstein. How could I now control him. I didn't want the entire county torn to shreds.

As I viewed the uprooted trees while sitting on the railing of the porch the sound of a distant motor grew louder. It was a bright orange pick-up truck coming up the driveway and as it cleared the trees I could see that it was a West Penn Power Company truck.

The truck pulled to a stop and a middle aged man wearing a yellow hard hat and carrying a clip board jumped out. He walked briskly by me without speaking, went to the side of the cabin and jotted down the reading of the electric meter.

As he came back he was startled and remarked that he didn't even see me and wasn't looking for anyone since he didn't see my car. We exchanged pleasantries and he finally asked "what the hell happened here?" I told him I wasn't sure and he countered by theorizing that it was halloweeners. "Them goddam kids should all be in jail" and "you should see what they do to my truck when I just leave it out overnight." With a few more remarks along these lines he entered the truck hitting his hard hat along the upper rim of the door frame. He slammed the door, started the vehicle and whipped it around and gassed it out of sight.

Much to my satisfaction the uprooting of small plants had ceased almost as fast as it had started. Kong had had a one night binge and then forgot what he had done or preferred not to do it again. I breathed easier the next two days when I found no new areas of uprooting.

I had learned a few things from the experience. I would not try to get him to do anything which might lead to damage again. One of the trees he tore up was a black locust twelve feet high and four inches in diameter measured two feet above the roots. Its top was stunted and it probably should have been taller. It was here I learned that Kong would eat grubs and when I mentioned him digging for grubs earlier in this story I was not aware that that was what he was doing at the time. I wondered if he would eat mature insects and I was about to set up a test for him.

A few days after the tree uprooting I captured moths in my woodpile and tried to get Kong to eat them but he refused. He also refused various kinds of larva which were under the bark of logs in the woodpile. He did eat a few small black beetles, wings and all, but this did not seem to be of any significance. Humans can, of course, eat almost any insect or larva without ill effects. In fact, beetles, ants, bees, and cicada are nutritious and if we could get over our prejudices against them we would find them welcome additions to our diets. I do not want to give the impression that I do not practice what I preach. I have eaten beetles, ants, bees, and cicada and that is why I mention this. These are best roasted on an open pan in an oven and they take on the consistency of popped corn or cornflakes. I have not been able to bring myself to eat grubs or any other kind of larva. Grasshoppers are plentiful and I understand that certain peoples of Africa and the Middle East eat them. The American Indian was supposed to have eaten them but I cannot avoid my prejudices and have not been able to try to eat these. As a boy my friends and I slaughtered the grasshopper locusts in large numbers and the memory of their juices flying will never leave my mind.

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