Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Prompt 1 for Andre The Blog Monkeys banana Bar 2021

Prompt: 1. It’s late at night, and you hear footsteps in the bar—but you’re definitely alone . . . or so you thought.

Dear Margaret:

The last time we talked, you were adamant, that I should notify you, if I had any new strange experiences to report. Recently, I attended a Halloween party being held at an upbeat place called “Andre the Blog Monkey’s Banana Bar.”

Well I haven’t been out for just ages and a day, so I dragged out a few pieces of material and built me a costume. Like the one worn by the spook in Joseph Delaney’s series “The Last Apprentice.” Halloween night I arrived at the bar; arriving just a few minutes after the time listed on the invitation.

The bar is located in a cozy spot. The entire property around the bar is covered with mature growing banana trees. heavily laden with bananas. Kind of unusual for this area of the world. They seemed to be rustling in the wind. But, there isn’t any wind.

When I walked through the door, the whole place was dark. Not just dark, black out dark. I backed out of the door. The sign in large letters on the door said, “Welcome to Andre the Blog Monkey’s Banana Bar, Halloween Party in Progress Please Enter.” So, I took a deep breathe and walked in again. Nope, still totally dark. The door behind me made a startling click as it closed behind me. I stood quietly listening. I thought I heard another click and the squeaky hinges of a second door somewhere in the dense dark, the padding footsteps of someone or something.

A glaring splash of light hit the room accompanied by riotous music. There was a Long solid polished Maple wood bar to my left. To the right tables, with chairs formed a spiral spread out across the room. A dance floor was formed around the circle of seating.

Most amazing was the tropical ceiling. Heavily coated in thick hanging vines and other deep green leafy foliage and flowers that caused a heavy sweet scent to hang in the air.

A monkey wearing an apron leaped out from behind the bar. It kind of herded me toward the table in the center of the spiral. Pushing me steering, and chattering as he toddled along in a monkey gait. It screeched and pointed at a chair. As I was sitting down it slapped a sheet of crumbled paper down in front of me It turned out to be a menu.

Lets see--hum mm- 1. Banana Daiquiri 2. Banana Daiquiri 3. Banana Daiquiri 4. And so on and on until # 20 said Green Tea with mashed Bananas. I pointed at the #20. Andre: turned snatched the menu, leaped up caught a vine, and swung away to the bar. As I was settling down into my seat I looked around and wondered where the rest of the people were.

Then the lights went out again. The music stopped. The silence was really dense. I wondered how they achieved that kind of total silence in the dark, then more stealthy footsteps. I heard the whistle of a tea kettle explode into the silence. Someone pulled out a chair at my table. I jerked my hand back from the table when I felt hair slide across it.

The brilliant lights flashed on, the music started up. The song playing was “My Momo eats banananaa, My Popo eats Banananaa, My sister eats Banananaa” and on and on about teachers and relatives and friends who all eat banananaa with a Bossa Nova beat.

Most Astonishing, a Golden Tarsier Monkey now sat in a high chair at my table. Only 6 inches long with long fingers and toes for grasping vines, it stared at me with owl like golden eyes. Just stared and stared at me.

Next to it sat a ghostly arrayed person. And next to the ghost sat a red handed Tamarin monkey in a high chair. Andre and another monkey suddenly appeared above swinging from the vines. My tea had arrived, also bowls of fruity water, nuts, fruit, and a banana daiquiri for the ghost. The bowls were plunked down without ceremony and I caught one blue bowl of peanuts that was falling precariously off the tray of munchies.

A startling system emerged. All sound and light vanished just before a new variety of monkeys and new costumed humans (I presume they were all human) appeared and filled another table. I mean dead silence when the lights were extinguished. The silence and darkness was actually astonishing for the time lapse endured.

As the tables filled the noise of monkey screeches and howls grew louder. I put in my ear plugs at one point.

And so it went, The lights and music would go out. Shuffling noises and creaky doors would sound. When the lights came back with music, another table would be full of new costumed humans seated with different varieties of monkeys mostly new world monkeys but, I identified a few old world monkeys as well. The monkeys screeched and howled. The din rose louder and louder. Nuts and fruit were eaten and tossed around.

Of course the monkeys did not remain seated. Monkeys sailed through the air on vines. I looked up in astonishment to see squirrel monkeys, pygmy marmosets, proboscis, rhesus, spider, golden snub-nosed from China, howler, wooly spider, and other varieties sailing around the room or sitting on tables munching snacks. Monkeys walked by, leaped from table to table, and hung from vines to just stare at the costumed people.

The Tarsier would return to the table now and then sometimes sitting in it’s chair sometimes on my shoulder always staring at me with its huge golden eyes. It would rotate its head to look around, very owl like.

We had entertainment of songs about monkeys and pictures of monkeys in their natural habitat being broadcast across a big screen flat TV that hung above the bar. “Hey, hey we’re the Monkeys, People say we Monkey around. We’re to busy singing to put any body down.”

It’s astonishing how many varieties of monkeys live on the earth. Some are quite beautiful.

The ghost turned out to be a neighbor from my street, named Erthala. She pointed out Dracula simia and Dracula gigas orchids living in the tropical plant display above us. These are flowers that have monkey faces on them and were totally out of some other element of nature. How they happened to be thriving in this environment I could not begin to explain.

I identified the three monkeys helping Andre behind the bar, to supply drinks to the party, mostly banana daiquiri; as the three monkeys rescued from a cemetery some time ago.

Suddenly, Andre stood on the bar and began to chatter and wave at a door behind the bar. Led by Andre the monkeys began to troupe out the door. It had certainly been a lively evening. Those costumed people not visiting the basement moved out the front door. We were handed trick or treat bags on the way out filled with banana candy, banana daiquiri mix, and nuts.

I will write more Margaret but, there is someone knocking at the door. Best wishes for your day.

Sincerely,

Apondia

word count from the journal 7 = 1398