Me and My Mommy

I am a small orangutan

I live in the rainforest of Sumatra

Most of the time I stay up in the trees

With my beloved mommy

My mommy is homeschooling me

She teaches me geography and topography of the rainforest

I should learn the fruiting cycle of the trees

She teaches me to make some tools

I should use them to fish for termites, get some honey and crack open the fruits

Today we went to pick durians

Yummy yummy yummy, durian is better than honey

Suddenly it rained

My mommy and me were looking for big leaves

After we found them, we picked them from the branches

And voila… we got ourselves the leaf umbrellas

We kept going to find the durian trees

We did not walk, we were swinging from tree to tree

And finally...we found durians

Ah sweet, delicious, rich, creamy, pungent, durians

My mommy picked a huge one and taught me how to crack it up

It’s not easy peasy lemon squeezy, but she could do without a knife

Yummy yummy yummy, I ate the durian as much as I could

But mommy said not to much

She wants me to eat a balanced meal of bark, leaves, fruits and insects

Not just durians

Ok mommy, here is my last bite

My mommy takes care of me for eight years

After that she is not responsible for me, but she will allow me to hang around her

When I am 15 years old, I am free to roam the jungle and live the life that I dream

But not now, now I am still have many things to learn about the rainforest from my mommy 

picture and text by Tirsa Tanaraga