Umberto the Unhappy Uakari
All in all, Umberto should have enjoyed a relatively carefree existence in his Amazon home. As uakaris go, he was fairly handsome and reasonably agile. Among his compadres, unhappiness was an unusual condition.
Unfortunately, Umberto was burdened with a few out-of-the-ordinary dreams.
While the rest of the uakari were content to hang around in the trees, enjoying fruits and nuts and the occasional lizard when absolutely necessary to survive, and using their strong arms to swing from branch to branch for fun and exercise, Umberto wanted more.
He wanted to travel beyond the Amazon rainforest and see the world.
He wanted to live among humans and learn about their ways.
These things were impossible for the average uakari, and that’s what made Umberto so sad. As he became more and more despondent, his rosy face color turned pale and he moped and whined. Instead of flying through the trees and enjoying each moment to the fullest, Umberto climbed to the ground and walked here and there, doing his best to find where the rain forest ended and the rest of the world began.
One unfortunate day, Umberto walked straight into a huge net and was transferred into a cage in the back of a big truck.
For a while, he thought all his dreams were going to come true. He had been captured by humans, and they were traveling for such a long time, Umberto just knew he was about to see the rest of the world.
In a way, Umberto’s dreams did come true. He now resides in a big cage in a zoo far, far from the rain forest. Sometimes it gets cold and even snows in his new world. There are more than enough humans to satisfy his curiosity, and he was beginning to learn way more about their habits and behavior than he ever thought possible.
But poor Umberto was unhappier than ever. His once rosy face faded even more, and he moped and whined all day, dreaming of a return to the Amazon rainforest.
Dreams are wonderful, we all know that. But a little prudence is advised. What is the saying? Oh, yes. Be careful what you wish for, because it might come true.
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Hi Pat .. I love the name Umberto .. but I’m so sorry for him ending his life in captivity … a really sad tale this one!!
Cheers Hilary
How sad! My heart goes out to Umberto. It’s not fair that he suffer so just for making an
Your stories are always so beautiful. Pat, I think you should compile these together and get them published. There’s a children’s book waiting to happen.
Cynthia Rodrigues Manchekar from Cynthology
He did put himself out there, which was brave. Nasty humans!
He should’ve appreciated what he already had.
Very well put, my friend. Indeed, sometimes our dreams are not what we thought they would turn out to be.
A profound lesson here and I thank you.
Gary
A wise lesson!
At least he wasn’t captured for his pelt.
Poor Umberto. Sometimes we learn the more important lessons only through experience.
A great lesson that is sometimes learned too late
so nice to meet you thru A to Z
I have to look up uakari too. Your poor animals with big dreams learn harsh realities. Hope all is well with you– still thinking about you and your family.
Poor Umberto. 🙁 I’ve never heard of an uakari before, I want to look them up now.
Poor Umberto, I have been amazed at your posts with all the names .
Great imagination.
Yvonne.
Poor Umberto. I’m like him, I guess, following the dream…
Pat – I was thinking about that same saying when I was reading this story. Umberto would probably have been much happier staying in the rainforest…