Patricia Stoltey

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Umberto the Unhappy Uakari

April 24, 2013 By: Patricia

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge
 The ABCs of Behavior and Emotions

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To learn more about the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, visit the official challenge blog and check out the list of over 1,900 participants.

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Comments

  1. Hilary Melton-Butcher says

    April 26, 2013 at 6:50 am

    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

  2. Cynthia Rodrigues Manchekar says

    April 24, 2013 at 11:19 pm

    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

  3. Nick Wilford says

    April 24, 2013 at 5:15 pm

    He did put himself out there, which was brave. Nasty humans!

  4. L. Diane Wolfe says

    April 24, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    He should’ve appreciated what he already had.

  5. klahanie says

    April 24, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    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

  6. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    April 24, 2013 at 11:16 am

    A wise lesson!
    At least he wasn’t captured for his pelt.

  7. Emilyann Girdner says

    April 24, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Poor Umberto. Sometimes we learn the more important lessons only through experience.

  8. Leslie says

    April 24, 2013 at 9:53 am

    A great lesson that is sometimes learned too late

    so nice to meet you thru A to Z

  9. Julie Luek says

    April 24, 2013 at 8:48 am

    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.

  10. Julie Flanders says

    April 24, 2013 at 8:31 am

    Poor Umberto. 🙁 I’ve never heard of an uakari before, I want to look them up now.

  11. YVONNE LEWIS: says

    April 24, 2013 at 7:32 am

    Poor Umberto, I have been amazed at your posts with all the names .
    Great imagination.

    Yvonne.

  12. Amy Jarecki says

    April 24, 2013 at 7:22 am

    Poor Umberto. I’m like him, I guess, following the dream…

  13. Margot Kinberg says

    April 24, 2013 at 6:11 am

    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…

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

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