A young woman in a blue jumper waited outside EQuad 742’s main gate. “Are you Cool Moon Boy?”
Too out of breath to answer, Ricky nodded.
Electric Gal slid her ID card through the gate terminal. “Put this on then follow me.” She handed Ricky an orange hard hat with ear protectors. Then she put on her own hat.
She led Ricky through steamy tunnels and past enormous engines. Even with his ears covered, the noise roared in his head. Every now and then a boom and a bang startled him. They walked up some stairs and stopped on a landing. Electric Gal pointed toward the ceiling. Tubes, air ducts, cables, and catwalks filled the space above them.
Sam was up there? Oh no!
“He’s been swinging around and screaming up there all morning,” Electric Gal yelled above all the clatter. “I couldn’t get him to come to me.”
Just then Ricky caught a glimpse of brown fur zipping across the top of a tube. “Sam!”
Electric Gal climbed up a tall ladder that led to the catwalk closest to Sam. Ricky started up the ladder. Everything swirled below him, and Ricky had to grasp both handrails.
“You okay?” Electric Gal shouted.
Ricky took a deep breath then nodded. He had to get Sam.
Once on the catwalk, he took out his flashlight and turned it on. Creeping along behind Electric Gal, he gripped the rail, called for Sam, and waved the flashlight. Sam loved holding a flashlight for Ricky when they were in dark spaces.
Sam jumped from the tube to an air duct over Ricky’s head. When he landed, his paws slipped on the smooth metal surface.
“Sam!”
The monkey scrambled, trying to pull himself onto the top. Below him wide crank belts whirred around large pulleys and huge silver pistons chugged up and down. Sam finally got a grip and scrambled on top. He peeked over at Ricky. Ricky breathed again. Sam shrieked, his eyes opened wide.
Ricky shone the flashlight on Sam. Sam stood up, covered his eyes with his hands, and shook his head. There was a cable that hung near the duct and nearly to the catwalk before it curved and ran across to some distant connection.
Ricky pulled a kiwi out of his pocket. “Want a treat, Sam?”
Sam screeched at Ricky, but he didn’t move. Ricky ripped the kiwi in half and opened his mouth wide. Before Ricky could take a bite, Sam leapt and grabbed onto the cable. He slid to its curve then sat there, swinging and jabbering.
Ricky bit the kiwi. Sam quickly stood up and nearly fell off when he reached for the kiwi. He held onto the cable with his tail and one hand, hanging there and screeching until he righted himself.
Ricky held the kiwi out to his little monkey.
Sam swung backward then forward and let go of the cable. He flew through the air, landing on Ricky’s shoulder. The monkey wrapped his skinny arms around Ricky’s hard hat. Ricky pulled him down to his chest and fed him the kiwis.
“Let’s go,” Electric Gal said.
Ricky nodded. Sam hugged Ricky tightly around the neck, keeping his face against Ricky’s chest. Outside 742’s main gate, Ricky thanked Electric Gal and IM’d his mother.
Stroking the soft brown fur on Sam’s head, Ricky said, “Don’t run away ever again.”
Sam lifted his head and smiled. He searched in Ricky’s pockets for more kiwis and when he found none, he grabbed the flashlight. He aimed it at the walkway and laughed.
But all the way home, the little monkey never loosened his hold on Ricky.
~The End~