Stolen Dawn

In our remote village, the men far outnumbered the women - almost every guy was single and desperate.

Without women around, the men had no outlet for their desires.

My parents, trying to make money, went to catch a black-furred ape from the mountain behind our village.

But when they returned, only my mom came back, leading the ape on a chain.

My father didn't make it - he died on that mountain.

Mom locked the ape in our storage shed and started running her "business."

She was making bank, sitting by the door counting cash every day.

But here's the thing - all the animals on that mountain had been hunted to extinction years ago.

There couldn't possibly be any apes left there.

……………………………………

Early that morning, my parents headed to the mountain.

When they came back, my dad was nowhere to be seen.

Mom was leading a black-furred ape on an iron chain.

Her face was ghostly pale, eyes red from crying.

"Where's your husband?" Mrs. Wang from next door asked, confused.

Mom collapsed to the ground.

Sobbing, she cried, "That beast... trying to catch it... my poor husband..."

She was crying, but I caught a hint of satisfaction in her curved eyes.

But that look quickly changed to one of pure agony.

If I hadn't been watching her so closely, I would've thought I imagined it.

Years ago, villagers tried making money by hunting on that mountain.

The mountain was treacherous, full of wolves and tigers. None of those men ever came back.

Since then, nobody dared to go up there.

Seeing this, everyone understood. They tried consoling my mother.

"We told you not to go up there yesterday, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what happened."

"What's done is done. Try to stay strong."

"Such a tragedy..."

...

Then they all turned to look at the ape behind my mother.

It was pulling at its fur, roaring the whole way.

Its eyes blazed with anger as it glared at everyone.

People asked curiously, "Why'd you bring back a female ape?"

Mom gave a mysterious smile. "This female ape, she's just like a woman. Anyone who's looking for some action is welcome at my place!"

"Gross, it's still just an animal. Who'd dare?"

"Forget it, let's get out of here! Look how vicious it is - we'd be lucky not to get killed."

...

Everyone waved it off and left.

Mom didn't argue, just kept her head down and smiled.

These days, the whole family had been stressed about my brother's wedding money.

They almost sold me to get it.

Going to the mountain was their last resort to make money.

When news of Dad's death came, Grandma fell ill.

My brother glared at Mom, cursing, "Should've been you who died!"

Dad always favored sons over daughters, beating and yelling at me constantly.

Now that he was dead, I felt a secret relief.

Without a body, we had a quick, simple funeral.

Grandma lay in bed, furious: "You worthless woman, get rid of that beast quick!"

"Don't worry, Mother. I'll make that creature wish it was dead."