Monkey Games
By Vince Coyner
Chapter 2. Jonathan
Jonathan had lived on the island of Aislado practically his entire life. He and his Chinese teacher Sebring were it’s only residents. When he was 2 years old he was brought to the island from a place he couldn’t remember. Sebring supervised all aspects of his development, corporal and otherwise. Jonathan’s existence was a simple one. After waking he would begin the day with a swim from the island’s northernmost point to the far edge of its biggest sandy cove and back. The “circuit” covered a total distance of about 3 miles. He first began attempting the swim when he was eight years old. It took him a year before he was able to make it without washing ashore half drowned. Because the island sat on a sandy plateau and the water was only about 3-ft. deep for the first ½ mile from shore, there was really very little chance of him actually drowning, despite his protestations to the contrary. Nonetheless, he had made the swim practically every day of his life since he was ten. After his swim, he would train with Sebring in Martial Arts for three hours. He studied Hapkido, Judo, Shotokan, Bushundo and Karate. In the afternoon he would run around the 5-mile island twice, once in each direction. After a climb to the top of the “mountain” at the center of the island, his martial day would end with calisthenics and weights in a small gymnasium near the “cottage.” Finally, after dinner the day would draw to a close with two hours of meditation on the patio overlooking the western side of the island as the sun escaped once again. After meditation he would then read for approximately three hours before heading to bed. The reading portion of his day was his greatest entertainment as he had probably the best stocked library in the South Pacific. There was Plato, Shakespeare, Hobbs, Goethe, Galileo, and many others. Although there were a few contemporary books, the majority of the collection reflected the standards that would have been appropriate for a library furnished in the 1930’s. Jonathan could quote Beowulf, he knew the story of Ezekial by heart and he loved the Merchants of Venice. In addition to everything else, Sebring taught him four different languages; English, Chinese, Portuguese and French.
Jonathan appeared to be a perfect specimen of a man. He had it all. He was strikingly handsome. His physical conditioning would have allowed him to easily win any Olympic Decathlon he might have entered. And on top of everything, he was brilliant and could debate Sebring on almost any point after studying the subject for just a brief time. Occasionally he even won. In the wider world Jonathan’s gifts would have been extraordinary. On Aislado however, they were simply what was expected of him.
Jonathan’s meals consisted mainly of rice and fish, although occasionally he would feast on one of the island’s seasonal birds. He had never once left the island since he had arrived. He couldn’t. It was simply not possible. When he was two years old, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal disorder. Although it would not kill him on its own, his contact with others had to be severely limited. The condition, while rare, involved an immune system deficiency that would not allow him to be in contact with most other people for extended periods of time. Unlike most healthy immune systems that become stronger over time as they are exposed to and to adapt to the world’s various pathologies, Jonathan’s worked in just the opposite manner. It started out like a brick wall then melted away as if it were made of sand.
The only regular visitor to the island was Jack, the pilot who came every couple of months to deliver food, sundries and anything else Jonathan and Sebring might need. He always left the day after he arrived. Besides Jack, the only others who had ever come to the island were doctors, who would come twice a year to give Jonathan a physical. No one ever stayed more than 24 hours. They could not. Jonathan’s immune system could withstand new bacteria or viral elements brought onto the island for approximately 72 hours. His imperfect immune system, when combined with the island’s natural salted air was enough to allow others to visit for a short period of time when necessary. Because of the lack of people acting as carriers on the island, from which bacteria or viruses might jump from one to another and mutate, most newly introduced pathologies died within 24 hours of when their hosts left the island. The 24-hour restriction was necessary to ensure that Jonathan’s immune system would not begin to deteriorate. Jonathan never really understood the disease, particularly since he felt so strong. Nonetheless, he was told that by the time he was 25 he would either be dead or the catalyst that caused the condition would have grown sufficiently weak for his immune system to grow strong enough that he could leave the island. On their twice-yearly visits the team of doctors invariably pronounced him in excellent health, aside from one year his having a sprained ankle and of course the ever-present immunity condition. By the age of 15, Jonathan’s life was very much a blur. One day seemed to blend into another. The days had not changed at all for as long as he could remember. Much like looking into one of those mirrors that has an infinite number of reflections of itself, each of Jonathan’s days was like every other one. It never changed in any material way. When he turned 16 it changed dramatically. On Jack’s first trip after Jonathan’s 16th birthday, he brought with him a girl named Maria. Jonathan had never met a girl and although he knew what they looked like from pictures and knew about biology, he had never imagined one could be so beautiful. Sebring had told him that she would be coming and much about what to expect. Once Jack arrived with Maria, he and Sebring left and would not return until the next day.
Maria was 19 years old and had a great deal more experience than Jonathan. She had responded to a rather unusual ad in a Lima newspaper. The ad was run by a European pharmaceutical company doing immune system research with the University of Lima. The ad promised respondents a complete physical, a generous payment and free healthcare for two years. The only requirements stated in the ad were that respondents must be between the ages of 18 and 21 and be in good health. Maria responded and the selection process consisted of a man in a white coat looking over the 200 respondents who fit into the reception room. Twice that number actually responded, but those who did not fit into the room were turned away. Of the 200, thirty were selected and given a contract to examine. The contract detailed what they would be paid and what would be expected in return. Three things were expected of those selected, and they had to agree to all three before signing. The first was to submit to a comprehensive week long physical. The second involved being taken by plane to meet a young man and having sexual relations with him. The third was to submit to a harvesting of any fertilized eggs within one week of their return to Lima. The supposed goal of the study had something to do with an immune deficiency he suffered from which the University was seeking to treat. The University suggested that if his genetic material could be harvested from a naturally fertilized egg, they could develop a cure for his condition. In return participants would receive a lump sum payment equal to approximately half the annual salary of the average Peruvian and free healthcare at the University of Lima for two years.
Upon reading the contract, 12 of the 30 women left. The remaining 18 agreed to its terms. Each study participant was given a complete physical the following week and assigned a date sometime over the next two years when they should return to the University. For those whose dates were more than six months away, they would have a second exam before proceeding. After reporting to the clinic on their assigned dates and being given a clean bill of health from the study’s doctors, each participant would then be taken to the airport. After each of the participants showed proof of their age and signed the contracts, the research coordinator called out the 18 names and handed out the date assignments. Maria opened hers and realized that she was first on the list. She would leave Lima immediately following the results of her physical. She reported to the University the next day and exactly one-week later was on her way to Aislado.
Maria was very pleasantly surprised when she met Jonathan. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but he was not it. He was strikingly handsome and charming as well. He led her into the house where they enjoyed a wonderful dinner of lobster and rice. At the clinic they had explained that Jonathan was a shy young man who would likely be very nervous. He probably wouldn’t know what to do or how to go about doing it so she would probably have to lead the way. After dinner she did so with abandon. She took his hand and told him to take her into the bedroom. She gently sat him on the bed and he sat there trembling, very unsure of what was happening to him. His head was beginning to spin and his stomach seemed to be nothing but knots. As he watched her stand in front of him and slowly peel her clothes off he was certain she was more beautiful than anything or anyone he had ever seen in his life. Finally, after a moment of standing there naked in front of him, she walked over to him and began to remove his clothes.
Jonathan literally thought he was going to die. Sebring had clinically explained what to expect, but there were not enough words in the dictionary to describe what Jonathan had just experienced. Not only was it the most amazing thing in the world, he actually thought for a second that he had died and gone to heaven. Continuing until the early morning and moving from his bedroom to the surf to the deck of the pool, he felt this young woman was nothing short of an angel sent from heaven. The feeling was utterly amazing and impossible to communicate. He simply did not know such pleasure was possible in the world. As the morning sun began to rise she was laying in his arms as they were intertwined in the sheets. He woke her with a gentle kiss on her lips and then proceeded to wake every inch of her body. Jack and Sebring returned around noon and Jack left with Maria soon thereafter. Jonathan had a longing in his heart, not wanting her to leave, wanting to keep her there, holding her in his arms. He knew it was impossible because of his condition. Sebring tried to explain to a deeply saddened Jonathan that it was impossible to see her again but that the longing he felt would go away. As for Maria never returning, try as he might, Jonathan was never able to get Sebring to discuss the specifics of why things had to be that way. For the first time in his life Jonathan felt a longing for something beyond the island. Nonetheless, time marched on and as Sebring said it would, the ache faded, assisted by the fact that every other trip Jack would bring a different girl and the process would be repeated.
Continue...