'Sometimes to Manipulate the Behaviour of Others, like Humans' by Rebecca Klassen

The blurb on the chimpanzee enclosure says that Chico isn’t Priscilla’s baby. She reclines in a tractor tire while Chico feeds, her breasts still full since losing her own infant, sun and peace on her face. I want to leap over the fence, splash across the scummy moat, and scream at her. 

‘Mummy, I can’t see Chico!’ I lift Holly, remembering years ago the social worker passing me the tiny bundle I held like groceries I’d forgotten a bag for, and the wailing in my flat while I struggled with the bottle steriliser, nodding when the playgroup mums referred to Holly as my daughter, because telling anyone she’s my niece might unbox the story I don’t want Holly to know, but I know she should. 

Maybe Priscilla will help.

‘Holly, did you know Chico didn’t come out of Priscilla’s tummy?’

Holly’s tongue pokes out with confusion like my sister’s used to. 

‘Babies come from their mummy’s tummy.’ She’s telling, not asking.

‘Chico’s mummy died.’ Of heart failure, not an overdose. Holly knows death is permanent, but her tongue gets more air. 

Priscilla levers herself from the tire and strolls across the grass, Chico swinging from her underside. 

‘Babies come from their mummy’s tummy,’ Holly says again, and I decide we’ll move to the meerkats, watch the scout’s Kalahari skills wasted in Bedfordshire. I set Holly down. ‘Why do mummies die?’ 

I consider my sister’s self-destruction, Priscilla’s primal instincts, Holly’s expectant eyes, and can’t bear to let any of them down. When I open my mouth, something warm spatters across my face and Holly’s. She wails, and I spot Priscilla reaching to her backside for more ammo. I turn, shielding Holly, and as more faeces splat across my back, I thank Priscilla for being the best damn mother I’ve ever known. 

 

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Rebecca Klassen is co-editor of The Phare and a Best of the Net 2025 nominee. She won the London Independent Story Prize and was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and Alpine Fellowship. Her stories have featured in Fictive Dream, Toronto Journal, Mslexia, Flash Frontier, Brussels Review, and on BBC Radio.