The Reddit Challenge is Back! #29

From Reddit user JosephGordonReddit:

"A monkey, who is dating a walrus, discovers that he has the ability to fly and takes the walrus on a flight. The walrus dies from falling out of the sky."


There are moments in a Walrus' life when he wonders to himself just what the hell he is doing, and for Virgil Fink this was one of those moments.

As they breached the cloud cover and approached 20,000 feet it was the bitter cold that Virgil felt first. At that altitude the temperature is around minus 40 Celsius, too much for most animals to handle. However, Virgil was a Walrus and therefore used to the chilling temperatures in the arctic seas. The cold was biting but not unbearable; the lack of oxygen however, was. As hypoxia set in and Virgil's brain was fighting to remain conscious, he thought back to how he ended up in this predicament...

It had been a beautiful Tuesday, six months ago to the very day of his fateful flight. Hanging out, as walruses do, on a rocky beach at the edge of a tropical island, Virgil was approached by a creature he had never seen before. Lanky and oblong, with long arms and stubby legs, a brown chest covered in thick black hair and a calming smile, Virgil didn't even know what to call this creature but he knew he wanted to be near. Flubbering his way over to where the forest met the beach, the creature was at first shy, but Virgil had a calming smile all his own and when he said hello the creature timidly walked up to shake his flipper.

Her name was Anya and she was a rather large Howler Monkey. Whereas a normal Howler is no more than a few feet tall, this Howler was nearly 5 feet in height. Her coat glistened in the sun and her shy smile melted Virgil's ocean-bound heart. For days, Anya would wait on Virgil while he hunted and then converse with him for hours upon his return. In a matter of weeks they were in love. But like all loves, there was a measure of the unknown waiting in the weeds. Anya was special.

Anya was larger than a normal Howler Monkey because she had been a Russian experiment gone bad. Virgil discovered this on the first night they shared a sandy nook to sleep, when her nightmares kept her up all night. He tried everything to console the poor monkey but nothing would work. She said she dreamed of flying- flying then falling. Virgil never knew what to say other than that everything would be okay. If only Virgil knew the truth...

Six months later, Virgil was returning from a hunt with a beautiful Marlin in his tusks for Anya but when he arrived at their nook she was nowhere to be seen. As he looked around a tap on the head startled him and he looked up to see Anya, floating in the air like an angel from Walrus Heaven. She told him of her amazing discovery: that she was able to fly, and not just soaring a few feet here or there, she had fantastic control and strength like she had never understood. She pressed her love to let her take him on a flight above the clouds, to see the world as he had never seen it before. Virgil, usually not a risk-taker, was reluctant at first but finally relented.

With her fantastical strength, Anya lifted her mammalian love into the sky, accelerating to 550 miles per hour within 60 seconds. Virgil had never felt happier as the wind raced past his face at a blinding speed. From 10,000 feet he could see the ocean- his home- like he had never seen it before. Entire schools were his to see at a glance; it was magnificent.

Magnificent until he reached 20,000 feet, that is. As the temperature plummeted and his brain's oxygen level depleted, Virgil knew the end was near. He no longer had the strength to move and being out of the water and in the cold so long had dried up his skin. His only warmth was from Anya's hands, clutching him tightly. He looked up at the love of his life and was able to push out a few more words before his body finally froze.

"I love you" He gasped as his body let out its last breath.