Description
Dave Geladhar now knew why his team was called the "All Black Apes" - he was literally all black from rolling in the mud. That would certainly mean trouble from his wife when she saw his shirt after the game. After a brief rain shower towards the end of the first half, the ground in the middle of the field was brown instead of green as at the beginning.
The rules said that monkey rugball could be played on any surface made of grass, snow, clay, or sand. He liked grass best, especially dry grass. But beggars cannot be choosers. He was the captain of the Original All Black Apes and they were in the middle of their 28th game within three months. Everyone was sure to be tired, and some of his fellow apes on the team were injured as well. One coach always said, "monkey rugball is a beastly game played by noble apes." Nevertheless, the noble apes might get hurt during the tackling, rucking, and mauling for the ball.
Yes, the ball... He was glad that it was oval now. It took some time for the International Monkey Rugball Board to choose a shape for it. In the beginning, it was plum-shaped because round was the easiest shape to inflate something to. But after protest from the committee, they tried to change it into several other forms, since no member of the committee really liked the taste of plums. The alternatives were all dropped one after another: banana-shaped - not easy to inflate and hold the air; pineapple-shaped - to prickly and so on... Fortunately, they finally agreed on a cantaloupe melon shape. Because cantaloupe melons were the chairmonkey's favorite fruit. Dave didn't mind. As long as he had a ball to run with.
His mind suddenly turned back to the game as the ball flew in his direction. He caught it swiftly and ran. The forwards of the opposing team - gorillas, what else - rushed towards him. He quickly managed to change direction and luckily the first gorilla slipped and fell on the muddy ground.
The monkey audience roared with excitement. Not only was the grandstand around the playfield filled with monkeys, but more clung to every tree nearby for a lookout point to watch the game. Dave seemed to make it pretty far, but his run was cut short when three apes of the backrow cornered him and one of them tackled him with all his might, grounding him and the ball. It was a tough and difficult match with five huge gorillas and two fast patas monkeys on the opposing team. But he respected his opponents very much.
His team had the ritual of performing a traditional dance as "battle preparations" before each game. Usually, they were greeted with heavy silence afterward. But today the other team responded with loud howling and the crowd has joined them, making it a phenomenal occurrence. Suddenly one of the gorillas took the ball and started darting back to the All Black Apes’ half of the field. Dave shook himself; he really didn't have time for useless thoughts.
Completely black with mud, he got up and started chasing after the monkey with the ball. He hoped his wife wouldn't be too angry with his clothes.
Little did he know then that his dirty monkey rugball shirt would later be auctioned off as the most expensive ever in history.