I can see it in the distance. Majestic yet intimidating. The gorilla is gesturing in a way that makes the children giggle with delight as their parents stand by them. I am a little envious of them. 

 

When I was their age, my father would take me to this same place. I’d interact with the other menagerie of exotic animals until we reached the gorilla. When I attempted to engage with it, the gorilla would simply sit there lifeless as if I was not even there. However, my father would be grinning ear to ear just like those children when he successfully won the gorilla over.

 

Today is going to be different. I am determined to get into the gorilla’s good books.

 

My best friends and I visit the other animals first. Together, we admire their colours, their movements and the cacophony of growls, hisses, roars and grunts. When we reach the gorilla’s enclosure, I take a deep breath and a step in front of it a few feet away.

 

I can do this. I have been practicing with my father. I adjust my posture, swing my arms slowly to the right and then to left as my putter gingerly hits the golf ball. This time the ball travels up the narrow ramp located beneath the gorilla and disappears into the hole.

 

The gorilla begins to move as it exclaims in a friendly tone, “Great job, pal! You did it!”

 

I grin from ear to ear.