Results tagged “chimpanzees” from Overlooked

A memento from those halcyon days

Salutations, my dear friends. You probably remember me as Bubbles the Chimp, the star player of Michael Jackson's menagerie of animals at the Neverland Ranch. It's true: in the magical, dazey days that were the mid-80s, everything was all about The Bub. Spanky the Dog? Who? Uncle Tookie the Frog? Oh puh-leeeeeze. Yesiree, when it came to sheer pizzazz and pure animal magnetism, there was no contest.

Except for one man.

In all the land, there was only one who could rival my charm and charisma. Some might say that it was meant to be from the start: our eyes met across a crowded cancer research clinic one warm October afternoon, and I knew that my life was about to change forever. Even though he was talking to a doctor at the time, every sweet and dulcet word that tumbled out of his mouth like harvested wheat from a Thanksgiving cornucopia seemed like it was meant just for me. In the ensuing whirlwind, I was whisked away to California and promptly inaugurated into the heady lifestyle of the Hollywood glitterati. My welcome was warm and enthusiastic, and in just a few short months, my phone number was unlisted and I was the toast of the town.

However, no matter how famous I had become, it was Michael, always Michael whose approval I sought. Michael, who, with one pop of his hip, could light up an entire room. When he would spin on his heel and cry out "Shomon!" women and men alike would weep with joy and crying babies would burst into peals of laughter. He was a vision to behold, an inspiration, a legend.

Though my years with him were short, they were the most cherished ones of my life. I'll never forgive myself for letting things go sour; in my mission to be the only animal in his life, I ultimately drove him away and into the paws of another.

It's true what they say: if you love something, set it free....

Wooed away from Siegfried and Roy